Also increasingly discoverability. New customers must be able to find you. And how online advertising and SEO is going established player which has resources to waste will beat you.
Anecdotally, all of my friends across multiple friend groups found their vets via word of mouth. The only vet that I’ve visited that wasn’t word of mouth was an emergency vet (googled), although I later discovered that office was the one my vet recommended for after hours anyway.
In my area, the non corporate vets are turning new customers away and recommending other offices.
