Book excerpt: Business education is not a common part of veterinary medicine education or the education of other health-care professionals. This book's intent is to increase the reader's overall business knowledge of essential concepts in the areas of finance, accounting, financial analysis, lean business management, human capital management, and value creation. The explanation and analysis of the theories is facilitated by following two sample veterinary practices, Quijote and Sancho Panza, throughout the text. Though the concepts are presented through the viewpoint of a veterinarian, they should be readily understood and seen as adaptable to other health-care professionals and small business owners.