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Revenue Operations · Explainer

How Do You Start a Veterinary Clinic in 2027?

By Kory White · Updated Oct 2026 · 10 min read
A veterinarian in blue scrubs listening to a small white dog with a stethoscope on an exam table
Direct answer

You start a veterinary clinic by getting a veterinary license (the NAVLE is required in every U.S. and Canadian jurisdiction), checking whether your state lets you own the practice, registering the clinic as a premises with the state board, registering with the DEA if you will stock controlled substances, and then funding the buildout and equipment. The license, the premises permit and the DEA registration are what let you open the door; the money decides how fast.

Cost is the biggest variable and the sources disagree. Lender Crestmont Capital says a new practice typically costs $500,000 to more than $1 million including buildout and equipment, while the educational site Veterinary Practice Loans gives a wider $300,000 to over $1 million. Both are vendor or lender estimates, not government data. A JAVMA News article quotes a young mobile-clinic owner saying a mobile practice costs way less to start than building or buying a brick-and-mortar.

The SBA says its 7(a) program has a $5 million maximum and can fund equipment, real estate, working capital and changes of ownership, but you apply through a local lender, not SBA. This page is not legal, financial or licensing advice; confirm every requirement with your state veterinary board before you sign a lease or a loan.

Get licensed to practice first

Every clinic needs a licensed veterinarian behind it. The ICVA NAVLE handbook says the North American Veterinary Licensing Examination is a requirement for licensure to practice veterinary medicine in all licensing jurisdictions in the United States and Canada, and has been administered by the ICVA since 2000. The handbook lists the NAVLE application fee at $825 (USD) for testing in the U.S. or Canada.

The sources read for this page do not list the further licensing steps of every state, so ask the board in the state where you will practice what it needs beyond the NAVLE. Several states also tie the clinic to a licensed veterinarian-manager or supervising veterinarian, which is covered below.

Many owners do not start on day one. A JAVMA News article cites 2019 AVMA survey data that owners of companion animal-exclusive practices average 62 years old, and says Veterinary Practice Transitions, a nonprofit online marketplace, connects buyers and sellers of practices. That is a useful reminder that buying an existing practice is a real alternative to starting from scratch.

Decide: start new, buy, or go mobile

The same JAVMA News article gives both sides. Dr. Peter Weinstein, chair of the AVMA Veterinary Economic Strategy Committee, says even in the face of corporatization, independent ownership is usually the way to go, especially for people who want to be in leadership roles. Dr. Alli Reid, a 2018 graduate who opened a mobile clinic in April 2020, says to start out small and that mobile startup costs are way less than building or buying a brick-and-mortar.

The JAVMA News piece was published in 2020, during the pandemic. Use it for the reasoning, not for current numbers.

A mobile practice still needs to be set up under your state rules; Florida, for example, requires a premises permit for an establishment "permanent or mobile" where a licensed veterinarian practices. The cost sections below assume a brick-and-mortar clinic.

Check who may own the clinic in your state

This is the step many first-time founders skip. Arnall Golden Gregory LLP explains the corporate practice doctrine: a non-veterinarian or general business entity generally cannot own an interest in a veterinary practice or employ veterinarians to practice. Its February 2020 article named New York, New Jersey, Minnesota and North Carolina as states that prohibit it, Connecticut, Georgia and Massachusetts as states with no prohibition, and Florida, Oregon and California as states that do not prohibit it but require a licensed veterinarian-manager to supervise the practice of veterinary medicine.

Rules change. The North Carolina Veterinary Medical Board says that effective January 1, 2025, ownership of a veterinary facility is no longer limited to veterinarians, even though that 2020 article listed North Carolina as a prohibiting state. The board still requires every facility to designate a supervising veterinarian who is licensed and in good standing. Treat any state list that is more than a year or two old as a starting question, not an answer.

If you are a veterinarian opening your own clinic, ownership rules mostly matter when you bring in investors or partners. The AGG article describes a common workaround in restrictive states: the investor buys only the non-regulated clinic assets through a management vehicle, a veterinarian stays the owner and employer of the veterinarians, and the clinic contracts with the management entity. It warns the management agreement must not be too controlling and that a management fee above fair market value may be treated as a sham. Get a health-care or veterinary attorney involved before you sign anything like it.

Register the premises with the state board

A clinic is licensed separately from the veterinarian. Three states show how different the paperwork can be:

In Florida, the VM 2 form says that if the establishment's owner is not a Florida-licensed veterinarian, the owner's name is submitted for a statewide criminal records check through the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, and that practicing at an unlicensed establishment is a violation of Section 474.215, Florida Statutes. It lists premises requirements including an emergency telephone answering service available 24 hours a day, a locking secure cabinet if controlled substances are on the premises, and a DEA certificate on the premises. The form is dated November 2020, so confirm the current fee and version with the board.

In North Carolina, the Spring 2025 board bulletin says a facility permit is required before offering any veterinary service to the public and that each facility must designate a supervising veterinarian. At a facility open 159 hours or less per month, the supervising veterinarian must be on site at least 25 percent of the time the facility is open. The current application form adds that owners other than a natural person must be appropriately registered and in good standing.

In California, the board takes premises applications online through BreEZe, per its premises forms page, and Business and Professions Code 4853 requires every veterinary premises to be registered. The state's minimum standards for fixed premises, as published by Cornell's Legal Information Institute, call for a reception room and office, a separate examination room, radiology capability on site or through commercial facilities, working anesthetic equipment, equipment to deliver oxygen in emergencies, and a separate dedicated aseptic surgery room. Check the current regulation text with the board before you design the floor plan.

California and Florida are examples only. Your state board decides the form, the fee, the inspection and the design standards, so start there before you lease space.

Register with the DEA for controlled substances

If your clinic will prescribe, administer or dispense controlled substances, you need a DEA registration. The DEA's Practitioner's Manual says every practitioner who dispenses, which includes administering and prescribing, controlled substances in schedules II through V must be registered, that the definition of practitioner includes veterinarians, and that you must have a state license first.

The Federal Register rule is the source for the $888 figure; confirm today's fee on the DEA application, because the rule is from 2020. The manual also says employees of a registered practitioner may administer or dispense under the employer's registration if the state allows it, but that this exemption does not extend to prescribing.

What a new clinic costs

No government agency publishes a clinic start-up cost. Every number below is a lender, builder or educational-site estimate, and the sources do not agree, so treat them as a range to test against local bids.

The per-square-foot ranges overlap but do not match, partly because they measure different things: a builder pricing a new building, a lender quoting a typical buildout, and a site that mixes ground-up and leasehold work. Terrapin says its hard-cost figures leave out land, architectural and engineering fees, loose equipment, permitting and pre-opening expenses, so a quote from a contractor is not your all-in number.

Equipment is where lenders give the most detail. Crestmont lists typical new-equipment ranges for 2026:

Crestmont adds that refurbished and used equipment generally runs 30 to 50 percent less. Veterinary Practice Loans gives a separate set of planning ranges: medical equipment $100,000 to $300,000, leasehold improvements and surgical build-out $60,000 to $180,000, initial supplies and pharmacy inventory $15,000 to $50,000, and office furniture and lobby $5,000 to $25,000. It describes the equipment figures as internal budgeting benchmarks, not a bid.

These are vendor and lender marketing figures, and some sit next to loan products. Get written quotes from equipment dealers and at least two contractors before you commit.

Financing with an SBA 7(a) loan

The SBA describes 7(a) as its primary business loan program. Eligible uses include acquiring, refinancing or improving real estate and buildings, working capital, purchasing and installing machinery and equipment, furniture, fixtures and supplies, and a complete or partial change of ownership. The maximum loan is $5 million. To qualify, a business must be an operating for-profit business in the U.S., be small under SBA size standards, be unable to obtain the credit it wants on reasonable terms elsewhere, and be creditworthy. You apply through a local lender, and SBA's Lender Match tool helps you find one.

The guarantee and maturity figures come from the SBA's terms page. The veterinary-specific loan size and timing are a lender's claim and do not come from SBA. Crestmont also says new graduates typically put down 10 to 15 percent. The SBA does not lend directly, so your lender's own underwriting rules decide what you can actually borrow.

Know the corporate chains you will compete with

You will open near consolidators, and their size shapes your market. These figures are each company's own statements:

The numbers come from Mars Veterinary Health, its home page, Banfield and NVA. They are corporate statements and are not independent counts. For you the practical point is that Dr. Weinstein of the AVMA, quoted earlier, still calls independent ownership usually the way to go despite corporatization.

A practical starting order

Questions people ask

Do I need a license to open a veterinary clinic?

You need to be licensed to practice, and the ICVA says the NAVLE is required for licensure in all U.S. and Canadian jurisdictions. Some states also let non-veterinarians own a clinic if a licensed veterinarian supervises, so check your board.

Does the clinic need its own permit?

Usually, yes. Florida requires a $250 premises permit on its VM 2 form, North Carolina requires a facility permit costing $150 on its FP-01 form, and California requires every premises to be registered under Business and Professions Code 4853.

Can a non-veterinarian own a vet clinic?

It depends on the state. Arnall Golden Gregory said in 2020 that some states prohibit it and some require a licensed veterinarian-manager, and the North Carolina board says ownership there is no longer limited to veterinarians as of January 1, 2025.

Do I need a DEA registration?

If the clinic prescribes, administers or dispenses controlled substances, yes. The DEA Practitioner's Manual says veterinarians are practitioners who must register, with a separate registration for each location where controlled substances are stored or dispensed.

How much does the DEA registration cost?

The Federal Register lists $888 for practitioners on the three-year cycle, effective October 1, 2020. The fee is shown on the DEA application, so confirm it there.

How much does it cost to open a veterinary clinic?

Estimates vary: Crestmont Capital says $500,000 to more than $1 million, and Veterinary Practice Loans says $300,000 to over $1 million. These are lender and educational-site figures, not government data.

Can I use an SBA loan to start a vet clinic?

The SBA says 7(a) loans can fund equipment, real estate, working capital and changes of ownership, with a $5 million maximum, through a local lender. SBA does not make the loan itself.

Sources

Figures were read from the linked pages on October 31, 2026. Costs are lender, builder or educational-site estimates, state fees and forms change, and the 2020 sources are dated. This is not legal, financial or licensing advice.

Top photo: Nenad Stojkovic / CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons

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