About S.O.A.P. for Success

Love Your Business Again!
Simplify Operations So You Can Focus on Your Mission

Many business owners and managers didn’t follow the traditional path. Perhaps you started your business from scratch or rose from the ground up. Fueled by passion, not formal training, you may find yourself trapped under admin tasks like grappling with payroll, unhappy reviews, or facilities issues instead of focusing on the work that truly inspired you in the first place.

Cornell-trained veterinarian turned business leader Dr. Stephanie F. West applies a simple method used in medical records, S.O.A.P., to diagnose and treat what is ailing your business. Subjective, Objective, Assessment, and Plan (S.O.A.P.) is a structured yet flexible framework that helps you pinpoint what’s wrong, prioritize what matters, and act fast—no MBA required. Whether you’re running a small business, managing a large enterprise, or working in academia, Dr. West shows you exactly how to apply the method to your unique situation in any industry. With inspiring stories and practical lessons, she’ll help you cut through confusion, take back control, and get your business functioning at its best so you can get back to doing what you love most.

Audiobook Sample

Dr. Stephanie F. West

Dr. Stephanie F. West is a seasoned leader in veterinary practice management, education, and consulting. She has led hospitals, academic programs, and veterinary corporations, earning national recognition for her work. She now helps veterinary teams operate more efficiently so they can focus on the animals and missions they love.

Testimonials

This guide to the S.O.A.P. methodology is a must-read for mission-driven entrepreneurs and small business owners seeking a clear, structured path to operational excellence. By adapting a time-tested clinical framework to the business world, Dr. West provides a practical and intuitive tool for diagnosing challenges, prioritizing problems, and developing actionable solutions—all while staying true to the heart of a business’s mission. Whether you’re running a veterinary clinic or launching a new venture, this approach will sharpen your focus, elevate your leadership, and reignite your passion for the work you do.
—Katherine Fitzgerald
DVM, dean of veterinary sciences, Trocaire College
As both an economist and a business leader, I’m drawn to tools that cut through complexity and drive meaningful action. In S.O.A.P. for Success, Dr. Stephanie West brilliantly applies a diagnostic method familiar to healthcare—and refreshingly powerful in business. Like a skilled clinician, she teaches leaders to gather the right data, make clear assessments, and implement plans that deliver real results. This book is a must-read for any entrepreneur or executive ready to diagnose their business challenges and revitalize their mission with precision, clarity, and purpose.
—Matthew Salois
PhD, president, Veterinary Management Groups; former chief economist, American Veterinary Medical Association
Dr. West has had a remarkable career leading mission-driven veterinary organizations to fulfill their mission and enjoy financial success. In various leadership roles, she’s proven that mission and margin can coexist, and that purpose and passion do not have to come at the expense of profit. Her proven techniques have applications well beyond the veterinary world. Dr. West has consistently turned around struggling businesses by utilizing a time-honored medical problem-solving methodology called S.O.A.P. This simple-to-use formula quickly evaluates, gets to the heart of the issue, and develops solutions. This book is for you if you are looking to simplify your organization’s management, stay true to your mission, and grow your business.
—Dr. Bob Lester
DVM, cofounder and chief medical officer, WellHaven Pet Health
Many of us leading mission-driven businesses are fueled by passion, not a formal business degree, a challenge I’ve discussed with Dr. Stephanie West over the years. Her solution, S.O.A.P. for Success, is a brilliant and approachable guide that translates the logic of the time-tested clinical S.O.A.P. framework into a powerful system for business health. The result is a must-read for veterinarians, or really any business leader, seeking to grow their impact!
—Dr. Caleb Frankel
VMD, ER veterinarian, founder and CEO of Instinct Science
Dr. West delivers a straightforward yet powerful approach that speaks the language of veterinary professionals. Rooted in the diagnostic mindset we use every day in veterinary medicine, this strategy helps veterinarians assess their businesses—and their lives—with the same clarity and confidence they bring to patient care.
—Dan Grooms
DVM, PhD, Stephen G. Juelsgaard dean, Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine
I had the opportunity to work with Stephanie during the acquisition and transition of her clinic, and I saw firsthand her rare ability to lead with both heart and operational clarity. In this book, she brings that same balance to the page, making business principles accessible through real stories and a practical framework drawn from the clinical world: S.O.A.P.—Subjective, Objective, Assessment, and Plan. It’s the perfect model for thoughtful, mission-driven leaders who want to improve their operations without losing sight of their purpose. This book is a refreshing, honest, and genuinely helpful guide for anyone navigating the business side of caring professions.
—Dr. Nicholas Nelson
DVM, MBA, president, BluePearl Specialty and Emergency Pet Hospitals
S.O.A.P. for Success by Stephanie West is an informative guide designed to teach entrepreneurs a simple method to manage their business and revitalize their mission. The acronym stands for: Subjective, Objective, Assessment, Plan. It provides business owners with a useful framework for navigating challenges while maintaining their business's true purpose. Dr. West utilizes her years of successful business experience to develop pragmatic steps for enterprise development. Readers will learn how to balance valuable guidance with facts, assess situations effectively, and generate business plans that actually work. Using real-life examples, the author will help business owners change confusion into clarity and build confidence in their teams. Her guidebook invites you to reignite your passion while strengthening your business.
Stephanie West's S.O.A.P. for Success offers practical tools that transform complex business challenges into accessible steps, making it easy to identify and rectify issues. This book aims to teach actionable techniques without overwhelming readers. It reminds me of hands-on guides that blend strategy with everyday insights, helping readers feel equipped and confident in their approach. West masterfully illustrates how a structured method can conform to diverse business settings. Whether you have a small business startup or you run a larger organization, this book has you covered. The real-world examples and case studies bring the framework to life, showing readers how teams and leaders can adapt their business models with purpose. If you are searching for realistic ways to strengthen your organization or want to take the correct steps to create a positive workplace, this guide is the perfect book for you. Very highly recommended.
—Readers' Favourite

West draws on her experience as a veterinarian in this practical debut, offering a formula for analyzing and problem solving the day-to-day operations in any business. Her method uses the medical tool S.O.A.P.—which stands for subjective, objective, assessment, and plan—to identify key issues and develop steps to correct them, allowing business owners to focus on their vision and strategic planning rather than getting bogged down in administrative setbacks. West starts by gathering subjective data on business functioning before moving on to objective concerns like finance reports or inventory, later followed by an assessment phase that focuses on identifying patterns and ranking problems. Finally, she delves into what an action plan should entail, how to implement it, and the importance of monitoring changes over time.

Where West shines is in her organized, user-friendly presentation, offering readers an easy- to-remember program that creates functional solutions for businesses—particularly for those owners with no formal training. The narrative is compact but concise, and West includes plenty of real-life examples of businesses she has helped, incorporating other strategies such as the Pareto Principle (which states that about 80% of outcomes come from 20% of causes) while tailoring her S.O.A.P methods to each organization’s needs. One section finds her ironing out issues in an emergency clinic; others discuss how she applied S.O.A.P. to the frenzied changes that the COVID-19 pandemic wrought on the veterinary field.

Though brimming with practical applications and examples, West’s approach is also remarkably personal, humanizing a topic that could otherwise feel dry. She emphasizes that “a good culture means happy employees,” sharing how S.O.A.P. can enhance team mentality, and she closes with systematic models that walk readers through applying S.O.A.P in both small and large businesses. West’s ultimate message hits home: simplifying administrative issues will “keep your treasured business fulfilling its mission.”

—BookLife Reviews
As a new vet clinic owner back in the ‘70s, Practice Management meant learning from the questionable behavior of previous employers. How wonderful that Dr. West provides an easy template for quality management improvements that today’s young vets and others professionals can understand and implement. Even better is having the read the story of her journey through time with the audio book - perfect listen for the daily commute on anyone living busy daily lives!
—Amazon Review
This is a very innovative approach to solving business problems. Treating a business like a medical patient leads to an exciting diagnostic and treatment regimen that reads like a TV medical drama. There are great real-life examples from the author’s extensive business career in small, large, and non-profit businesses. Highly recommended for any business manager.
—Amazon Review
Engaging guide for leaders wondering “how to start” tackling issues big and small in their practices. The SOAP method will be familiar to veterinarians as it’s how medical cases are worked up and documented. Dr. Stephanie West cleverly repurposes the SOAP approach to analyze all aspects of practice management from staff morale and inventory to financial statements and embezzlement. Told through personal stories and narrated by the author this was a thoroughly enjoyable and thought provoking listen.
—Audible Review
In S.O.A.P. for Success, Dr. West translates a diagnostic tactic from her extensive experience as a veterinarian to the world of business, thereby creating a diagnostic tactic for your business! The SOAP method is simple and straightforward, and Dr. West’s writing is likewise clear and concise. She also offers a myriad of business wisdom from her many experiences in both for-profit, and non-profit/academic sectors. …West offers a method accessible to anyone, written in easily-digestable anecdotes. And every chapter ends with a summary of the basic “Takeaways” for those who prefer a bullet list of the facts. I would highly recommend this read for any small-business owner looking for a starting place to problem-solve, or a new way to organize their “on-the-business” work.
—GoodReads Review