In 2000, Jennifer Nay was a Richmond, Virginia, stockbroker who also bought and managed commercial buildings with her husband, Marc, a veterinarian.
That year, the couple opened a veterinary hospital, and Nay opened the entrepreneurial chapter of her life.
“It was clear I was needed more at the hospital, so I sold my clientele book to a colleague and joined Marc to protect and grow our largest investment,” said Nay, a current MBA candidate at Harbert.
The hospital was located in one of three spaces the couple had purchased; rent from the other two spaces paid the mortgage on all three. Marc Nay was the only vet on staff at the time, and Jennifer handled the business side. Amid the financial crisis that began in 2008, the couple lost both their renters and experienced a slowdown in business as well.
Instead of pulling back, they redoubled their efforts. Marc was frustrated that a single veterinary emergency practice held a monopoly in their area.
“Their high prices, limited and inconvenient services were hurting our clients and their pets,” Nay said. “So, in 2011, we took the plunge and morphed into a 24/7 emergency and critical care center/day practice hybrid.”
The couple crafted a business plan at their kitchen table and took their idea from concept to grand opening
in 90 days.
“We hired dozens of additional employees, purchased additional equipment, marketed our new hospital and cultivated referral relationships with local veterinarians,” she said. “We upfit the restaurant space and rented it to a veterinary specialty group that would work symbiotically with our hospital and used the contractor’s space to expand our hospital, creating a complete veterinary campus.”
“By 2018, the Animal Medical Center practice had grown into the greater Richmond area’s top veterinary practice of its kind, with over 50 employees, including 10 doctors,” Nay said.
“As the veterinary world began to consolidate, we received increasing interest from corporations looking to buy practices like ours,” she said. “I prepared countless detailed financial statements and corresponded with three corporations over the course of a year. In 2018, we sold our practice to Southern Veterinary Partners of Birmingham, Alabama, with whom we shared an Auburn connection.”
Later the same year, they were approached by a private equity group from Maryland who purchased the veterinary campus.
“The sales enabled us to achieve our goal to move to Auburn,” she said. “As an MBA candidate, I am thrilled to be an official member of the Auburn family.”
