Entrepreneurship | Building Beyond the Obvious

In the veterinary world, as in so many others, "feast or famine" is often the status quo. While there will always be animals in need of care, their owners' ability to pay will come and go. That's why entrepreneurship should be central to every veterinarian's long-term plan - and why part of The Maggie T Foundation's mission is to help vets put their training and knowledge to work outside of their practice or 9-to-5 job.

To get started, we help vets identify their passion. It need not be related to veterinary medicine (though it often is) or an entire business that produces a steady paycheck. Instead, it should generate a certain minimum monthly income (determined by the vet) and be flexible enough to accommodate whatever the vet's full-time job is. Some vets may choose to sell handmade goods or offer copywriting services. Others may offer consulting or become a speaker. And some - like our founder, Dr. Will - find that their talents are applicable across many industries and for many purposes. 

The purpose of entrepreneurship as a veterinarian is manifold, but we believe that, most importantly, it helps to keep creativity and passion alive in a profession that is invariably very hard - emotionally, psychologically, and physically. It is critical to vet career success that they identify a passion early on and make time to nurture and even monetize it.