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Are you a passionate veterinarian seeking to elevate your practice and make a lasting impact in the field?
Welcome to "The Vet'Ed Podcast". Join Steven Hermann, Kale Flaspohler and Lindo Zwane - industry experts and thought leaders, as they delve into tailored strategies and nurturing relationships to empower privately owned veterinary practices.
Tune in the first and third Wednesday of the month to gain invaluable insights, tips, and inspiration to thrive in your independent clinic. Together, let's build a community dedicated to advancing veterinary care. Subscribe now and embark on a journey towards lasting success in your practice.
Right. Good to have you in today. You are. Doctor Scott Frey. Welcome to the VETTA podcast.
Steven Hermann:Thanks for Hey. We've had to reschedule because of We're in mid Missouri and weather.
Scott Fray:It's one degree out right now.
Steven Hermann:Yeah. So we can drive today, but it is freezing cold and, but no, thanks for, thanks for taking the time to come in, reschedule. Thanks for everything for the Missouri Veterinary Medical Association, your practice, all the contributions to the veterinary community that you've had, and we're looking to dive into that. I know you've had a relationship with, my business partner, Wes, for a couple decades now Yep. And I've known you now for a decade.
Steven Hermann:Can you believe that? It's we've been hanging out now for a while. So it it it's great, and and most recently, had a big, big moment. Right?
Scott Fray:Yep.
Steven Hermann:Which is the sale of your practice
Scott Fray:Yep.
Steven Hermann:To doctor Reuter.
Scott Fray:Mhmm.
Steven Hermann:And, we had a great time, being along that ride with you and doctor Ryder to to see that practice. Say independent because at the Veta podcast, we love independent practices. I think you know that, and so, hey, dive in today. Who's this guy over here?
Kale Flaspohler:I'm Kale.
Steven Hermann:I'm Steven.
Scott Fray:I'm Scott. Host of the I'm Scott.
Steven Hermann:You're Scott. Yeah. Scott. Hey, let's talk about some basics here. Family.
Steven Hermann:Let's talk about family. Tell me about, tell me about Kelly.
Scott Fray:Yeah. Kelly Kelly, my wife of 36 years now. Awesome. Yep. We were actually high school classmates.
Scott Fray:A lot of people don't know that, but then parted ways. It's a love story, a great love story. Parted ways in in high in college for a couple 3 years then reconnected and and
Steven Hermann:So you you weren't together during that time period? No. We were we were part of ways or
Scott Fray:describe as we were high school classmates, but we weren't high school sweethearts. Okay. K. We dated dated some in high school, but we dated other people, blah blah. Then she went to Kirksville.
Scott Fray:I went to MU k. For 1st 2 years, and then she transferred to Mizzou. And it's a long story. You don't wanna get into how we got back together, but it is it's a pretty cool story. So that was 36 years ago in on New Year's Eve that we were married and, that's awesome.
Scott Fray:Grown kids. Happy anniversary. Thanks. Thanks. Yeah.
Scott Fray:We got married on New Year's Eve.
Steven Hermann:That's awesome.
Scott Fray:Last New Year's Eve party in 1988?
Steven Hermann:Yeah. I bet heck yeah
Scott Fray:it was. In Indian Creek, Missouri.
Steven Hermann:Yeah. That's awesome. I'll try
Scott Fray:to find that on a map.
Steven Hermann:Well, tell me more about family.
Scott Fray:Yeah. Kids, my son, Nick, is 30 3. Yeah. Single and the world traveler. He's, I think he's getting back from Switzerland today.
Scott Fray:Oh, awesome. Snowboard snowboarding the Matterhorn.
Steven Hermann:Good for him.
Scott Fray:I believe I'm saying that about him.
Steven Hermann:That is that's cool.
Scott Fray:Yeah. He lives in Denver. That's his home base. Right. A computer coder.
Steven Hermann:Okay.
Scott Fray:Single. Travels the world. If he has Internet, he can work. So Yeah. So, yeah, we're real proud of him.
Scott Fray:That's cool. Financially independent, both our kids are. That's a big That's a big deal. That's a big success story. Our our daughter took the more traditional route.
Scott Fray:She's in, she's our kids were 16 months apart.
Steven Hermann:Okay.
Scott Fray:So she's, in Springfield with 2 of the cutest grandsons that you've ever met. So I tell all my friends with, that have grandkids that except for yours, I have the cutest grandbabies in Springfield. But her husband is an ER human ER doctor in Springfield. She's a speech pathologist, but right back, she's a stay at home mom with a 3 year old and a 1 year old boys. So Now she's got a lot of life ahead of her.
Steven Hermann:Were they born one of the grandkids born around the MBMA. Right?
Scott Fray:Yeah. Kelly always helps with the MBMA kids. Last year Yes. Last year. She almost helped deliver our
Steven Hermann:baby, our grandson, because the dad, who
Scott Fray:is an ER doctor, is working in the ER down the hallway and couldn't get away to help deliver his son. So he got there just in time. So yeah. Yeah. 1 of them is turning 1 next weekend during the convention or a week before.
Scott Fray:So Well, that's, that's awesome. That's the younger one.
Steven Hermann:I think that it's interesting. The, my wife Lauren and I met, she I was a freshman in in college in my year. She was graduating high school. She's a Hickman grad, same kind of deal. She had gone off to Maryville.
Steven Hermann:We're we're together, actually, but but we did. We we had a we had a time apart, and and she calls it the dark period.
Scott Fray:Right. Right. And then what ours was.
Steven Hermann:I I saw her on her birthday, her 21st birthday, actually, and I just knew. I was like, I'm an idiot. There's I'm an idiot. I she's she's the girl. Right?
Steven Hermann:And and that had a lot to do,
Scott Fray:do, I think, with our our success of that connection
Steven Hermann:and those things. I mean, I cried at my wedding. You know? And it was because I'm like, I can't believe that this is happening. Right.
Steven Hermann:I wasn't crying because I was you know? Right. That's the stereotype. So I that's wonderful. And 36 years of marriage, 2 kids, 2 grandkids, you couldn't ask for more.
Scott Fray:Find your life partner. That makes
Steven Hermann:a big deal with your success in life. Yeah. Yeah. Well, hey. We heard a connection over here earlier before we started.
Steven Hermann:Yeah.
Kale Flaspohler:Absolutely. So, you know, I grew up in Hannibal Mhmm. And just about 10 minutes ago figured out that you also grew up or spent some time in Hannibal. So let me know yeah. What tell us about where you're from.
Scott Fray:So I grew up in Monroe City, and for most people, we have to tell them that's 20 miles west of Hannibal because they've always heard of Monroe City, but they all know Hannibal. And if they don't they ever haven't heard of Hannibal, we just say Mark Twain, Tom Sawyer, Octane, you know, like Of course. Although, now we're getting old enough, I talk to a lot of younger people that they draw a blank when you say Mark Twain, Tom Sawyer.
Steven Hermann:Yeah. They don't they don't
Scott Fray:they don't get that. So, yeah, born and raised in Monroe City, Missouri.
Kale Flaspohler:Okay. All through high school?
Scott Fray:Yep.
Kale Flaspohler:In Monroe City and everything. Awesome. You so
Steven Hermann:what? Oh, shoot. I mean, so you know the Halls? You know, David Hall, Alan Hall? Yeah.
Steven Hermann:Those those are Lauren's my wife's uncles. Oh, okay. Her dad's Adam Hall. Okay. Do you know Adam?
Steven Hermann:I don't know. Dwayne?
Scott Fray:I know Alan Butch. Was closer to him.
Steven Hermann:Yeah. He's he's closer by the minute.
Scott Fray:In my brother's class. Yeah. We have 5 5 kids in my family, so there was we have go all that whole, like, 15 year period. We know everybody knows.
Steven Hermann:Many thanksgivings and Christmas up in Monroe City.
Scott Fray:Oh, really? Yeah. Hit the halls. Yeah. They lived out towards Honeywell, didn't they?
Steven Hermann:Oh, they did, but they moved to Monroe City later on.
Scott Fray:Yeah. And and, of course, we moved away, and and I graduated in 1983. So I haven't lived there for that long. In fact, my only ties now is Kelly still has some family there. I don't have any family left there.
Scott Fray:All my siblings are moved away, and mom's not there anymore. So my dad built the vet clinic in Monroe City is how we moved there.
Steven Hermann:Okay. K.
Kale Flaspohler:K. So you grew up in the in the veterinary space then?
Scott Fray:Yes yes and no. I did. My dad my dad built he graduated in 61. I was born on his 30th birthday. He was born in 6 or he graduated from Vetsuit in 61.
Scott Fray:I graduated 30 30 years later in 91, but he he died when I was 4 years old. He was he built the practice there. That was a car train accident. He got hit by a train. Oh, no.
Scott Fray:Yeah. I left
Steven Hermann:my I'm sorry to hear that.
Scott Fray:Yeah. I left my mom with 4 kids and under the age of 7 at 29 years of age. Wow. But I would say, not to make it a big emotional thing, I was 4 years old. I don't have a lot of memory of it.
Steven Hermann:Okay.
Scott Fray:But the clinic, the clinic, he built the clinic next door to our house. So I grew up in the house next door to the clinic, and doctor Jack Coleman bought the practice from my mom when my dad died. So one of my first jobs as a 13 year old was scooping poop in the vet clinic next door, walked across the yard, and there there it was. So, which as a result, doctor Coleman was one of my mom did a real good job of having male influence mentors, stuff like that. So Doctor Coleman and later doctor Bob Carson, doctor Imogene Haymayer, all all in that clinic.
Scott Fray:So yeah.
Kale Flaspohler:And Imogene's still there. Right?
Scott Fray:Yes. She is. Yep. Yeah. Yeah.
Scott Fray:Imogene's still there. I think doctor Coleman's still in there occasionally. Mhmm. Monica Otto, I think, is the primary right now.
Kale Flaspohler:So What a cool connection.
Scott Fray:Yeah.
Steven Hermann:What a
Kale Flaspohler:cool story. Uh-huh. So Yep. Yeah. No.
Kale Flaspohler:I don't know if you know. So, the foremans, I don't know if you know any of them. So my, girlfriend is a foreman, and her dad lived in went to Monroe City. They're from Rensselaer, which is even smaller than Monroe City.
Steven Hermann:Oh, lord.
Kale Flaspohler:So The Holses.
Scott Fray:There's a Holses in Rensselaer.
Kale Flaspohler:Yep. Yep. So, but, yeah, I grew up in Hannibal too. So I'm used to that Mark Twain reference of, you know, Mark Twain, Huck Finn. You know, that's kinda all we have, and that's what we we we, go by.
Kale Flaspohler:But, yeah, I I grew up on the river, so I knew all the islands that they talked about on the books. And, you know, we get out and, you know, go go imitate those books when I was
Scott Fray:in high school. You have to find the islands.
Kale Flaspohler:Yeah. Of course. Of course. So
Scott Fray:Right. Awesome.
Steven Hermann:I tell you, it helps shape the conversation and get to know and under you know, a little bit. Right? And it's interesting. What I always oh, I love doing this podcast is because when we're doing business consulting, right, or or we're seeing at the NBMA, it's never about each other.
Scott Fray:Right.
Steven Hermann:Right? It's about shop talk.
Scott Fray:Mhmm.
Steven Hermann:It's we we forget to get into learning about each other, what shapes us. Mhmm. Because there's a reason when you make a decision today, it literally you can tie it back to probably 4 years old.
Scott Fray:Mhmm.
Steven Hermann:That's a that's a big Yep. Big thing in your life. And so those things, you know, matter. And, yeah. I I I had no idea about that.
Steven Hermann:So Yeah. You know, that's that's something
Scott Fray:I go around telling. Yeah.
Steven Hermann:It's street corner. Yeah. You're not going to, and people aren't I think you're the correct me if I'm wrong. You're the kind of person, like, is gonna answer a question, but maybe not maybe not. You can dive right in, or you're gonna Right.
Steven Hermann:You're not gonna give it all up. Right? It's I'm not
Scott Fray:gonna walk up to you and say hi and then tell you my history.
Steven Hermann:Yeah. Yeah.
Scott Fray:Yeah. Although there's all the I mean, I'm gonna talk about my dad. There's a lot of the now older because now I'm one of the old vets, so it's a really older vets that still remember him and know me as doc Frey's son. Yeah. He graduated with, doctor Taylor.
Steven Hermann:Okay.
Scott Fray:He was a doctor
Steven Hermann:for my last one. Okay. K. So that's that's I that's amazing.
Scott Fray:Yeah.
Steven Hermann:A big tie in there, for sure. That's thanks for sharing that. Yeah. What more about, you know, family that you think that what's what makes you proud? Tell me about that.
Scott Fray:Well, your your kids, of course. I'm I'm proud of both my kids. They're, both, like I said, financially independent, and that's not just because that means I don't have to pay for them. It just means they have, they've had goals and have met them and Yeah. All that kind of stuff.
Scott Fray:Yeah. A typical parent and grandparent, I could talk all day about those about them too. But, so, yeah, that's, probably family. I mean, what was the question? What am
Steven Hermann:I proud? Just so proud. Yeah. Proud of family and those things are
Scott Fray:some I mean, we're here as a as a veterinary profession. No matter what we I'm proud of what I've done with the practice and my career.
Steven Hermann:So you grad yeah. You graduated MU
Scott Fray:Yep.
Steven Hermann:Veterinary school in 91. 91. Mhmm. Tell me what happens after that.
Scott Fray:I went to I just assumed that I was gonna be in a mixed animal practice, the traditional traditional full mixed practice. You know, everything. Dogs and cats and the morning, cat all afternoon, all that kind of stuff. So, Mike Spies was a Mizzou grad that that had a practice in southeast Nebraska, that he always liked the Mizzou graduates as preceptors of the or we called them free blocks back then. Externship preceptor.
Scott Fray:Whatever. It was free blocks because we didn't get paid or didn't wasn't required. You just did it because you wanted to. But
Steven Hermann:But you still paid for the credits.
Scott Fray:Right? Well, there was no credits then. You just had to it was
Steven Hermann:Oh, really? 4, 8 week free blocks. So literally. Okay.
Scott Fray:It's assumed that you're probably gonna wanna go work in a vet clinic if you can find 1, but there was no requirement and no credits or anything.
Steven Hermann:Okay. You get 4, 8 weeks off. It's not like it's a day where you're expected to go out.
Scott Fray:There's very few of us that took 8 weeks and went on a, you know, a beach vacation or something. Yeah. Anyway, that's how I that's how I found Mike's piece. Mhmm. And that was a, so I went to Auburn, Nebraska Right.
Scott Fray:For two and a half years. Where's Auburn, Nebraska? Very south it's it's the very southeast corner of Nebraska right across from Brownville, Missouri. Okay. It's a straight west of Maryville k.
Scott Fray:North of Saint Joe.
Steven Hermann:K.
Scott Fray:It's right in the corner. We did a little bit of practice in Iowa and Kansas and Missouri, mostly in in that little corner of Nebraska. Yeah. Great learning experience.
Steven Hermann:Mhmm.
Scott Fray:I think my rec my personal record was delivering 7 calves in one day, and, you know, 100 to 200 calves per day was not unusual. Yeah. I had a lot of background, and, I also it was my first positive equine practice experience. So, anyway, that was a that was what, out of school, that was a really great learning experience. But then, I mean, it'll go on into
Steven Hermann:Yeah. Keep going. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Steven Hermann:Absolutely.
Scott Fray:Another could turn into a really long story. We were passing through Missouri to go to a wedding, and I can't remember where, and Kelly had a classmate from college in interior. She Kelly's an interior designer by trade and education. So one of her college classmates, we met her for lunch in Boonville. Mhmm.
Scott Fray:I've never heard of Boonville other than I see it. When you go by I 70, everybody sees it because there's 3 exits
Steven Hermann:in that little bitty town. A gas station or food. Right?
Kale Flaspohler:Great Casey's.
Steven Hermann:Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Scott Fray:Even better now. So anyway, we met Susan for lunch, and just in passing when we were having lunch, I said, well, my brother-in-law is trying to sell his practice. You ought to give him a call. So we spent the weekend. We went back to went back to Auburn, and I had no I had no specific goal of, okay.
Scott Fray:I wanna be an owner or when or timeline or anything like that. But she gave me his number, so I called him. And Mhmm. Again, too long of a story to tell all the details, but we ended up buying Cooper County Animal Hospital in January 1, 1994. K.
Steven Hermann:It was Existing location? The existing building. Yeah. Building. Yeah.
Scott Fray:It was built by Greg Lance who graduated in 87, who was a local dairy farmer's family.
Steven Hermann:K.
Scott Fray:And he built the practice while he was in vet school. I think he put the building up on weekends, which there's some things about the building you can tell. It was done by a broke college student, but but it's still it's still, still going strong. But he built he built the practice with the with the known goal of becoming an an embryo transfer.
Steven Hermann:Okay.
Scott Fray:That's what he wanted to do, especially with his dairy background, which at the time that was that was almost 100% exclusively, dairy, for embryo transfer. So after he built it in 87, so by 94, his ET practice was busy enough. He wanted to unload this practice so that he could go concentrate on that. So as a result, the positive was it wasn't very expensive to buy the practice. Downside was it hadn't been really taken care of as far as the small animal, the companion animal, and the beef Mhmm.
Scott Fray:Side of it very well.
Steven Hermann:So The client the client list wasn't It
Scott Fray:wasn't real real. It wasn't real high.
Steven Hermann:Yeah. Yeah.
Scott Fray:Well, I tell you our gross income the 1st year versus what it was last year.
Steven Hermann:Yeah. It's a A little different.
Scott Fray:It's a little different.
Kale Flaspohler:So you didn't you walked right in and had not worked there,
Steven Hermann:or
Kale Flaspohler:had you?
Scott Fray:I had not worked there. I had never owned a business. I've never been a boss. I I was an associate. I did a lot of odd job, different work growing up, but Right.
Scott Fray:No management, no business background. My bachelor's degree was animal science with an econ emphasis. Yeah. That's probably the closest thing to business Yeah. Yeah.
Scott Fray:Yes. Expertise that I had. Yeah.
Kale Flaspohler:So what was the time frame? You see, you move you're living in Nebraska. You're negotiating a a deal on this practice. Right. So what's the time frame you move to Booneville and you walk in as the owner and veterinarian there?
Scott Fray:I think the first contact was it had to been in the summer because I remember going I think it I think the first contact was probably late summer, July, August, something like that. Mhmm. And after lots of conversations back and forth and a couple of drives from the 4 and a half drive from from Auburn to Boonville back and forth and negotiating on the phone and visiting, I think, the 3rd bank before we found one that would loan us money. So, yeah, I think it was about August to Jan to January, something like that.
Kale Flaspohler:Gotcha.
Scott Fray:Signed papers on January 1st or December 31st. I can't remember.
Kale Flaspohler:Gotcha. Gotcha. So did you did you move here, like, a week before you you walked in, or did you guys like, what was that transition like? Because that seems hectic in and of itself.
Scott Fray:Story. There's a lot of negotiating when you're when when our our biggest asset when we built the clinic was a 3 year old Cub Cadet lawnmower. It was worth more than our 2 vehicles we had at the time. So part of the I'm not joking.
Steven Hermann:A lot of the a
Scott Fray:lot of the negotiating, there was an old junk trailer trailer house in the in the driveway of the clinic, in the yard across the clinic, that green space across Yeah.
Steven Hermann:Yeah.
Scott Fray:Across the Yeah. Driveway. Yeah. So part of the negotiation was you can live in that trailer for up to up to a year for free.
Kale Flaspohler:Okay.
Scott Fray:Because, actually, Greg had it there. He used it for his, immigrant, farm workers to live in. K. Kelly swore when we finally moved out of our trailer after college that she I'd never get her into a trailer house again. So that's the number.
Steven Hermann:She's an interior designer. Exactly. Right. She's seen all those nice stuff, studied what a place should be like.
Scott Fray:So so, yeah, we moved that we moved that week, I think a week before or something. In fact, my my boss in Nebraska, I said, I think I'll leave, like, 2 weeks before the end of the year. And he said, oh, no. I said, I you you had me on call the last 2 Christmases. You're working this this one.
Scott Fray:So Okay. I think I can't remember. I might have sent Kelly on ahead with our 2 kids, which were, what, 23, I think, at
Steven Hermann:the time.
Scott Fray:Something like that.
Steven Hermann:Yeah. You you made a commitment. I mean, you're Yeah.
Scott Fray:Yeah. Yeah.
Kale Flaspohler:What was what was the motivation for that? I mean, what
Scott Fray:I thought about that, and I don't know for sure. I don't think there was ever a conscious I'm gonna be a practice owner, but I think there was always some kind of underlying known factor that I would be that I would at some point. Mhmm. So I can't really answer that, and I thought about that. I need a psychologist to tell me why.
Kale Flaspohler:Yeah. But no no family in Booneville? No no ties to Booneville? Just, you know, the deal happened to work out?
Scott Fray:Yep. It just I wasn't actively looking, but that just it just happened. Missouri called you home? They they did. And, actually, you can and you say no ties to Booneville.
Scott Fray:I actually I didn't know that I had as many ties as I did to Booneville. My mom's family farm was in between Otterville and Smithton, even smaller than Monroe City. Yeah. Yeah. Well, however that is.
Scott Fray:So, so Booneville was actually kinda halfway between, or, well, it's closer, to my grandparents', but, it's on the way between Monroe City and and, the home place. After several years, my mom actually moved back to the home place, so we're a lot closer to my mom now anyway and all my aunts and uncles. Cool. So Cooper County, which Booneville is the county city of Cooper County, my grandparents and therefore aunts and uncles and cousins are all in the other corner of Cooper County. So indirect ties that I didn't even think about at the time.
Scott Fray:Yeah. We just wandered around Booneville saying, that's a nice little town. I think we can make a go of it here.
Steven Hermann:So you you come in now. You're an owner of of this practice.
Scott Fray:Right.
Steven Hermann:And it sounds like this practice is you're gonna have to build it.
Scott Fray:I don't like the word floundering, but it wasn't it wasn't, yeah.
Steven Hermann:Yeah. Yeah. You're on a plateau. It wasn't thriving. It wasn't like it is today where Right.
Steven Hermann:You actually have goodwill. Right? Like, you Right. Right? There's goodwill.
Steven Hermann:There's clients. There's people that trust the the name. All those kinds of things have been built. Has a has a has a legacy already to it. So you walk in there.
Steven Hermann:What what happens? What what's that first year look like?
Scott Fray:Yeah. The first thing I did when I walked in, which at the time, there was another doctor working there. There was not another doctor there and 2 older older women that were receptionist, technician, kennel help, janitor,
Steven Hermann:all that. So the
Scott Fray:1st day I walked in, I said, look, I'm not changing anything. For the 1st few months here, you're gonna tell me how my practice runs. You're gonna tell me how this works. Yeah. And then so then it was a very gradual evolution into now 2 2 to 2 and a half doctor practice with a dozen employees.
Steven Hermann:And What told you to 30 or 3. Approach it that way and not not come in and be like, we're gonna what
Scott Fray:what Yeah. Why? Instinct. Yeah. Instinct.
Scott Fray:I'm not I'm a I'm a lot better at a big picture, 20,000 foot view. I'm not very good at the details. That's good. But it is as long as I find the right people that are good at details. Oh, sometimes I've been a success
Steven Hermann:What's her name? Kelly?
Scott Fray:I think so. Yeah. Right. Right. Who she evolved into being the practice managers our office manager, anyway.
Scott Fray:So, yeah, I don't know. It was instinct that Mhmm. In, the the 20,000 foot view that Yeah. I knew I didn't I knew that there would be, I mean, being empathetic towards the staff that were there. So I got this new guy.
Scott Fray:They don't know me. Mhmm. I'm this young punk new vet that doesn't know anything coming in here, taking over the practice, and it it worked out well.
Steven Hermann:But it was good. You had you already had small animal, large animal experience. So Yeah. You're I had
Scott Fray:the medical experience I had become. That was why that Nebraska situation was such a, such a positive because that was an excellent learning experience. Mhmm. That was a throw the throw me to the wolves thing, which also is probably good because I made all my mistakes in Nebraska.
Kale Flaspohler:Nobody knew who you were. Right.
Scott Fray:Nobody knew that. Oh, that's Don Fraser, son. We were
Steven Hermann:like Free free social media. Yeah.
Scott Fray:Exactly. Yeah. So I I had I had got a comfort level, with the medical part of it. Mhmm. So I was ready
Steven Hermann:to take a look at it. Was in there?
Scott Fray:It had a Vietnam era X-ray machine k. With the old dip tanks. Yeah. Gosh. The the most basic, an old old, methoxyflurane anesthesia machine.
Scott Fray:K. Most vets don't even know what that is now. So it was pretty basic. Uh-huh. Pretty basic.
Scott Fray:It was computerized.
Steven Hermann:Okay.
Scott Fray:Very early. Yeah. It was kind of a early adapter as far as
Steven Hermann:That's smart.
Scott Fray:It wasn't not nearly paperless, but, but still. Very basic. Actually, it was just inventory and, some of the accounting. Mhmm. It was the early cornerstone IDEX.
Scott Fray:It was PSI before that.
Steven Hermann:Yeah.
Scott Fray:Years before.
Steven Hermann:Yeah. No. That's that's smart, though, to be honest. I think well, inventory shoot. You got an inventory question.
Steven Hermann:I could Yeah.
Kale Flaspohler:Yeah. So, I mean, I I know, you know, speaking with Wes and some things, that inventory or your inventory system was impeccable.
Scott Fray:That's good. You've been, like, you know, makes for Kelly hears this because that's that's she's
Steven Hermann:is that's totally worth it. And go, Kelly, this is for you. Kelly,
Scott Fray:this is yeah.
Kale Flaspohler:No. But but so talk about that because that's something that that really does truly drive profit is having a great inventory system that is well maintained and properly, accounted for. And so how did you accomplish that?
Scott Fray:I well, I think that's because it's back to that 20,000 foot view is that I I understood pretty early on just instinctively, that inventory was a really big deal. I mean, I'm the one writing a check, so I see what I pay for what we what's in the building, and I see how much waste if something gets disappears or gets outdated and you throw it away. It's killed me to throw away a bottle of, whatever amoxicillin because it's outdated because we didn't catch it on the shelf. Right. So I started that and computerization helped, but I started that just doing regular counts and being really that's one thing I was pretty picky about is, knowing what was in the building and markups and, and all that kind of stuff.
Scott Fray:And then and then gradually, when Kelly when the her kids got in school, she says she got sucked into the practice when, that was the one of the logical things for her to take over when she started working in the practice. So she carried on that, and she's much more detail oriented than I am. So
Steven Hermann:Mhmm.
Scott Fray:She kept really good track of that.
Steven Hermann:Yeah. Interior designer. I mean, that's A little detail.
Scott Fray:Right. Right.
Steven Hermann:Yeah. Detail oriented,
Scott Fray:mind.
Kale Flaspohler:So So they they were telling me that out of all the line items in your system, there were 3 that weren't right or something at the end, which is out of a 1000 or 1500 or 2,000. That's an incredible incredible feat.
Scott Fray:Well, we spent that last couple, 3 months before the transition of Kelly being, well, even Uber particular more than usual about that. And I kept telling Kelly that there's if there's 998 pills instead of 1,000 in that bottle, that's not something to chase. But that's how that happened that she did chase that. Yeah. Those 2 pills.
Kale Flaspohler:But I think that there's an there's something to be said, though, about knowing that because, I mean, if you do that over time and you know within 2 pills or something like that, you know, you're gonna be much more successful over over time.
Scott Fray:The the the line that you have to watch as the owner that's also, the veterinarian is you have to be careful that you're not so adamant about inventory that you don't have things in the building that you need. Yeah. Yeah. And that's where the business versus the medical comes into play. You have to be careful about that, which I I did an okay job with that.
Scott Fray:I think there are some things that I probably should've had more in inventory or get more, different newer, medicines or, things that, maybe I couldn't, but that's the trade off. So
Steven Hermann:Yeah. It's it's tough that we talk about the business mindset versus the veterinarian mindset. Right? Because as you said, you're you're trained to be a veterinarian. And so what you're thinking about over there, most interesting enough, you had a business mindset, you know, on the inventory.
Steven Hermann:Most veterinarians would be like, just stock the shelf full. We don't wanna run out Right. An animal, but, you know, it it's a it's a fine line to walk and especially seasonality. Right? Right.
Scott Fray:And there's there's where the art part of it comes in. There's my interior designer, she's attention to detail, but there's the artist part of it.
Steven Hermann:Yeah.
Scott Fray:There's an art to that Yeah. To that too. Yeah. You're you know, that's something I something I forgot about. How how did we do that early on?
Scott Fray:We did actually go through some intentional CE type inventory management focused, things. PDP, again, I'm showing my age, but PDP was a buying cooperative that was really successful for a lot of years, and they they had a, they had some really good inventory management CE that was helpful. You have your a items, your b items, your c items. Your a items, don't worry about overstocking. You can't run out of those.
Scott Fray:Heartworm preventive flea and tick control, basic antibiotics, and then you got your b items, you know, that that kind of thing. Mhmm. That that that helped, helped us both, me and Kelly, both a lot as far as understanding inventory management better. So
Steven Hermann:Yeah. Straight retail talk right there.
Scott Fray:Yeah.
Steven Hermann:Right. From a former grocer. Yeah.
Scott Fray:Right. You know about that.
Steven Hermann:Oh, yeah. Yeah. You put your AI items at eye level. Make sure you got them. We got into
Scott Fray:a little bit of that.
Steven Hermann:I was I got
Scott Fray:a little uncomfortable being a veterinarian that I, on one hand, I didn't want to be a veterinary. I didn't wanna be a pet pet supply store that also had medicine, but I also want to supply the basic, you know, callers and leashes and, you know, pet odor eliminator candles and thing things like that. Yeah. There's that line too of what kind of image do you wanna portray. There is.
Scott Fray:And and if if you wanna be a pet store that also has a vet in vet appointments, that's great. That's not what I wanted to do with ours.
Steven Hermann:So Yeah. Talk about that. That's, like, what a great transition and a great what what what what is that image, that Cooper County Animal Hospital that doctor Frey wanted?
Scott Fray:We want we wanna be, nice guys. We we we wanna think those people are nice. K. Yeah. Like, if you can sum it up that way, you know, they don't you've you've all heard it.
Scott Fray:They don't care how much you know until they know how much you care. You know? Oh, yeah. Absolutely. So that was my biggest focus is, as far as hiring staff and that kind of thing is I wanna be known as as, as a clinic where the doctors and the staff are nice and friendly.
Steven Hermann:Yeah.
Scott Fray:And then throw in some empathy and common sense too. That's, yeah, that that was you you could probably sum up my how I wanted Cooper County Animal Hospital to be or the image or whatever. Mhmm. I could sum it up. That's that's that's a Nice folks.
Steven Hermann:That's the way to do it, period. Right? Because you do that, your clients, probably friends, are gonna talk about you too. Right? In the right way in the community.
Scott Fray:Small town. I've got clients. A a good percentage of our clients now are my kids' classmates and friends.
Steven Hermann:Mhmm.
Scott Fray:Because I've and their parents were classmates. I mean, clients ever since we got there.
Steven Hermann:So Yeah.
Scott Fray:So, yeah, we know these people. We see them in town every day. Yeah. Grocery store, Walmart, church. Yes.
Scott Fray:Full functions.
Steven Hermann:Well, you mentioned that it pivot away from the practice a little bit to community. You've talked about community involvement. Mhmm. You know, being on boards, you know, from being on rotary. I'm doing all those things that how'd how'd you get involved with that?
Scott Fray:When you're if if you're a veterinarian in a small town, when I was in vet school, I don't remember which who said it, doctor Niemeyer, doctor somebody that Mhmm. One of the said, you go to a small town, which back then, I I was kinda in that transition when before me, like my dad's generation, most people went to a small town. Mhmm. I was kinda in the middle or 5050. Now most people go to a big town.
Scott Fray:Yeah. But at the time, they they told us in vet school, you know, you go to a small town, you are going to be a celebrity in your small town. Yeah. Everybody will know you. Mhmm.
Scott Fray:So, you know, just be be aware of that. Right. So So how do I get involved? People start asking you to be on boards and be involved in this, that, and the other. And I think we said before we started recording, you don't do that because it helps the practice.
Scott Fray:But if you're doing it for the right reasons, it helps the practice.
Steven Hermann:It does. Well, you're you're involved with, let's say, Rotary Church. Right? I mean, the the right things.
Scott Fray:Rotary Church, Chamber of Commerce, no school board. No yeah. They started talking
Steven Hermann:about that.
Scott Fray:Yeah. So, yeah, pretty much all the things in a small town.
Steven Hermann:Yeah. Yeah. It's interesting. Back grocery day, same thing. I was rotary, chamber of commerce.
Steven Hermann:I did the school board thing, which wasn't a bad deal. Yeah. It was before. It was when everything was pretty, pretty level. So
Scott Fray:Right.
Steven Hermann:So it was good. But, no. Glad to see you do that. I think that's today, it's it's getting involved is so it's tough because there's so many everyone's got a a cause now. Right?
Steven Hermann:And and a rotary, I wanna get plugged a rotary. That's a great organization.
Scott Fray:It is.
Steven Hermann:Yeah. I mean, that they polio?
Scott Fray:Yep. Yep. And yep. Cured that?
Steven Hermann:World just about right?
Scott Fray:Pocket in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and they Yeah. Or the tribe leaders won't let them go in and vaccinate because they don't trust them. But Yeah. And there's little pockets blip up every now and then across the world. But for the most part, yep, Rotary International has been as responsible as anybody for eliminating polio in the world.
Steven Hermann:But a great community organization too, raising their functions for the community, raising money, and all that stuff.
Scott Fray:Fundraiser coming up in a couple months. What do you got? Trivia night every year.
Steven Hermann:Yeah.
Scott Fray:That's our that's our big fundraiser. I got tickets for $100 to win this prepaid trip trip to Aruba or something.
Steven Hermann:Where's the where the funds go for? What's the
Scott Fray:cost? Well, the the club in general k. Which we give a lot to Rotary International and to Pollo Plus
Steven Hermann:Yeah.
Scott Fray:But it's our annual fundraiser. We do a lot with the schools. There's reading programs at all all the, all the grade schools. We're trying to move into the middle schools a little bit also. That's kinda been our big focus the last few years is reading.
Steven Hermann:Mhmm.
Scott Fray:And we do a lot like the buddy packs at the schools. Right. Scholarships? Yep. Yep.
Scott Fray:We got 3 different scholarships, named after former, Rotarians. Two different scholarships that we give to 3 kids.
Steven Hermann:That's wonderful. Yeah. That's wonderful. Yeah. Glad to hear it.
Scott Fray:Good organization.
Steven Hermann:Yeah. So you you you got involved in community. Mhmm. Being nice being yeah. I mean, that's Yep.
Steven Hermann:And isn't that the golden rule kinda?
Scott Fray:Be a nice guy. And and, you know, there's you get altruistic about it too is the, you know, the communities the community is supporting me and my family. Yes. They're trusting me
Steven Hermann:Yes.
Scott Fray:To do that. So giving back is, you know, you wanna give back to the community too. It's easier to do in a small town too.
Steven Hermann:It it boils down to as simple as that. Right?
Scott Fray:Yeah.
Steven Hermann:It's not simple to execute on because there's a lot of moving parts, but I think that's a great point to bring out as we talk about private practice ownership
Scott Fray:Yeah.
Steven Hermann:Key to success in any community. I mean, even if it is a big community, if you're in Saint Louis, they're they're little communities. It's a little community of a bigger community. So it's still the same. You're still gonna be at the grocery store on the corner going, I know you.
Steven Hermann:You're my veterinarian. Right? Right. I guarantee you can't get out of the grocery without without someone grabbing your ear and asking you some animal questions. So that's wonderful.
Steven Hermann:That's love love hearing all about that.
Kale Flaspohler:You mentioned community and supporting your family and and all those things. Talk a little bit about what it was like moving to a completely new community. You don't know anybody there. You now own the business. You have a very young family, and you also have a practice that is probably pretty demanding.
Kale Flaspohler:And how do how do you work all those things together?
Scott Fray:You know, you could you're young and and dumb enough that you don't know that you can't do it. Yeah.
Steven Hermann:Yeah. Ignorance is bliss
Scott Fray:a little bit? Nobody nobody told me you can't do that, and if they would have, I probably would have said, yeah, watch me.
Steven Hermann:Yeah. So there there is a
Scott Fray:there's a little bit of ignorance is bliss in a young person. I was 30 well, I was 29. I bought the practice when I for my 29th birthday and sold it for my 60th birthday, almost to Yeah. Almost to the day. So, yeah, a lot of ignorance and just, intestinal fort what did he say?
Scott Fray:Intestinal fortitude and creative financing. That's how I
Steven Hermann:Yes. How I
Scott Fray:made it work. And and, really, it's as simple as that as it didn't really cross my mind that this is not a smart thing to do. You're gonna fail. It's you can't be done, whatever. I had a member sitting across arguing with a banker when I showed him the balance sheet of the clinic, profit and loss.
Scott Fray:And he said, he looked at that, and he slid across and said, you can't make a living doing this. I said, yes. You can. Here's the you can do this, this. I was showing him my figures that I thought, and so I said, yes, you can.
Scott Fray:It's like this. And so I went back to, went back to Auburn to Nebraska that weekend. I called him up on Monday. He said he said, yeah, Ben. I beat you up pretty hard.
Scott Fray:I didn't think I'd hear from you again. Yeah. I'll loan you the money. How we got the bank loan. That's awesome.
Scott Fray:So, yeah, I don't know how to answer that question. I didn't know any better. You just do it. I thought this is what my next step is, and, I remember the first when we the first time we met with doctor Lenz and his wife, me and Kelly, we drove away, and Kelly looked and said, you wanna buy this place, don't you? I said, yes.
Scott Fray:I do. She said, okay. We're in. And she she never doubted me. Kinda probably speaks of her her wisdom.
Kale Flaspohler:That's that's that's a good story. I mean, you know, and ignorance is bliss. That that makes a lot of sense. You don't know what you don't know, and you're willing to try things that you may not try if you had something to something to lose.
Scott Fray:That really was what and and, really, I didn't have much to lose because we did talk about that. What if it fails?
Steven Hermann:Yeah. What if it goes broke?
Scott Fray:What if we can't pay the loan? Said, well, I've got my DBM degree.
Steven Hermann:Mhmm.
Scott Fray:I don't go said it's not like we're it's not like we won't have other options. And and early on, I had my degree and, didn't have absolute ties to any place.
Steven Hermann:Right.
Scott Fray:So worst case, I could've moved anywhere that and back then, veterinarians weren't, as in demand as they are now, but in mixed animal practice, I could've found another job.
Kale Flaspohler:Yeah. Well, it sounds like you might have just lost a super nice lawnmower.
Scott Fray:Exactly.
Steven Hermann:Yeah. If
Kale Flaspohler:that's what you collateralized. My lawnmower.
Scott Fray:Right. Wasn't that nice of a lawnmower?
Steven Hermann:Well, you know, you've been you've been running and going. I mean, raising a family, running a business, and and you're like, how did I get to this? And Yeah. Maybe another doctor comes into Cooper County, and you'll have a chance to reflect and have an introspection. We can talk about that down the road.
Steven Hermann:I think you've had a lot of experiences that subconsciously are in there. Mhmm. And plus, you you mentioned you had an ag econ degree. Yeah. Right?
Steven Hermann:And so, yeah, what they didn't really teach you to run a business, but you knew how to look at a balance sheet. You now look at a profit and loss. You you know how to run some numbers. Right?
Scott Fray:Yeah. I kind of did. Probably, probably our personal our personal budgeting was probably close to but that that's kinda I don't I don't think hobby, but interest of mine is crunching numbers anyway.
Steven Hermann:Right.
Scott Fray:Because you say I knew how to read a balance sheet. Not really. I knew, but I I could figure those out. It made sense to me. Mhmm.
Scott Fray:Profit and loss and balance sheet,
Steven Hermann:but I but I didn't really know how to read one.
Scott Fray:I maybe thought I did when I told that banker, yes, I can.
Steven Hermann:See these
Scott Fray:see these These these numbers.
Steven Hermann:Well, you have to.
Scott Fray:Yeah.
Steven Hermann:You have to. So that that's important. It's a big part of being a business owner is is understanding numbers or finding resources to help you understand those numbers, and that's that's a big part.
Scott Fray:There's the finding the resources, which I wasn't good at good at that early on. Internet and reading books and stuff like that was my main source early on. So
Steven Hermann:That's not a bad thing. No. Educating yourself. Yeah. You're highly educated and continue to educate yourself.
Steven Hermann:So wonderful. Glad to hear that. K. What more you got over there that you've got in your question list?
Kale Flaspohler:My my bigger question was, you know, you purchased a clinic in the nineties Mhmm. And you've now sold a clinic in in the in 2020. So almost a 30 year gap between those two experiences. Yep. What was the what were the similarities, and what were the differences maybe, if you could speak to those?
Scott Fray:I might have a hard time coming up with similarities.
Kale Flaspohler:Okay. That's fine. Didn't go to differences.
Scott Fray:Different. Mhmm. I mean, that was that was I mean, first of all, the practice was less than a tenth of the gross income that it is now. Mhmm. So there's that.
Scott Fray:So the the just the the dollars are are so much less. And then part of it was my personality and doctor Linds' personality, and part of it was we just didn't worry about getting too picky about it. It was basically a handshake agreement in a local general law practice that kinda threw some documents together, then the bank gave him the money and they started paying back the money. And it was pretty much as simple as that. In hindsight, I wish I would have had somebody like ProPartners or somebody because there were some things that I did that should have been done differently, but it all turned out okay in the in the long run.
Scott Fray:So, as far as, the and then so now we get to 30 years later, and we really need the expertise of somebody, not only for the negotiating, but the legal and the permitting and the, and the payroll and the everything that had evolved from then to now. Mhmm.
Steven Hermann:It
Scott Fray:was so much different. I think similarities is probably just the anxiety of the of the buyer. Yeah. Well and and of the seller too. I mean, there was Right.
Scott Fray:There was some stress and anxiety, there too. But, so that's about the only thing that's similar that I can think of. But Right. The differences are great in many, just a whole different world. It was kind of beneficial that the practice was a little bit floundering
Steven Hermann:Mhmm.
Scott Fray:Because I yes. What do you how did it work when I first stepped foot in the in in the door as the new owner, new boss? The practice wasn't busy enough to keep me from doing a lot of the management type stuff too. Mhmm.
Steven Hermann:Forced you into that.
Scott Fray:Yeah. Yeah. I was able to spend time doing that because the the schedule was not packed full of appointments all day every day. Mhmm.
Steven Hermann:So when
Kale Flaspohler:you did that, were there any fears that you guys had that came true? They're like, you know, you sit there and you do these things, and you might get anxious about things like that. Was there anything that came true or, you know, maybe didn't come true that you really thought were was gonna be a problem?
Scott Fray:I don't think so. Okay. Any of the worst fears?
Kale Flaspohler:Yeah. Because I think we always have these big fears of, like, what if this, what if that, and most of the time, they never happen the way that you think they're going to.
Scott Fray:You're right. I don't think they I don't think any of the worst fears did. I mean, number 1, am I gonna go broke Right. And then not have a place to house my family,
Steven Hermann:you know,
Scott Fray:with all this debt. I mean, that was obviously the biggest one. What if people don't like me? What if I mess up and lose my license because I made some big mistake? Those are kinda the worst fears.
Scott Fray:I mean, the little fears are can I make payroll next month, which those came true quite frequently?
Kale Flaspohler:Yeah.
Steven Hermann:Yeah.
Scott Fray:Those first 2 or 3 years, Kelly would say I'd say, do
Steven Hermann:you need the paycheck? And she
Scott Fray:said, well, I can at least have something,
Steven Hermann:a rent check
Scott Fray:or something. So
Steven Hermann:Yeah.
Scott Fray:That was that. I I suppose talking through it, maybe that one came through came through quite a bit, but it was it was never a, oh, we're never gonna make it. Yeah. It was close enough that we didn't think we'd make it.
Kale Flaspohler:Always finding a way to make it.
Scott Fray:Fear if a fear came through that I couldn't find a bank to loan me the money, but then I just kept going going to more banks.
Steven Hermann:Your grit. You have grit. You're persistent. Yeah.
Scott Fray:Yeah. And I think it was more young youth ignorance that I didn't know better.
Steven Hermann:I think there's probably an underlying thought out there to go, how how did you grow the practice? How did you get people to say, come to Cooper County Animal Hospital?
Scott Fray:Yeah. There's, it's back to being the nice guys. Yeah. It's back to treating people with, treating people how they wanna be treated and their animals and and showing that you care. It it really is as simple as that.
Steven Hermann:Mhmm.
Scott Fray:I didn't have stated goals. I did I wasn't that's where we've evolved into now that it's good that, good that somebody's taking over that, that will do that extra, write things down, have specific goals, have people that help them do that because I've I've did the whole thing by kinda by the seat of my pants because it really didn't have specific stated goals. Here's how I'm gonna grow the practice. This is my I I had financial goals every year. Mhmm.
Scott Fray:But it's just treat people like they wanna be treated. It really is as simple as that.
Steven Hermann:It wasn't marketing. It it was word-of-mouth. There was
Scott Fray:marketing consisted of being involved in the community Mhmm. Word-of-mouth.
Steven Hermann:Yeah. Yeah. We
Scott Fray:get a reputation for being good, you know, good doctors that that like my pets.
Steven Hermann:Mhmm. Yeah. We you know, Keil and I did a thing on marketing, and it gets back to well, it's word-of-mouth. People people come in and try selling a marketing package. Uh-huh.
Steven Hermann:And it's hard to go, did it work? It didn't work. I you can't Right. What we talked about that, like, you know, find a new client. It's like, well, we're at convention 2 years ago, and that person is now calling us 2 years later.
Steven Hermann:So how do you put a dollar on all those kind of you just have to be out there smiling and
Scott Fray:There's that you don't know what you do now is gonna help you next month, next year, whatever. Yeah. But even when you're when you're doing that marketing, like I said before, you can't you can't do it. You can't be nice to people because that's good for the business. Yeah.
Scott Fray:You gotta be nice to people because that's the right thing to do, and that will grow your business.
Kale Flaspohler:Well, people can see that too and sense that.
Steven Hermann:You can't fake it. That's fine. You can't fake it.
Scott Fray:Yeah. That's kinda what I'm saying.
Kale Flaspohler:Yeah. Your rep
Steven Hermann:that's your reputation. Yeah. Exactly. Your reputation will show through. You can fake it for probably 6 to 12 months.
Scott Fray:Yeah.
Steven Hermann:Right. And then the next year, you're gonna be like, I don't think that guy is Right.
Scott Fray:You know, they know. Always said.
Steven Hermann:Yeah. You had the the biggest marketing still word-of-mouth.
Scott Fray:And the and the other the other marketing you tell you tell you, which is in the same category as the the staff that I have hired over the years Mhmm. Again, it's evolved a little bit, so we do need a little more, you know, registered RVTs versus trained on the job or more Right. Now than they used to be, things like that. But even hiring people, I always said, I don't care what your skill set is or what you've done in the past. I wanna know what your personality is.
Scott Fray:I can train you to be a a an assistant. Yeah. Absolutely. I can train you to be assistant or a receptionist. I wanna know that you're a nice person that has some common sense and some empathy.
Scott Fray:Yeah. And that's that's that's been my marketing.
Steven Hermann:So, basically, we don't wanna hire assholes. That's pretty yeah. There you go.
Scott Fray:We've done a pretty good job of keeping the assholes out of
Steven Hermann:our That's like, you know, in the manual, it's like, don't do stupid shit. Exactly. Period. You know, alright, that's it. Can we move on to the next the next part?
Scott Fray:That's a my staff manual has this, like, like, doctor Frey's philosophy. I should have brought a copy of it because I can't remember all of them. But, but, yeah, the the kind of that show them they don't care how much
Steven Hermann:you know until they, you know, how much you care.
Scott Fray:That's part of it. Yeah. Another thing is the take care of your staff so they stay happy. Yeah. One of my staff manual philosophies is they, spend all our time on the good clients and let somebody else deal with the bad clients.
Scott Fray:And in addition to that, ability or ability to pay is not the only thing that defines a good client. Mhmm. We've had good clients that have no problem paying big money, some of our top clients income wise, and they're assholes.
Steven Hermann:Yeah.
Scott Fray:Yeah. I don't want my staff to have to deal with that. So, which I didn't do a very good job of there's some clients over the years I should have fired quicker than I have.
Steven Hermann:But Yeah.
Scott Fray:That's just if you're a nice person, it's hard to do.
Steven Hermann:Yeah. So It it yeah. You gotta make payroll. Right. In in business, we have yeah.
Steven Hermann:We we would like the ideal business to run this way. Right?
Scott Fray:Mhmm.
Steven Hermann:But business is business. There's gonna be some gray areas, and as long as your staff goes, hey. I know this person, what they're gonna do, how they're gonna say, I got your back. Mhmm. Let's take let's take care of them still, and then send them out out.
Steven Hermann:Yeah. Right? Right. And if they cross a certain line, then, yeah. The yeah.
Steven Hermann:They're not king. Yeah. They're not king. So that that's wonderful. I like I like a philosophy.
Steven Hermann:I like those things. That's a key to successful business for, yeah, over 30 years.
Scott Fray:Mhmm.
Steven Hermann:And then, yeah, moving into what what sparked it and said it's it's time? Time to sell. Let me clarify that.
Scott Fray:COVID was the was the straw that broke the camel's back. Okay. But it's been it's been a few years of thinking. I keep telling people I'm not burned out Yeah. But I'm tired.
Steven Hermann:Mhmm.
Scott Fray:You know, I did my thing. It's not for somebody to come along that's that doesn't just do the seat of their pants like I did because that worked great as a one doctor, 3 employee practice. But Yeah. What it's evolved into now, it needs to be somebody somebody that's ready to take it on to the next level.
Steven Hermann:Mhmm.
Scott Fray:So, but COVID wore me out Yeah. As a business owner. My gosh. Dealing with and it it yeah. Was
Steven Hermann:you hear me? 61 this year?
Scott Fray:Just turned 60.
Steven Hermann:Just turned 60. Yeah. So looking at that, you know, it's interesting because there's, like, this magical thing of, like, sometimes a lot of times when someone's 60, they got COVID experience, they're still, like, because you're making money. Mhmm. Business is running well.
Steven Hermann:And so a lot of times, 60 year olds are, like, why would I wanna sell this right now?
Scott Fray:Well, and there's that. Money. There is that because that's that was, I I have said that is that I'm not when when we decided, okay, we're getting serious here. Let's see if doctor Ryder's ready to, ready to purchase. And I'd I'd made the statement that I'm not selling the practice because of the money.
Steven Hermann:If
Scott Fray:I wanted more money, I'd keep owning the practice because it's doing pretty good for us. Yeah. I'm selling because I'm tired. I'm just ready for somebody else. I wanna be the employee and and help animals and let somebody else deal with the headaches.
Scott Fray:Yeah.
Steven Hermann:Well, you see that you talk about seeing a 20,000 foot view and having doctor Ryder then. Oh, yeah. Was that also like, I've got an opportunity here? Oh, yeah. And so if if I don't do this now, may I may not have an opportunity in 5 years?
Scott Fray:Yeah. Absolutely. And she's been with us 17 years. Yeah. So it's not like we didn't know the we're we're known entities to each other.
Kale Flaspohler:Right.
Scott Fray:She's been the longest well, by far, the longest associate that we've had. And Mhmm. And she's local, grew up there. Mhmm. Family's there, all that all that stuff.
Scott Fray:So, yeah, we'd we'd mentioned it and talked to it off and on for, gosh, 10 years or more.
Steven Hermann:Mhmm.
Scott Fray:She's got to a stage in her life she was ready to get serious, and k. I was ready to
Steven Hermann:you betcha. I'm ready to How'd that conversation start between the 2 of you? Like, the the real it's gonna happen conversation.
Scott Fray:So the way it happened was about every year, we kind of we kind of nudge to say, hey. We need to get together, her and Keith Mhmm. Doctor Reider and her husband, Keith. Me and Kelly would say, we need we need to get together and, you know, talk about what the plan is for next year, you know, what's going on. So, the and and they're they're so busy with their family.
Scott Fray:Three boys, cattle farm. Yeah. He travels a lot. They're so busy. But we didn't push because we, you know, it's a you know, they said it'd be on your schedule, not ours because you have more free time or we have more free time than you do.
Scott Fray:So earlier, earlier last year, March ish, they said they wanted to have a meeting. We probably looked at each other. Well, okay, let's go. Shit might get real. So, no.
Scott Fray:Anyway, I mean, we was kinda dumb joking, but
Steven Hermann:I know. I thought, yeah. They wanted
Scott Fray:they wanted me. It's so cool. So we sat down and they said, they said, okay. We're ready to Mhmm.
Steven Hermann:We're
Scott Fray:ready to get serious about this. And at that time, they had apparently already contacted ProPartners because, wait, or was that the other they contacted about? I don't remember the exact, but I think they had already done that. So they so and we were like, oh, man. They're gonna offer us what are they gonna offer us?
Scott Fray:How are we gonna start the negotiations? Basically, they wanted to let us know that they had started the wheels turning to get you guys involved.
Steven Hermann:Right. Right.
Scott Fray:And, started. And at that point, we set a stated date of 1st of the year. Mhmm. I thought that'd be great because that's 30 years 31 years exactly to the time we bought the place. So so that's how the conversation started.
Scott Fray:It had been mentioned, quite a few times over the years. Hecht, she worked for 4 or 5 years, and I said, you ought to start buying into the practice now and gradual that I had this in my mind. It was could have been a gradual
Steven Hermann:Right.
Scott Fray:Purchase over, and then the x year in the future, it goes to 51% use. And but, she I think this timing in her life and the Mhmm. Everything else going on with her, didn't, that that didn't work out well, but it sure did work out well this past year or so.
Steven Hermann:That's that's exciting. Yeah. Really. I'm always curious how those things because, you know, when we talked to you talk mentioned, doctor Tucker, her story there with, she just went in. It's like, I wanna buy it to the she had worked there before, wasn't working there, wanted to own.
Steven Hermann:And it's always interesting here how yeah. How do people Yeah. What do you do? And I think veterinarian veterinary associates, they don't know how to start the conversation nor do a lot of practice owners because am I gonna scare the person off? Do they wanna own?
Scott Fray:Kinda had the whole corporate thing looming over us too, which Yeah. I think she was watching to see if I if I was given any indication that I was getting offers, and I wasn't any legitimate offers. Right.
Steven Hermann:Kicking the tires, skimming our numbers. A day. Yeah. They they want your numbers.
Scott Fray:Top dollar for practices. Yeah. Yeah. Right. You know, when you see my practice, you won't give me top dollar
Steven Hermann:for it.
Scott Fray:But, so I think there was a little bit of concern. Mhmm. I I'm speaking for her, but then I'd so I don't know, but I think that there was some concern that there may have been some corporate. And I agree with her. She didn't wanna work for corporate practice
Steven Hermann:at
Scott Fray:all possible. Yeah. And I would have preferred not to sell a corporate even though when I see some of the dollars that they supposedly were giving. Yeah. But again, my practice that that was not as attractive to a corporate, most of the corporate.
Steven Hermann:Yeah. No. And they've gotten even more strict recently, especially the kinda the corporate senior of them over they're saturated now.
Scott Fray:Yeah.
Steven Hermann:And the multiples aren't carrying what they used to carry, and they found out that, if I buy a practice, I'm really buying a veterinarian. That's what they're buying. Right? It's veterinarian, and they only have a 2 year contract. And in 2 years, they go, I don't like working here, and I'm gone.
Steven Hermann:Then they don't have anything. So it's not Yeah. It's not like buying a retail location with inventory and equipment.
Scott Fray:Yeah.
Steven Hermann:You're buying wrong wording. Right? Buying people, but Right. You kind of are.
Scott Fray:Well, I know.
Steven Hermann:You kind of are before a limited time.
Scott Fray:I have an opinion of where that's gonna go in 10 to 15 years. Sure. Yeah. I'll be watching from the sidelines and see if I'm correct or not.
Steven Hermann:I think you're gonna have some of them turn out to be really good companies. Right? You have some and then you'll have some that'll just they'll fold. That's the world. Lose their money
Scott Fray:and Yes. Mhmm.
Steven Hermann:The high risk. It's the swing back and forth of things. And And
Scott Fray:they and a lot of them know that some of them are gonna be there.
Steven Hermann:Yeah. Absolutely. Mhmm.
Kale Flaspohler:One of the overarching themes that I've kinda noticed throughout this conversation is it seems like stewardship. Like, you walked in and and were a good steward of that practice and kinda recognized that it was maybe time for somebody else to carry on that legacy.
Steven Hermann:Is there
Kale Flaspohler:is it comforting knowing that doctor Ryder's gonna be the one carrying on that legacy?
Scott Fray:Yes. And I don't have everybody's asking me, how's that feel? That's your baby. You know, you feel are you feeling some no. I feel great.
Scott Fray:Because I don't I like I said, I know it's in good hands. She's been with us long enough and that she kept the same staff. She has better management, people that are trained in management instead of just learning on the job. So, no, I have no so far and I keep saying, check with me in 6 months. But, the transition from owner to employee, which, I've I've would I don't know if we've mentioned it, but I have I'm a contract, veterinarian for her now
Kale Flaspohler:Yep. Mhmm.
Scott Fray:As a, as an employee veterinarian, as an associate. Yeah. I'm not an associate. So, and I have no negative thoughts about it. I feel great.
Scott Fray:I'm sitting in my little corner, now I have the little desk instead of the big desk, in the doctor's office, and watching them take over gradually, I feel I feel kinda bad because I know some of the stress that they're going through.
Steven Hermann:Mhmm. I
Scott Fray:say they, doctor Ryder, and her staff. She has a Right. Practice manager. So no no negative feelings. I feel great.
Steven Hermann:Good. Good. Yeah. We had that conversation upstairs, grab some coffee, right, because when we went to reschedule, and you're looking at the day, like, I gotta ask off. Well, exactly.
Steven Hermann:Right. Right.
Scott Fray:It was scheduled on a Tuesday. Well, that's my schedule. I'm supposed to work on Tuesday all day. I'm not the boss anymore. I can't just say, you guys, I'm not gonna be in.
Scott Fray:So so this work got better on a Monday.
Steven Hermann:I think the word trust. Stewardship. Right? Stewardship matters because it was like, this business needs it's gonna go on to someone else. It's not I I'm the steward of this business at this time.
Steven Hermann:We trust each other. And so that seems like an underlying thing about the success of this all is that trust in each other, to respect, to be able to go from, the owner to the associate. Now it you're still have I'm sure I have a great relationship that's
Scott Fray:And I do know that there are gonna be things that she's gonna change that I wouldn't Yeah. And do things different. That's great. Yeah. It's the it's time for that person to do what they wanna do Mhmm.
Scott Fray:With it how they see fit. Absolutely. I beg the trust. I trust that doctor Reider will do even if it's something that I wouldn't do, it's not gonna be wrong. It's gonna be different.
Steven Hermann:That's right. It's gonna be will make sense for her.
Scott Fray:Exactly.
Steven Hermann:There's more ways to get to the
Scott Fray:I don't think I it would take something pretty major for me to have a big problem with it. Yeah. So, you know, yeah. Yeah. The trust is a big deal.
Steven Hermann:Well, we're gonna be getting pretty close on time here. Okay. I think that, you know, some what's what's what's the future look like beyond beyond veterinary medicine? Like, practicing? How long are we practicing for?
Steven Hermann:What's the next Yeah. Iteration? You're young.
Scott Fray:Yeah. We
Steven Hermann:I I believe you're young.
Scott Fray:Yeah. I'm young. Therefore, I wanna do all this stuff while I still can Yeah. That I wanna do. I have too many hobbies.
Scott Fray:Mhmm. So, so, yeah. There's a I got plenty of things to do.
Kale Flaspohler:What are they?
Scott Fray:Now or last week or next week. I've I've always been a motorcycle rider. Did, it'd been a few years, but last year, I rode to Colorado and rode around the mountains with my son. Nice.
Steven Hermann:What are you riding? I've been
Scott Fray:a Harley rider since 1985. Awesome. But, this past year, my big cruiser, I just don't do the long trips very often anymore, so I'm trying to steal my big cruiser. Everybody wants to buy a heritage Softail Classic.
Steven Hermann:We'll get you connected to doctor Frey for that. That's right. That's right.
Scott Fray:So I had I bought a Pan America, which is Harley's answer to BMW's off road, on off
Steven Hermann:on off road.
Scott Fray:Dual sport? Yeah. Yep. Exactly. So, went and read the mount rode the mountains.
Scott Fray:I took up scuba diving a few years ago Nice. Which is not an inexpensive hobby Yeah. Because you don't not a lot of scuba diving in in Cooper County, Missouri. So
Kale Flaspohler:No. The Missouri River isn't very clear.
Scott Fray:Which which actually, if you get dry suit certified, you can do some of it. But anyway, so so scuba diving, I wanna take at least 1 to 2 trips per year, doing that. I have 2 or 3 old junk vehicles and motorcycles that I pretend to be a mechanic and, classic vehicles. I was in the shooting sports a while, but that kinda got bumped aside. I was a competitive athlete for my age.
Scott Fray:Yeah. But I've kinda quit doing that. I just I just try not to gain fat and not to lose muscle. But, yeah, I was a triathlon triathlete and half marathoner, and COVID kinda messed that out too. That and the blown meniscus.
Scott Fray:But
Steven Hermann:Oh, that yeah. That. Maybe it's still still torn.
Scott Fray:Oh, no. I got it fixed.
Steven Hermann:You got it fixed. Okay. That's just 60 year old crackles and pops. Okay. Okay.
Kale Flaspohler:So you're not gonna have a hard time filling your schedule.
Steven Hermann:Right.
Kale Flaspohler:Right. That's what I'm hearing.
Scott Fray:Yeah. That's not a problem.
Kale Flaspohler:Yeah.
Scott Fray:And as far as veterinary medicine, I'm perfectly fine with doing it for a few more years. Mhmm. But I think I actually would be perfectly fine if tomorrow I got when I was replaced
Steven Hermann:k.
Scott Fray:To not do it anymore. It's funny you you asked what what's in the future. Last night, Kelly said something to the effect of I don't remember what she said. Something to the effect of had something in her mind of what might be my next career. Yeah.
Scott Fray:What's next? Because you're right. I'm 60. That's Yeah. New whatever.
Scott Fray:Yeah. Still
Steven Hermann:I think I think it's middle age now. Right? Yeah. Right. I mean, there's 20 years of of really good
Scott Fray:That's what that's what I'm hoping. That's why I kinda wanna get on with doing all those things I can do while I still can. Yeah. And when I get
Steven Hermann:We see that's I think one of the biggest challenges is with, someone so you're you're answering questions we asked earlier about why was it time those things. You have things to do. Yeah. A lot of people that's all they have is the business or all they have were their kids. Right?
Steven Hermann:Or what it it's like Right. You you don't you still have your own identity to go out and do things, enjoy things. And and I'm sure you're still being involved in rotary and Right. Chain, things like church. I mean, you've got all that you're being involved with, and what's exciting now for you, though, you talk about your kids being financially independent.
Steven Hermann:Mhmm. You're gonna be financially independent from a business, from you you will get to choose your your passion, your next passion, for sure. Yep. So that's exciting. I can't wait to see what that is.
Steven Hermann:Mhmm. And I think that I'd I'd love to get you back in, you know, talk about talk about some more things. Maybe get, you know, Julie Braun, the executive director of Missouri Veterinary Medical Association in about
Scott Fray:the value of organized veterinary medicine, which is an Absolutely. Be an issue for the younger.
Steven Hermann:But This is gonna come out after we're taping it before the MVMA, convention coming up. We're excited about that. So it's supposed to be out after it.
Scott Fray:Yeah.
Steven Hermann:So we'll we'll get together and do that. I can't wait to to see what happens and and goes next, and I, again, thank you for your trust in the ProPartners team to help you and doctor Ryder, through the process to get, to the next phase and and grow our relationship. That's what it's about to do. So, hopefully, we're nice also.
Scott Fray:Yeah. Right. Let's just be nice. Yeah. Yeah.
Steven Hermann:Any anything closing with you think that we missed that would be
Kale Flaspohler:I thought I think it was a great conversation.
Steven Hermann:I thought it was awesome. Doctor Frey, anything you think that I
Scott Fray:don't think so. Thanks for having me. I was kinda nervous how this was gonna go. But you guys are professionals. You know how to keep keep things, keep it light.
Scott Fray:So Well No. I appreciate the I appreciate it. That's, I hope that there's this can be of benefit to, other veterinarians that are we're all in somewhat in the same boat, but, the others that might be in our situation in the transition phase. Yeah. Absolutely.
Scott Fray:I wrote a I wrote a devotional for our church a while back about, we're all in a transition in our life. It could be a 10 year long transition while your kids are in grade school, or it could be a transition that you lost a loved one, or that you graduated, or you had kids, or you got married, or you got divorced, or you lost a parent, or anything like that, but we're all in a transition. It kinda makes me think of it because this is a pretty major transition in life when yeah. It is. A transition from, veterinary medicine.
Scott Fray:There's one thing that, that I that I focused on throughout that I would recommend that a practice owner do is that, I made sure that I owned the practice and it didn't own me. You know, I missed I missed kids' ball games and school events and things like that, but I didn't miss all of them.
Steven Hermann:Yeah.
Scott Fray:There was a line between, and I I had I oftentimes also said that I could have made more money by working more hours at the practice, but I I intentionally made that a made that a a priority that I didn't let it own me so much that I neglected my, like, my wife and kids and family and other obligations. So that got me on the soapbox there
Kale Flaspohler:all the time. Phenomenal point.
Steven Hermann:No. I tell you what. The we're about educating, advocating, inspiring. And what you just said did all 3 at the same time, and so I think that is a a wonderful way to end the bedded podcast today. Doctor Scott Frey, Cooper County Animal Hospital.
Steven Hermann:If you like what we got going on, please like and subscribe to the channel. Check us out at the beddedpodcast.com, and I think the best way to finish it, say that say that phrase again about the owning. Don't let it own you. You know? Yeah.
Steven Hermann:Make sure Look at that cam right there and say say
Scott Fray:intent. Just make sure you own your practice, and don't let it own you. That's wonderful.
Steven Hermann:Thank you so much. Take care, everyone.
Kale Flaspohler:Peace and blessings.