Every fifth veterinary practice in the U.S. is owned by consolidators, with more clinics selling to corporate chains every day. As the COVID-19 pandemic plunges the world economy into a record slump, veterinary consolidators are looking for ways to create scalability at a lower cost and focus on creating value post-acquisition. To facilitate this task, Veterinary Integration Solutions introduces its proprietary Consolidator Maturity Model – the ultimate playbook for sustainable acquisition and integration of veterinary practices.
The Consolidator Maturity Model is designed for assessing organisational maturity, determining the current phase in the consolidator lifecycle, and ultimately building a roadmap to value creation for the enterprise. It consists of strategic and tactical layers.
The strategic layer of the model is an executive view showing different levels of organisational development and how teams and leadership evolve over time. Through the lens of value creation, it provides a high-level overview of business processes, systems, and data integration required for sustainable consolidation of small businesses into an enterprise.
The tactical layer of the model is the expanded version detailing the criteria for each level of maturity that allows an organisation to identify its current stage and establish a clear roadmap to transition into the next level. The tactical model guides through each maturity level basing on 11 aspects of a business: processes, policies, systems, competencies/roles/teams, business rhythm, metrics, feedback loops, visualisation boards, intellectual property products, corporate overhead, and partnerships. Using the tactical model, veterinary consolidators can develop a step-by-step action plan to achieve the ultimate antifragile state.
“The Consolidator Maturity Model will help veterinary consolidators understand what actually creates value for their organisation and take a structured approach to implement their growth strategy. An essential part of the maturity assessment is determining the organisational congruence gaps – spotting the categories either underdeveloped or developed too early and now hindering progress.” – William J. Griffin, Veterinary Integration Solutions Co-Founder says. “CMM is a product of our extensive experience helping veterinary organisations with agile transformation, combined with the best of lean methodologies and kanban process management for enterprises.”
The Consolidator Maturity Model lists six levels of a business development path, describes a specific scope required to move forward, and changes that happen in teams and leadership when doing so:
Level 0 – Initial funding. The most fragile state of an organisation is when it’s pooling resources to get started, developing a vision and a value creation strategy, and gathering a team. To transition to the next level, a consolidator must also be able to manage the prospect hospital pipeline and define the investment management process, and start documenting data in a Customer Relationship Management system.
Level 1 – Inception. A newly-minted consolidator begins acquiring its first practices, and starts developing knowledge and core processes, such as HR and accounting. At this stage, the organisation is still fragile — only discovering its product-market fit and a long-term strategy.
Level 2 – Process development. At this stage, a consolidator starts building resilience. The corporate structure becomes more complex; branching into departments and launching the Learning Management System. Core function processes and systems are implemented and a business rhythm is established.
Level 3 – Value creation tools. Basic business operations run like clockwork and it’s time to set the bar higher for the quality criteria and start implementing the VCP processes and metrics developed at the previous level. Collected data guides techniques to lower overhead costs and stay strategically aligned.
Level 4 – Quantitatively managed. At this level, a consolidator is shaping into a robust enterprise. It is an inflection point for potential recapitalization. Data-driven value creation shapes organisation-specific benchmarks which make the consolidator “fitter-for-purpose” and creates a quantifiable equilibrium between VCP and operations. Measurable metrics, KPIs, and processes allow the consolidator to acquire and seamlessly integrate new practices with existing business strategy and maximise EBITDA.
Level 5 – Continuous improvement. Core systems, processes, policies, and VCP are well-managed and running autonomously; allowing the enterprise to start innovating and focusing on strategy, rather than operations. There is room for fine-tuning economics through controlled experimentation to achieve the fittest-for-purpose state.
Level 6 – Prediction. This is the top level of maturity when a consolidator becomes anti-fragile. It starts using data science and AI to predict future industry trends and capitalise on market opportunities. The enterprise is ready to create a new purpose.
Visit the Veterinary Integration Solutions website to download the Consolidator Maturity Model and sign up for an organisational assessment.
