By Laurie Sorrenson, OD, FAAO
One of the most rewarding experiences as an established practice owner is mentoring ODs who have just launched their own practice. With money tight during the first two years, these doctors not only need encouragement to persevere, but they also need your guidance on what to expect.
New practice owners often aren’t sure what is normal in annual revenues and patient base growth during the first years. Also, if they are new to optometry, they may have questions about the patient-doctor relationship. They may not know what to do about a difficult patient, or how they can best encourage patients to follow their recommendations.
Like most of us, the majority of new practice owners lack a formal business education or experience in business. That means they don’t have the knowledge you take for granted at this point in your career. Many probably lack an understanding of vendor partnerships and are unsure about how to manage their optical inventory. Since their practice is the first business many have owned, they also need advice on managing a staff.
If you wonder about the kinds of help you could provide a new practice owner, think about all the questions you had when you were just starting out. You can provide the answers and advice you wish had been there for you.
In addition to doing something nice for a new doctor-owner, this act of mentoring helps to refresh your own knowledge. This new generation of new practice owners may have as much to teach you as you have to share with them.
Have you mentored a new practice owner? What kinds of lessons were you able to teach, and what did you learn yourself?
