Planning the Three Stages of Optometric Practice
By Bob Schultz, President, CEO, Vision One Credit Union
When graduating optometry school, retiring from practice seems a lifetime away. In a perfect world, it is. But when you factor in today’s daunting economic dynamics (student loans, practice acquisition debt, keen competition and diminishing patient loyalty), a graduate’s spanking new career plans may be amended by a more sobering reality. In a very real sense, a beginning optometrist should plan from the start to be a successfully retired optometrist one day. This requires a total career strategy, one that likely will have many twists, turns and adjustments along the way.
Taking the Step to Practice Ownership
By Bob Schultz, President and CEO, Vision One Credit Union
Optometrists make a common assumption, and an errant one: “If I build a good practice during my working career, I can sell the practice and live well in retirement.” In most practices, the value of a practice itself will not fully fund retirement. We have to think in new ways.Part of that new thinking is envisioning an optometric career as a pathway with an entrance and an exit. The early years are spent testing various practice settings, seeing what works best for you, and acquiring management skills to augment your clinical skills. The middle years should be spent building wealth, both inside and outside the practice.
Multiple Locations, Corporate Affiliated
By Kim Raharja, OD
Bridge from Student to Practitioner
The corporate structure provides a great way to pay off your student loans quickly, and it doesn’t get you bogged down with another loan for buying into a practice. Walmart provides and services the lane equipment and pretesting equipment. There is very little capital investment, and in most cases, you pay a flat rent to Walmart. I am set up as an independent contractor, so the income potential is unlimited. When you are looking for a corporate partner, it’s important to ask the tough questions. I reached out to one of the district managers that oversaw one of the empty locations.
Buying Into an Independent Practice
By Jason R. Miller, OD, MBA, FAAO
Find Standards That are Right for You
I started at Eyecare Professionals of Powell working one day a week 11 years ago, when Dr. Kuhlmann was looking for someone who might be a partner in the practice eventually. We both wanted to provide high-quality eyecare and a full scope of care as allowed by Ohio law.
Web Resources for Those New to Practice Ownership
Whether you’re just getting started or need to revamp your practice, these resources offer advice and savings for optometrists.
Business Plans, Forms, and Tools
- It all starts with a good business plan. Visit BPlans to look at business plan templates.
- Another good source for a thorough understanding of basic business plans can be found at Entrepreneur.com.
- Transitions Online Marketing Toolallows users to create custom materials. TOM is a point-and-click tool for creating and downloading printable documents, such as in-office materials, postcards and advertising.
How They Are Started—and Who’s Starting Them
How New Practices Are Started
Fifty-seven percent of newpractices are started from scratch; thirty-six percent are acquired from previous owners or formed with a previous owner.
Profile of New Independent Optometric Practice Owners
Although most established optometric practices in the U.S. are owned by men, 49 percent of new optometric practices are being formed by women. This reflects the trend in recent years of women accounting for nearly two-thirds of the graduates of U.S. schools of optometry.
Enrich Staff Positions for Greater Performance
By Gary L. Moss, OD, MBA, CPC, FAAO
The most productive offices–those which function efficiently as a team–rely on collaboration to accomplish goals and attain desired outcomes.
This begins with the optometrist as “team leader.” The OD’s beliefs and expectations greatly influence the staff’s performance and the ability to deliver higher levels of service quality that result in increased profit. You can influence employee behavior by the way that you define success and how you establish standards of achievement.
‘Spark’ Practice Growth with an Office Makeover
When it comes to practice growth, we all know that we must make changes, but it takes a little spark to make big changes happen. Providing that catalyst is just what VSP Global has done with VSP GlobalSpark, a new online optometric practice makeover program designed to ignite the success and continued growth of private practices.
$5,000 and One Weekend of Elbow Grease
