Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Dr. Tierra Price. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Dr. Tierra, appreciate you joining us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

As a veterinary student, I often felt isolated from my classmates and colleagues in the profession of veterinary medicine. In the process of looking for mentors and colleagues I could relate to, I started an instagram page @blackdvmnetwork to find and highlight Black veterinarians and veterinary students. This is when I realized there was a large gap in resources for Black veterinary professionals and clients and decided to develop BlackDVM Network into an organization.

I also saw the need for inclusion and a paradigm shift in the veterinary community. At times I asked myself, “Why am I doing this?” and really wanted to give up on the idea, especially since BlackDVM Network is the first of its kind as a for-profit social organization in veterinary medicine. But each time I hit a plateau, I’d receive a DM from a student or client about how grateful they were for our page and how we were encouraging them to pursue their passion. Each time I talked with someone I recognized how much an organization like BlackDVM Network could do for the community.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Can you talk to us about your experience with buying businesses?

I purchased a veterinary business in February of 2024. It was a longstanding, solo-doctor, neighborhood practice for 36 years, and the doctor was looking to retire. A couple of years prior to the purchase, I had known that I wanted to own or purchase a veterinary clinic. I had given thought to both building new and to acquiring a previous business and, in my mind, building new would be less resourceful and sustainable than acquiring a practice that had already been started. I figured it would contribute to the health of veterinary medicine to allow another doctor to retire while keeping and maintaining their staff, clientele and their equipment. That being said, acquiring a practice is very hard because you’re taking on everything from the previous owner, so you must sort through everything and decide what you want to keep and what you want to change. The acquisition process was fairly straightforward but not exactly easy. It is a simple process, but it is very tedious and can take a considerable amount of time. Because I had already been thinking about acquiring a practice for some time before making the purchase, I was already familiar with the process. I had actually gone through the process previously with a business partner, however we decided to split about 6 months before the purchase.

The first step in acquiring the practice was making sure that I had the vision: the name, the mission, the vision, what I wanted it to be about, why it would be different from things I had seen before, or why it would be the same, and what I wanted to do for my clients: general practice, emergency, specialty, cat-specific, dog-specific, etc.

I decided that the practice would be a membership-based hospital. It’s not exclusive to members but being a member does have significant value and reward. I established that framework first and then tried to imagine everything else that I could, such as what it would look like, the brand, the logo, how each day would look, what would the team look like when we got started and what the team would look like 3-4 years down the road. I spent a lot of time flushing this out.

Next, I went on to build a team around me to assist me with legal matters, accounting, marketing, and mentorship, because there were so many things that I was not well-versed in. First, I found a marketing team, iVet360, to help me with developing the branding and logo. I had an idea of what I wanted but it was not something I could create myself. Afterwards, I assembled a legal team from Mandelbaum Barrett P.C. composed of Melody Block and Peter Tanella, Esq. to walk me through the legal process and they were the absolute best. I also hired an accountant to advise me on financial matters as well. Lastly, I pulled together a team of mentors that had previously purchased hospitals or been through acquisition before either in an owner, associate, or medical director capacity. For my team of mentors, I had individuals that I could consult for one-off advice, individuals I could consult throughout the complete process, individuals to help me through the first six months, and individuals to help me through the first 2 years of practice ownership. I asked each mentor overlapping and specific questions. I also needed people I could just vent to because there is so much on your plate as a single person trying to own. Sometimes you need an outlet and that cannot only be your family and friends.

I ended up searching for a listing near my house. I was on the lookout, and I found one very close by! I met with the owner, she showed me the clinic, and I thought, “This is something I can do something with.” The seller then notified her broker that she thought I’d be a good fit.

Next, I applied for a bank loan. The financing is a tricky part because the sellers often want to know that you’ve secured financing, and the bank wants to know what practice you’re buying so they can assess the viability of the transaction—so you’re in a catch 22. You have to ask either the bank or the seller to go out on a limb for you, and I always recommend asking for grace from the seller’s side.

Once everything was settled with the seller, the bank loan offer was given to me within about two weeks. The bank asked me if I wanted to lock in the interest rate because the loan offer was only good for 60 days. If you don’t think you’re going to be ready to close the deal in 60 days, I don’t recommend a rate lock which is where you pay extra money to extend the rate that the bank offers you because those rates can change or increase. I secured the rate lock, then the lawyers drafted a letter of intent (LOI) stating I want to purchase the practice for a specific value contingent on certain circumstances, and this was sent to the seller to sign. Once the LOI was signed by the seller, that meant that now we are in this, we are very serious about purchasing, and the seller can no longer entertain other buyers. Also once the LOI was signed, we started to do inspections on the building, the systems, looking into the price of real estate nearby, and analyzing the financials of the practice. The inspections took 12-15 weeks. This part of the process can vary based on how many inspections you want to do and how thorough you want to be. The building I was interested in buying was 100+ years old so I wanted to be sure that I wasn’t taking on something that would be detrimental to me.

The biggest part of the acquisition process was the transition period which is the phase that I am currently in. I have purchased the business and now I’m working to make it my own, make it a seamless process for the staff, work with the previous owner to alleviate bumps and maintain continuity, create policies and operating procedures, and get to know the clients. This transition phase takes up the majority of the acquisition process and is by far the most important step.

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

Don’t be afraid of failure. This is cliché, but it’s important. We shy away from big tasks often because we are afraid we won’t be successful. I’ve failed over and over again with website design, social media, recruitment, etc. And each of those failures allows me to learn and improve for the next time.

Be Patient. Starting a new organization is hard because it’s a new concept and unfamiliar to everyone. You are building something from the ground up and that will take time. The vision for BlackDVM Network came to me over 3 years ago and it still isn’t what I envisioned it to be. But I am being patient with my vision, myself, and others.

Work-life balance is important! Things will get busy and hectic, but you have to take time for yourself. Maximize the time you have by creating ways to be more efficient. Set realistic goals for the week and daily to stay on track. Carve out time in your schedule that doesn’t include working and maintain those boundaries. For example, Fridays are a meeting-free day for me and Sunday mornings are reserved for hikes or nature walks.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.blackdvmnetwork.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blackdvmnetwork
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/blackdvmnetwork
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/blackdvm-network