Building Breslau Animal Hospital from the ground up

Working in veterinary clinics since their teen years, Dr. Leanna Duckworth and Dr. Maegan Melillo pursued their lifelong passion and officially purchased Breslau Animal Hospital in 2015. To further their dedication to helping animals, Dr. Duckworth and Dr. Melillo were keen to build their practice as ambitious first-time business owners. Breslau focuses on maintaining strong relationships through their compassionate approach to clients in the Breslau, Guelph, Cambridge, and Kitchener-Waterloo areas.

The challenge

Breslau's initial challenges started with building the business from the ground up. Purchasing a practice without any legal or financial knowledge meant that Dr. Duckworth and Dr. Melillo needed the right people on their team to help them make decisions and address the professional challenges they were encountering.

BDO connected these new entrepreneurs to a full team of professionals that covered everything they needed. Dr. Duckworth was happy to turn things over to BDO, "I'm a person who likes to follow the law and do things right, so this partnership was the perfect fit. We confidently put our business into the hands of those who know how to properly manage money. BDO took the reigns and we trusted them with that responsibility."

Why BDO?

Dr. Duckworth was introduced to Adam Thompson, the BDO partner who handles Breslau's business, through a previous business relationship. That initial introduction paved the way for her choice to leverage BDO's valuation, bookkeeping, transaction tax, compliance and payroll service offerings with her veterinary practice. Dr. Duckworth acknowledges BDO's accuracy, diligence, accountability, breadth of services, and positive overall experience, "You just don't get that with independent accountants and bookkeepers."

The BDO approach

BDO turned difficult financial decisions into practical solutions that were backed by knowledge. BDO helped Dr. Duckworth and Dr. Melillo understand those decisions every step of the way. By providing timely advice to these new business owners, BDO helped them take their business plans to the next level. During times of stressful conversations, BDO provided peace of mind and comfort.

In conducting a valuation at an early stage of the process, BDO helped Breslau's overall business case, putting them in a better position to see the big picture.

Moreover, using BDO's payroll services eased their overall stress so they could focus efforts on servicing clients. "Not having to worry about that was huge. It was the best decision to use this [payroll] service," notes Dr. Melillo.

"There's more to it than just getting dollar amounts right in your business activities," she continues. "We got a holistic solution from the transaction team. We were so lucky to have such top-notch guidance from the start."

Adam acknowledges the support of the full BDO team, "Pat Klann did a great job of putting together the valuation and pricing models. Everyone really pulled their weight in delivering an integrated team experience."

Future planning

Knowing that Breslau intends to expand into a multi-location business practice down the road, BDO made sure they knew why everything was being done so they could come out as more knowledgeable business owners.

Dr. Duckworth and Dr. Melillo were grateful to have gained a tremendous level of knowledge from their experience with BDO. "The growth we've encountered by leaps and bounds is so invaluable to us as business owners," says Dr. Duckworth. "We now know where to be smart in decision making. And our confidence in making business decisions has gone up significantly."