In 2009 I started Animal Health and Hydro, a small animal physical rehabilitation facility located on the East Rand, which has become not only a well-established rehabilitation facility but also a thriving business. Animal Health and Hydro comprises practices in Benoni and Pretoria East in Gauteng as well as Newlands and Diep River in the Southern Suburbs of Cape Town. Our most recent addition is a fledgling practice in North Riding, on the West Rand of Gauteng. 

Now I feel that my role is to pass on the torch to the new generation of veterinarians and veterinary physiotherapists entering the industry for the first time. I am passionate about sharing with others all that I have learned about physical rehabilitation as well as business growth and management.

Unless you are studying a degree in business, most professional degrees rarely teach you how to run and manage a thriving and successful business. There is also that big question as to whether you want to be self-employed or whether you want to be a business owner.... there is a fundamental difference. The main difference lies in the concept of growth.

When first starting your own business your time is taken up learning the ropes, implementing therapeutic and business protocols and often mistakes are made along the way and these have to be revised. At times it may in fact feel like you are taking two steps forwards and three steps back.

During that stage when you are "self-employed" you are likely responsible for every aspect of running your business, making it difficult to find time to work ON your business, and focus on growth strategies.

Eventually when you do start to recruit new employees to help you, you find yourself wearing many hats, Human Resource Manager, Marketing Manager, Health and Safety Officer, Client Liaison Officer and its easy to start to feel over whelmed. This can also be a very lonely place, regardless of how busy you suddenly find you are. We know how this feels, as we have been there ourselves.

Animal Health and Hydro along with Dr Tanya Grantham has always had a keen interest in growing and supporting the field of Veterinary Physical Rehabilitation in South Africa and abroad. Dr Tanya Grantham has started two thriving Rehabilitation practices from scratch and more recently the established a third. We have also purchased and taken over the operations of another two "going concerns".

In doing this we have realised that we have a winning model and believe that many potential practice owners could benefit from our experience. We recognised however that potential franchise owners would want a little more than our "belief" that we have a winning formula, they would expect an external assessment to be conducted by an expert in franchising, within South Africa. For that reason we approached "Franchise Assist" an organisation with over 25 years of experience partnering with businesses
who have expanded through franchising. Franchise Assist has over 150 customers
and has partnered with many well-known franchise brands such as Westpack, Dischem, Jacks Paint, Easy Life Kitchens and many more.

The viability assessment conducted by Franchise Assist was based on real numbers (expenses, revenues, pricing models, margins, setup costs, etc.) from three actual Animal Health and Hydro practices. Additionally, the market potential was considered.

Animal Health is a growing industry as more and more pets are being considered to be members of the family. Surgeries themselves have advanced and along with them the cost. The willingness of many pet parents to include Veterinary Physiotherapy, pre and post surgery, to improve the outcome of the surgery and to return their animal companion to function is increasing.

Furthermore, since the promulgation of the new profession, Veterinary Physiotherapy, by the South African Veterinary Council, more and more Veterinarians and Surgeons are seeing the value the profession has to offer their patients and clients, and more and
more patients are being referred to Veterinary Physiotherapists. Some hospitals and clinics have even started offering the service within their own practices.

The main problem we have encountered when Veterinary Physiotherapy practices are established as part of an existing hospital or clinic is that they are viewed as cost centres, rather than revenue centres or businesses in their own right. As a consequence they can end up being neglected or proverbially speaking, treated like the "step-child" of the practice.

Many young, newly qualified Veterinary Physiotherapists go out into the market, never having been taught the necessary business skills to turn their business into a thriving and profitable business. Being newly qualified they lack the experience that comes with time and exposure. Many find themselves running mobile operations, remaining in that trap of being "self-employed", rather than growing to become an entrepreneur with a team to support them, instead they end up alone. Soon they find themselves working long hours, they struggle to accumulate the business assets to help them grow  hours and instead of becoming a thriving business, their Physio practice ticks over. After some time, many end up disillusioned, immigrate or leave the industry altogether, despite the huge investment in time combined with the financial cost associated with their studies.

There is a better way. Since opening Benoni in 2009 we have developed and crafted a number of treatment modality and business protocols which yield results. By taking up an Animal Health and Hydro Franchise you can fast track your practice's success and start growing your business by leveraging everything that has taken us over a decade to put together. You also won't be alone, you will have the support of a strong team helping you, every step of the way.