
The construction or renovation of your own veterinary clinic can be both an exciting and stressful time.
It is important to have good communication with your design and construct company along with a plan in order to help things run as smoothly as possible.
Here are a few tips we find can really help clients navigate their way through the initial ‘I’ve taken on too much and i’m in way over my head’ stage, and believe us, we get this a lot!
Prepare Yourself –
The design of a veterinary clinic is not something that happens overnight, nor is the construction of it.
When you are investing your hard earned money into something such as this it is imperative that you get it right from the beginning and thats where patience comes into play.
Getting plans perfect, and then getting those perfect plans through council can sometimes take upwards of 6 months so it is very important that you are aware of this from the get go in order to reduce the risk of disappointment when you realise you will not be able to open the doors of your beautiful new veterinary clinic three months after signing a contract.
Be Mindful about Keeping Moving –
We understand that in an ideal world trading through the renovation of your veterinary clinic would be ideal. While it can slow things down we know how important it is for you to continue treating your valued patients.
Unfortunately for handover reasons we are unable to make part of a new construction available while finishing the rest but when dealing with a renovation there are some things we can do in order to accommodate a functioning clinic. Creating essential areas is one way to keep you going while not being able to work at full capacity. It is important to think about the spaces that get used the most and how long these areas can be out of action for in order for us to create a practical time schedule.
Think about the Long Term –
It is always important to take potential growth into consideration when designing your new veterinary practice.
What you need now may not be the same as what will be needed 10 years down the track and although you may think the best option is to cater for todays needs you don’t want to get stuck with a space that is unable to promote growth and therefore cost you more money in the not so distant future.
Create spaces within your clinic that are functional now but can be adapted and extended on in the future for a different use.
Think about Your Team –
Each of your staff members are an integral cog in the machine that is your successful business and each of them have very different needs in order to perform their job efficiently.
In the same way your receptionist may not know which treatment room layout is going to be the most efficient for you or your specialist surgeons you may not realise just how important layout is for their area in order to complete their busy administration tasks quickly and effectively.
Something as simple as popping your preliminary plans in the lunch room and giving your staff the chance to voice their opinions on their specific areas really shows that you are open to having a conversation in order to make their workplace as comfortable and efficient as possible.
Small things such as access and layout can play a huge part in a staff members day and by making their areas functional you will in turn have happy, effective workers.