Podcast Ep. 128 Transcript Cold Start vs. Optometry Practice Purchase: Most Common Questions & Misconceptions with Dr. Jennifer Stewart and Dr. Aaron Neufeld

[00:00:04] Evon: Hey everybody. Welcome back to the Optometry Money Podcast, where we’re helping ODs all over the country make better and better decisions around their money, their careers, and their practices. I am your host, Evon Mendrin, Certified Financial Planner(TM) practitioner, and owner of Optometry Wealth Advisors. An independent financial planning firm just for optometrists nationwide.

[00:00:24] And thank you so much for listening. Appreciate your time and attention today. And on today’s episode, I have two very exciting guests, Dr. Erin Neufeld and Dr. Jennifer Stewart, and we dive into some of the most common questions and misconceptions around cold starting Optometry practices and purchasing Optometry practices.

[00:00:44] And they bring not only their experience owning their own practices to the conversation, but they also offer free consultations to ODs on Finance community members on navigating decisions around cold starting practices or purchasing practices.

[00:00:59] And so they’re able to share some of the most common questions they hear as a part of those conversations as well as how they answer those questions. This was a really fun conversation. Hopefully this is helpful for you if you are thinking about cold starting or purchasing a practice, maybe you’re already going through that process or maybe you know someone else that’s considering the same. Pass this along to them as well. And if you have any questions for the guests, of course you can go to the ODs on Finance community and get in touch with them.

[00:01:24] Or you can reach out to me as well at podcast@optometrywealth.Com. you can also click the link at the top of the show notes and you can send a one way message to me. So if you have any questions or future ideas or questions you’d like to see answered on future podcast episodes, it’d be great to hear from you.

[00:01:41] And of course. If you’ve enjoyed the podcast so far, please leave a review wherever you listen to your podcast. It’s always helpful to see that feedback and hear where I can improve the, the podcast. And, it helps to get more education in the hands of, of more optometrists all over the country.

[00:01:56] And without further ado, here is my conversation with Dr. Jennifer Stewart and Dr. Aaron Neufeld.

[00:02:07] Start of the Interview with Dr. Aaron Neufeld and Dr. Jennifer Stewart

[00:02:07] Evon: Welcome back to the podcast. I’m your host, Evon Mendrin, and I’m excited to welcome to the podcast Dr. Aaron Neufeld and Dr. Jennifer Stewart. Thank you both for coming on. Thank you for having me. Yeah, Aaron, you’ve been on the podcast before. Jennifer. This is your first time welcome. hopefully it’s a great experience for you and I, I’m excited to talk with you both about common questions, maybe even misconceptions that you both hear, talking with other optometrists about the Cold Start process or, or those that want to purchase a practice.

[00:02:40] And, both of you. Are involved in both the Cold Start Accelerator program and the Practice Purchase Accelerator program for the ODs on Finance community. Just talk to us about what that is. What, what are those programs? What type of calls and work are you both doing?

[00:02:58] Aaron: Yeah. We started the Cold Start Accelerator. That was the first program, and that’s, I think, been around at this point close to two years, and really it was just a lot of ODs on Finance members that were interested in starting their own practice. They just didn’t know where to start. There’s a lot of resources, but when you look online, it’s kind of this plethora of resources.

[00:03:15] You don’t know what to take, what not to take. And so really it was just an opportunity for them to meet with one of us, just have a 30 minute chat and kind of get their bearings so that they understand how to go about this cold start properly. And we weren’t sure what was gonna happen with it, but it took off.

[00:03:30] And then the practice purchase accelerator came soon after, and that was basically the same process for ODs that were looking into buying a practice. Either buying it out completely or buying in as a partner. And so that’s been a great experience. I know Jen and I have both spoke with so many colleagues and just a lot of new grads and sometimes, you know, I’ve even talked to a 65-year-old OD that was wanting to get into practice ownership for the first time.

[00:03:52] So it’s been an awesome experience and hopefully it’s been a huge benefit to ODs out there. I,

[00:03:57] Jennifer: I, I joined, I guess last year, and it’s been really fun for me to meet so many ODs and I cold started February of 2024, so we just celebrated a year. I. In my cold start, but I had also purchased a practice and sold it in the past.

[00:04:11] So I think my u my unique experience kind of doing everything has, has been really helpful for ODs and, especially, I’m 44, so cold starting a little later in, in my career, and I’m a mom of two kids, so I think that has really touched a lot of female ODs who have really thought about wanting to open a practice but weren’t sure how to balance it, and how to really create a practice that supported both their personal and professional life.

[00:04:38] So I have a special place in my heart for, for working with women ODs, especially those with a family, to help guide them to make those decisions and, and figure out how to do it best.

[00:04:48] Evon: Very cool. Yeah. And it sounds like you both bring a ton of experience in your own respective careers and in your own respective businesses and having, either purchased and or cold started, practices yourselves. And, and as a part of these conversations, you’re able to sort of guide other ODs that are thinking about it through. The process and through all these resources that they may need at each step. And, I’m sure you’ve had a lot of these conversations. I’m sure you’ve both heard a lot of great questions.

[00:05:16] I’m sure you’ve both heard a lot of misconceptions and maybe some myths out there and, and maybe some hesitations. And, and so I wanna talk to you about what are some of these most common questions.

[00:05:26] Most Common Questions and Misconceptions for Cold-starting Optometry Practices.

[00:05:26] Evon: And I guess we can start on just the cold start side. What are some of the most common questions that you both hear?

[00:05:32] when talking with other ODs about the Cold Start process, and I guess Dr. Stewart, let’s, let’s start with you. What, what do you hear?

[00:05:38] Misconconception – The Belief That You Can’t Do It

[00:05:38] Jennifer: So, I think a lot of people just think they can’t do it, and that’s where a lot of doctors think, well, you know, I don’t have that ability to do that, or it’s just not in me.

[00:05:49] Or should I, I, I’m interested, but should I buy a practice? What’s the right. Choice for me. And I think there’s this hesitation to think that, that you have to be, you know, special to Cold Start. And there’s a lot of work that goes into it. But I think that’s the biggest misconception is that you have to be the right age or the right location.

[00:06:09] I mean, the location does help, but the right. Person to do it. And I think that’s the biggest misconception is that not everybody can do it and it’s not the easiest thing in the world. But I think, you know, I always am happy when somebody reaches out to me while they’re thinking about it. It’s harder to, to, to make some changes once you’ve already done it and maybe didn’t have that guidance to start.

[00:06:31] So I, you know, I love talking to doctors who are maybe employed. Or are in a practice that they’re, they’ve got a great situation, but they’ve got this entrepreneurial mindset and they’ve got this, this desire to cold start. Maybe it’s not the, the, the ideal fit for them, but that’s when I love having that conversation because they can start thinking and planning and, and doing a lot of that legwork before they open.

[00:06:53] So I think if you. Spend the time before and really dial down and understand what you wanna get out of that practice and have the time before, that’s when it, you can ha, I can feel like I can be so impactful for them to start planting the seed of what they need to do and who they need to work with before they’ve cold started.

[00:07:11] So I think that’s the biggest misconception is that people think they just can’t do it. And I’m here to help them make that dream a reality.

[00:07:19] Evon: So they don’t need to be the second coming of Steve Jobs to No. To start a successful coldstar or endowed from heaven with all business knowledge, like they, no.

[00:07:27] And so are, are a lot of the hesitations, Jennifer, that you’re seeing, is it mostly about their ability to handle the business stuff on top of seeing patients and everything else, just not having had the experience? Like how do you, how do you answer that?

[00:07:44] How do you kinda walk them through, yes, you can do this, and in fact, here’s here’s how.

[00:07:50] Jennifer: So I think it is a hesitation. I think it’s just this unknown ’cause we’re not taught anything about business in school and I think. There’s so much misconception about what your practice needs to be, so I really like sitting with them and and talking about, what do you wanna get out of a cold start? Why are you having this thought?

[00:08:08] What are I. If you had this, if you looked at a schedule and it was full of your Dream day patients, what would that look like? And that’s gonna look different for everybody and, and build from there. So I said, you know, I’ve, I had a small practice that grew to a huge practice. I sold that and now I have a very small practice again.

[00:08:27] and I am quite happy to have. Exactly what I want, but I try and get them to think about what they wanna get out of cold starting and not do it because that’s what everybody’s doing, or I wanna do it. To, you know, become something I don’t actually want it to be, but to think about really deep down why they want a cold start and use that to make all of the decisions that you have to make.

[00:08:51] I mean, there are a gazillion decisions you have to make in a cold start, but if you can really sit down and, and think about what you want and why it’s in the back of your mind. And if it keeps popping up, you know, there’s, there’s a reason that you’re thinking about it. it could be flexibility, it could be to do a specific type of care.

[00:09:08] It could be. To move and, and start somewhere new. But to really lean into that and to really think about. Why you wanna do it and what would make this the right decision? And use that thought process to make the decision on location equipment, you know, what insurances you take, what type of frames you have, what staff you have, and just keep coming back to that vision of what you’re trying to create.

[00:09:33] But to get really intentional about it before you. Start something and then go, oh my gosh, like, this is not what I envisioned at all.

[00:09:41] and I think that’s the, the hardest part is, is being really honest and intentional about what you wanna get outta your business.

[00:09:47] Evon: Aaron, how would you respond to that type of hesitation or that those type of questions?

[00:09:53] Aaron: Yeah. You know, it’s something that we see quite often and I think it really is just a psychological gap and it’s. it’s what do you want? What do you want to get out of your career? You know, that cold starting, it’s not gonna be an easy process. And I think a lot of ODs, they look at cold starting and it’s like, oh, I’ve got the comfort of a good associate job.

[00:10:11] I. Making a good income and then all of a sudden I’m diving into something that I have no idea what’s gonna happen here. ’cause as Jen mentioned, we don’t learn about this in school. And on top of that, yeah, probably not gonna make a whole lot of money in the first year to year and a

[00:10:25] So just kind of reconciling that, helping them understand, okay, is something that you’re gonna be creating.

[00:10:31] And then just going from there, if this is something you really wanna do. Here are the steps to do it. We’re gonna list this all out for you. We’re gonna give you the resources you need and kind of the timeline to take. And what I’ve actually found, and this might be a little bit counterintuitive, is during a lot of my Cold start consults, I. A lot of these ODs realize, oh wait, I don’t think I actually want to cold start. I might want to purchase a practice. I want that cash flow up front. I have a family and I’ve got a supportive family and I don’t wanna be, you know, moonlighting two days a week. Others are like, no, let’s go for it. You know, let’s find that location.

[00:11:05] Let’s get this started. So I think it’s really just understanding what you want and long-term trajectory for your career.

[00:11:11] When is a Cold-Start Practice Not a Fit For an Optometrist?

[00:11:11] Evon: that’s interesting. What does it look like for that OD that it doesn’t make sense to cold start? What things are you hearing to say to them? Okay, maybe this is not the right direction for you, or maybe practice ownership isn’t the right direction for you. Like what, what are some of those things you might hear to kind of indicate to you that might be the case?

[00:11:32] Aaron: You know, for certain ones, a lot of ’em, they want that steady income and they just want it to be easy. They don’t wanna have to put a lot of creativity into it or a lot of extra work into it. And that might be for a variety of reasons. Maybe they have other responsibilities and they just don’t have the time to put into it.

[00:11:47] And so that’s one where we really talk about it. And be like, Hey, maybe at the end of the day this isn’t the best option for you. And then there’s other ones that might not be in the right environment. I talked to OD recently, actually in the Bay Area and you know, they were looking at cold starting it was in a city that’s already extremely saturated.

[00:12:06] And we’re like, okay, the only way this is probably gonna work with just the reliance on VCPs here is you gotta do a specialty practice.

[00:12:14] that OD wasn’t really interested in doing a specialty practice. we’re like, okay, well. Maybe you could cold start, but it’s probably not gonna be a huge revenue practice because of all these other underlying variables.

[00:12:26] So situations like that where we talk it out, but the majority of cold starts that are interested in cold starting end up doing it, and we find a pathway for them. But it’s always good to know that upfront rather than to dive into it, you know, take out a $500k loan and then realize, wait a minute, this wasn’t the best idea.

[00:12:42] Now I

[00:12:43] Evon: Right, right. Jennifer, how about you? what are some things you’d hear that might indicate, okay, maybe this isn’t the right path for, for that OD?

[00:12:52] Jennifer: I would say, you know, somebody who upfront says to me, I don’t really like business. I don’t really wanna manage a staff. I just wanna kind of come in, do my job and leave and not have to worry about anything else. That, to me. It doesn’t say, you know, this is never gonna work, but. There’s always things you have to be thinking about.

[00:13:13] I’m on the other side. I love running a business. I am not meant to work for somebody. I have never worked. The first year I practiced, I worked in two part-time jobs. Since then, I have been involved in, in the last 17 years of my career as a owner of a practice. So I can’t imagine not doing it, but I also love the creativity and the business side of it. And I don’t find that to be work. I don’t find it to be something I dread doing. So managing staff, that is not easy. Even me, there are days where I’m like, okay, if I could just do this alone, I’d be, you know, a lot better off. But when somebody starts that conversation and they, they’re pretty adamant that this is something they don’t really like doing, they have no interest in being the manager of the team or, You know, I, I don’t really like the business side. It’s really hard unless you have some magic way to do it without having to, to you have somebody to hire that can manage it all off the bat. that could be the only way I could see it working, but you have to really have to manage it like a business.

[00:14:16] And if somebody says to me, I just really like practicing Optometry, but I don’t like the other stuff that goes along with it. I’ll say to them, there’s nothing wrong with practicing Optometry and enjoying that. And business ownership is not for everybody. It’s not for the weak. and I think that could be, you know, a really a time to say, you know, this is again, a time to kind of sit down with your own thoughts and think I.

[00:14:38] What do I enjoy about Optometry and what do I not wanna do? And if the thought of running a business just is not for you, then don’t do it. You know, there, it, it, there’s nothing wrong with knowing that about yourself, that at five o’clock I wanna leave and exit and not think about Optometry till 8:30 or nine o’clock tomorrow morning.

[00:14:56] If that’s really deep down how you feel, it’s absolutely fine not to do it. And it doesn’t mean that everybody has to be a practice owner or cold start or buy, but I think it’s just being really honest and being true to yourself because if that’s how you feel going into it, it’s gonna be a really hard, really hard road.

[00:15:12] Evon: Yeah, being true to yourself and I. yeah. I would imagine it is the case that, hey, Optometry needs highly skilled practitioners and

[00:15:20] Jennifer: Yes.

[00:15:21] Evon: need highly skilled practitioners. And, and that’s perfectly fine. And that’s a perfectly fine way to go about your career, and you can be successful in either direction.

[00:15:29] And, and there are ways, bringing back to the finances, I mean, there, there are ways to arrange your finances in preparation for a huge life decision like this. To at least, bring down the stress level on the household side because that financial runway is really important. You need to know that you can keep your lights on, put food on the table for as long as you need to get that practice up and running.

[00:15:49] And a lot of it’s just gonna come down to cashflow flexibility, and liquidity. Do you, can you create as much cash flow flexibility as possible? A lot the times it’s gonna come down to how you handle the student loans. being careful on not purchasing a huge house right as you’re about to cold start, and then having a pretty healthy amounts of cash in the bank if possible.

[00:16:11] I know lenders are gonna want to see something in the bank. that amount of net liquidity is gonna be important, but nothing brings down the stress levels in a household, like having a nice, healthy, warm, fuzzy amounts of cash in, in savings. So, there, there’s some things you can do on the financial side, but like you both mentioned, you do have to be true to yourself, right?

[00:16:31] If you’re not interested in business ownership and, and all the other parts of it, then regardless of what other people tell you you should do, like, it’s probably just not gonna be the right, the right path for you.that’s awesome. I, I appreciate that. Aaron, what about you? What are, what are some questions you’re seeing on, on the Cold start side?

[00:16:49] Aaron’s Most Common Questions for Cold-Starts

[00:16:49] Aaron: Yeah. You know, the cold start side when someone’s really looking into this, number one, it’s like. Where should I cold start? That’s location’s obviously a big one. And so we kind of go through that. We understand location studies, kind of walk them through that whole process. And then after that it’s like, okay, what are the next 50 steps that I take? It’s kind of just walking through each individual step. ’cause you know, creating a business from scratch isn’t an easy process, but there is a way to do it and there’s a, you know, there are set things that we can do to get this thing started, to make sure that it meets all the tax legal obligations and also so we can get it running in our communities.

[00:17:23] So that’s kind of what we go through and that’s probably the first start off question that I’ll get for a Cold Start Accelerator consult. And then after that it’s like, okay, how do I bring patients? Into my practice. That’s the big one. of course the VC PP question’s probably the, the next one up.

[00:17:41] how many do I take? All the VCPs, do I take none? You know, what insurances am I bringing into the practice? How am I gonna track folks in? the big conversation is ultimately what brings patients into your practice is your differentiation. all the other practices in your area, it’s what, what unique value are you offering that you can give to your community so that those patients come in?

[00:18:03] And so that’s a big conversation that we have. ultimately could be a pr, a regular practice. It could be a co, a dry eye practice, it could be a specialty lens practice, but ultimately you’ve gotta get some sort of marketing behind that so that you can get those patients in.

[00:18:19] How To Pick A Location for the Cold-Start Optometry Practice?

[00:18:19] Evon: Hmm. In terms of that location, how do you help the OD think through what the right location is? What should they be looking for?

[00:18:27] Aaron: Yeah. Yeah, there’s definitely a lot of things to look for. I always tell ’em, you know, the simplest way to go about this. Just go on Google and see where are these o other practices located. You probably don’t wanna open up

[00:18:38] a practice, so you want to have a little bit of space. And actually, through ODs on Finance, we do offer a location service analysis, we’ve actually done that for a few ODs, and that just kind of finds the best location possible. But ultimately it comes down to. are you trying to achieve with your practice? Because there’s certain practices out there, they just want to see volume. They wanna see as many patients as possible. Nothing wrong with that. That’s not really the way I would open a practice, but some of them just wanna do that. other ones are really trying to just maximize the revenue per patient, which I think is the best way to go. And so that can be a strategic location. I remember one OD I was talking with out in Portland, Oregon. He decided to open up at the bottom of basically one of those five level, you know, brand new apartment complexes in a very affluent area. And bottom level was all shops. And we were looking at rent prices and it was like, okay, this is a lot more expensive than being five blocks away, he’s in the middle of this new mecca of folks that are making $200k plus a year. So they’ve got that cash to go in. He doesn’t have to take VCPs he can be a cash pay practice.

[00:19:43] And with the convenience factor. And then the unique offerings, you can really make that work and probably only see five to six patients a day and probably make as much as practicing 40 patients that are, you know, paying $40 a a patient can see.

[00:19:56] Evon: Hmm.

[00:19:57] Aaron: that’s just one anecdotal example, but it’s going through these different thought processes of what do I wanna achieve with this practice? How do we get there and how do we set that geographic location so that we can achieve this?

[00:20:11] Evon: Got it. And that that surrounding demographic has to meet that vision for the practice, it sounds like. Yeah.

[00:20:16] Aaron: Yeah.

[00:20:17] Evon: Jennifer, what, what are your thoughts on that?

[00:20:20] Jennifer: I agree. I mean, it, it really depends. I think, again, knowing what type of patient you wanna see will guide you. I am a very highly retail focused practice. I am mostly, eyewear and it’s, you know, very unique niche. So I, when I was looking at spaces, I was very specific saying, I do not wanna be in the third floor of a medical building.

[00:20:42] That’s not the space for me. so I am on a retail street, very high rent. but that fit my business model. So if I was a medical, highly medical practice where I was focused on volume, my space would not make sense. So it’s really getting. To understand what type of patient you’re trying to attract. I’m, you know, looking for, you know, I’m in a very high-end affluent area and this location fits that, but you have to be clear ’cause that will guide the direction and that also helps the banks understand you have to have that all set, to go to the bank with your vision to say, here’s the type of building, the type of practice I’m trying to create.

[00:21:20] This is why I need this money, or that’s how the. The very high rent that I’m asking, you know, that I’m, I’m looking at supports what type of practice I’m trying to see. So I think really kind of figuring out what type of patient you’re trying to attract. Are you in the right demographic and space for that?

[00:21:37] and, and then figuring out how to find that space and not being able to afraid to ask for help. You know, I think one of the biggest misconceptions that optometrists. That I see with optometrists is they think they have to do all this on their own, and they think that they’re responsible solely for making these decisions and that everyone who’s cold started has done it on their own and figured it out by themselves.

[00:21:59] And I, you know, hopefully if somebody gets one, one piece of advice from this, this podcast is that you do not have to go at it alone. And I certainly did not. I had the guidance of, of lots of friends and colleagues to help me, so. There are you people have done this before and they’re, you know, and that’s what we do is help guide and triage people to get to the right people to help them make these decisions.

[00:22:22] So all the things we’re, we’re talking about and asking, don’t feel. You have to just think about it alone. And then I. Find the space on your own and negotiate on your own. Please don’t. and, and really there are, you know, reach out to me. I am happy to help you guide through that conversation, but don’t feel you have to, to know all of this and that we’ve, that we should have learned this in school because we certainly didn’t.

[00:22:44] But we’re help, we’re here to help guide you through that process to start thinking about the questions that we’re asking so that. We can help get you to the right people who can then help you make those decisions and save a lot of time and save a lot of money.

[00:23:01] Evon: As Aaron talked about, okay, what other 50 decisions do I need to make after we solve this one big one, right? There’s all these decisions and it can seem overwhelming, but. There, there are all these resources. I mean, you, you two are providing, a Wealth of knowledge and resources to, to those ODs thinking about this and interesting, your, your points about the rent, because a lot of times you can see that and the, the owner doctor may think, well, that is way too much as a fixed expense to pay. Or sometimes you might look at benchmarks, which in a cold start, I mean, if there are a percentage of revenue, it’s hard to gauge what, what that really is, but. If you’re looking at several benchmarks about what rent should be, you’re gonna look at something like that and say, well, I’m never gonna go there ’cause it’s way too high, but it fits the business.

[00:23:43] Like that’s what you both just mentioned. It fit your business, Jennifer, and it fit that other optometrist business. that’s gonna allow them to be successful because they’re in such a, an appropriate area and demographic for their business. Sometimes you just have to go against what you hear and, and just do what makes sense for your own business.

[00:24:04] Jennifer: my, everyone, I, whenever I share, you know what I, what my rent is, people are like, that’s crazy. And I go, that’s a. A, a bargain for what I get, you know, it’s the walk-in traffic that I’m trying to, to, to get. So it’s just, you know, understanding the business model and I call it the patient avatar that you’re trying to create.

[00:24:21] Are they going to find you in your location? And my, my realtor kept show wanting to show me office space and I said, I’m not, this is, this is a retail business that I’m creating. I don’t belong in a medical building for the type of business I’m creating. There’s a huge mismatch there. Would I save money?

[00:24:37] Probably. But would that I. Rent be paid, you know, the walk-in traffic I have alone from, you know, picking the right location has made such sense. But having, I think, again, having that thought process ahead of time versus now ending up in a space that maybe wasn’t the ideal location, but was a bargain. And then kind of trying to backtrack and create a business based on the space you’re in versus creating a business and finding the right space for that.

[00:25:02] So doing all the homework ahead of time is just, I can’t underscore that enough.

[00:25:06] Aaron: Just echo one thing that Jen said

[00:25:08] Evon: yeah.

[00:25:09] Aaron: that there’s experts out there for everything you need to do. So definitely reach out, get the help. Our job with ODs on Finance is to triage that so that we send you to the right folks, and that’s basically what we do on our consults. But there are folks out there that can help you with every step of the way, including finding a space, which is actually obviously probably one of the most important ones. But yeah, just reach out. You don’t have to spend a ton of money. There’s folks out there that are going to help you and it’s gonna make sense for your business. Just like Optometry, right? We hate when patients go online and try to get medical advice.

[00:25:40] So if you’re getting advice for this or that, or you know, even CFPs, with Evon, I mean, that’s why you exist, is so that you can help folks. You have the expertise. harness expertise of all those individuals out there, don’t try to go at it alone.

[00:25:55] Should Cold-Start Optometry Practices Accept VCPs?

[00:25:55] Evon: Yeah, that’s, that’s a great point. And I wanna go back, Aaron, to one of your final things that you mentioned was that. vision plans, and there’s a lot of talk around whether optometrists should continue to, to accept vision plans, whether it should be cash pay only. I’ve had a, a guest on my podcast talking about a direct care model of business where you’re not necessarily accepting vision plans.

[00:26:19] It’s more of a fee for service, potentially medical. So. What do you, what do you think about that decision? Should cold starts accept vision plans from the beginning? Should it just be considered a marketing expense to get patients to the door? How should they think about that?

[00:26:35] Aaron: No, that’s question. And that’s, you know, the a hundred million dollar question. ’cause it’s actually, it’s different for every situation. It’s not, obviously if you go on the ODs on Finance forum, everyone says VCPs are horrible and they’re evil. But they do have a place, and I say that because with all of our practices here in the Bay Area, California, I mean we’re about 75% VSP and we’re never gonna drop VSP because it kind of rules the tech world, and we’re in the tech world here. That’s our primary patient base, and so our business model relies on that. But maybe you’re an OD out in the Midwest where these VCPs are few and far between, and really you could do better being a catch pay practice or just being a heavy medical insurance practice. So it’s unique to the practice. And what I hate seeing is there’s. Some advice out there where it’s like, okay, just take everything, just take the kitchen sink, and that way it gets patients in your office. But what you’re doing with that is you’re not creating the practice that you want. You’re just taking everything that’s willing to kind of fall into your practice.

[00:27:36] You’re, you’re scraping the bottom with a barrel, which is not how you want to start a business, especially if you’re building your own unique legacy, because you’re gonna have to fight your way up eventually. You’re gonna realize, okay, I want to drop this vision plan, I want to drop this one because they’re not reimbursing properly. But it’s gonna be tough ’cause you already have a patient base that’s relying on you, and how do you go about that? So realistically, it’s gonna be different for every person. And what we see is, hey, what are your goals? What are you trying to achieve with this practice? And ultimately, how do you wanna have that work life balance? If you’re seeing 40 Davis patients a day, your work life balance probably isn’t great unless you really like doing that. You like seeing patients every 15 minutes, that’s fine, but most folks probably go into private practice so they don’t have to do that. So they can see a patient every 30, 45 minutes.

[00:28:24] That’s what I enjoy about practicing and I know Jen’s the same way, is just getting to see these patients, you know, they walk out the door, they’re spending a couple thousand dollars because they had a great experience, and we have a great experience. We build those relationships with patients. Build that community aspect, but ultimately, no wrong or right or wrong way of doing it.

[00:28:40] It’s just what do you want to do? What do you wanna achieve with your, your practice?

[00:28:46] Evon: Jennifer, what are your thoughts?

[00:28:47] Jennifer: I agree. I mean, nothing gets my my I up than blanket statements on any of the Facebook groups of what everybody should, should do and either, you know, don’t take any plans or, you know, if you take this you’re a poor business person or you know, it is these blanket statements of what people should do.

[00:29:08] That is, I think, very. Frustrating for ODs and can be very intimidating for Cold Start because they’re reading people saying Do this, do this, do this. And they’re all seeing different things. So then they’re left going, well, how am I ever gonna start a business when everyone’s telling me to do 10 different things?

[00:29:25] And I, I agree there, and it’s like, what comes down to your business model? And when I cold started, I don’t take medical insurance at all. I take vision plans and I practice medical care here, but I am cash pay. And the number of doctors who told me I was going to be a failure and be out of business so fast, was pretty amazing on Facebook.

[00:29:46] People love to share their opinion, based on your business. And say some some crazy things that they wouldn’t say in public. so, but for my business model, I’m a highly retail based business. So for me, these patients, having a vision plan that contributes to their first pair is really helpful. And then the next three to six pairs that they get are cash pay.

[00:30:08] But it’s a very deliberate decision. So I think it goes back to exactly what kind of business are you trying to create. And also the second piece of that is. Monitoring that and being really diligent about tracking your metrics and tracking what patients are spending and what, what different plans are bringing you, and that’s where you can really make those decisions.

[00:30:30] If you do take a few more plans than you planned, well keep in mind you can break that down and see what types of patients you’re getting and what types of.you know, what they’re spending and are they a value to your practice? So I think some of us get so bogged down in just thinking, I need to do all this and take them all, and then I’m just churning and I, I’m seeing 40 patients a day and I don’t, I don’t know what I’m doing.

[00:30:53] Something’s not right. I. I think the second piece is just making sure you’re continuing to monitor that. And that’s something I’m checking all the time is what are these patients that I’m taking these plans spending and are they worth my time? And if they’re not, then they’re gone and I have to make a plan for that.

[00:31:09] So I think I. Being really diligent about what you do to start, but then continuing to monitor that and evolve as your business grows. And it might be that you take more plans as a cold start to get those butts in the chair, and there’s nothing wrong with that. But also just having a plan to continue monitoring that as your bi, as your business grows down the line.

[00:31:29] If you’re booked out six to nine months, do you really need those plans? But if you don’t know. If you can’t break it down and see the metrics and the value of certain patients, how do you know what decision now to make? If, if, you know, you read on, on a, a group that says, drop all your plans. Well, how do I know which one to drop?

[00:31:47] Now you have to start digging into your, your business and run it as a business and run it as a business where you’re tracking these metrics. So I, I, I agree. It, it’s not, I always try and chime in when somebody says to a cold start, like, don’t start by taking anything ’cause it’s never gonna work. It call me set, set up an email, you know, send me an email.

[00:32:07] That set up a time. ’cause that’s not those blanket statements of take everything or take nothing I don’t think are super helpful. ’cause it really depends on the practice and it, it leads to just people feeling like I, I don’t know what to do because everyone’s telling me something else.

[00:32:21] Evon: Yeah, my favorite answer is it depends,

[00:32:23] Jennifer: It

[00:32:24] depends. Yes,

[00:32:25] Evon: depends.

[00:32:26] Jennifer: it depends.

[00:32:27] Evon: a, a lot of the opinions we see, and I’m in ODs on Finance too, so I, I see a lot of the comments there. Our may be educated opinions, but based on that person’s experience. So that may be the right opinion for that

[00:32:39] Jennifer: Yes.

[00:32:40] Evon: not necessarily the one answer asking the question.

[00:32:43] And so, as you both mentioned, it depends on what you want your business to look like and your situation. And now that we just talked about how bad blanket statements are, I’m gonna ask you both to make a blanket observation here. you feel like. If a, a cold start is going to go without vision plans initially the very beginning, do we feel like that runway to profitability include?

[00:33:07] I would think about that, including the wage to the owner. It needs to be thought about longer, meaning it’s gonna take a little, little longer to get to that point. is there any clear trend? Like what are your thoughts on that?

[00:33:19] Jennifer: It depends. No.

[00:33:20] Evon: It depends. Okay. Alright. Wrap it up.

[00:33:24] Jennifer: I had to say I, I really think it depends, ’cause I think it depends on the business model. And if it’s somebody who, you know, is, is leasing a 5,000 square foot space and is now, you know, saying I’m not gonna take any vision plans, so I have to fill, you know, my, my schedule and I have a full staff. Or if it’s somebody who has 500 square feet and it’s just the OD and they don’t have any staff and they’re gonna do it all themselves.

[00:33:48] That’s where I think it really depends. So if it, it depends on your business model, it depends on your, your cost, it depends on your startup cost, it depends on, on what you’re trying to achieve. And I, I think, It, it can be really hard, those blanket statements of you’re not gonna make any money from one to three, to two to four to three to five years.

[00:34:08] And again, ODs see that and they’re like, oh gosh. You know, that’s absolutely terrifying. You know, somebody says, well, you can’t expect to, to make any money for 20 years in a cold start. Whatever these blanket statements are. I, I really do think it depends on, on what you’ve. What type of business you are running?

[00:34:25] I will say the last three months it is, we have been very understaffed and it’s just been my office manager and I, and I never anticipated that we would have this practice where just the two of us did everything and it’s been really great and it, you know, so profitability wise, I had a much smaller I didn’t have very many staff to pay. So the profitability of those two months is very different than if I had four staff. So it really, it, it’s hard to say if you’re not taking vision plans, you’re not gonna be profitable for X number of months or days. ’cause I really do think it depends on what your, what your outlay was.

[00:35:02] are you working somewhere else? How are you getting those patients? It’s doable. I think it just takes some creativity and now you really have to set yourself apart. ’cause I, I always think I have the best ideas in the world and that if I op, if I, if I build it, they will come. And that doesn’t, that doesn’t always happen.

[00:35:20] So you have to have a really good marketing plan in place to get those patients in, and figure out how you’re gonna attract those patients if they can’t find you just by looking in their insurance.

[00:35:29] Most Common Practice Purchase Questions and Misconceptions

[00:35:29] Evon: Hmm. Aaron, I, I wanna ask you about, I, I’m sure we can go all day talking about cold-starts so much to dive into here that I wanna ask more about, but outta respect of both your time. I, I wanna ask about practice purchases and, and what are some of the questions you’re both seeing in terms of. on the purchasing side, starting with you, Aaron, what are some of the most common questions or, or misconceptions you’re seeing around the purchase side?

[00:35:52] Where Should an OD Start When Trying to Purchase a Practice?

[00:35:52] Aaron: Yeah. You know, I think the, the biggest question I see for practice purchase accelerator consult is, how do I even go about doing this?

[00:35:59] Evon: Hmm.

[00:36:00] Aaron: there’s a practice I’m interested in. It looks like it’s an older OD he wants to retire. This is always a scenario, basically. And it’s like, how do I approach him first of all, and tell him I want to buy your practice and what do I offer him or does he offer me a number? And then what do I do afterwards? ’cause obviously I don’t have $500,000 in the bank. And that’s really the, the process. Each of these calls goes down and we kind of. Break it down step by step. Well, number one, first of all, you gotta actually talk to this person and see if they are interested in selling.

[00:36:32] And really, a lot of times they are. And they’re not gonna be offended by it. As long as you show up and you’re yourself and you are just genuinely there to see if they wanna buy, sell the practice, or maybe it’s a practice listing, obviously that’s gonna be a little bit easier ’cause then you know that they are wanting to sell.

[00:36:47] And then after that it’s, Hey, how do we go about valuing this practice? We get a third party valuation. We have to look at all the data. We have to look at past three years of financials and everything else that goes into this practice, do our due diligence. And once we find a price that we think is fair, we can present that.

[00:37:02] Of course, it’s gonna go back and forth. ultimately we’re gonna come to an agreement, and then that’s when we can do our purchase. But it just, every step of the way there’s a question because it’s, it’s not like buying a car, it’s, it’s a little bit more complicated because you’re dealing with another person and their legacy that they’re essentially passing to you through a monetary exchange.

[00:37:19] So it’s, Hey, how do we go about this and how do we just do this properly?

[00:37:25] Evon: Got it. So your, your questions are mostly about the process of what do you even do and what are all the different decisions you need to make in that process?

[00:37:33] Aaron: Yeah. And then along the ways there, and normally it’s like, Hey, is this even worth it? You know, is do I make this worth it for myself? Because it’s really, it is tough to delineate. obviously you’ll see gross revenue that seems to be the ultimate vanity metric in our industry, but it ultimately means nothing because you can make $5 million a year and also lose a million dollars while you’re doing it. Or you could make $300k a year and net $200k out of that. So really you have to look at a lot of different variables and I think that’s just something that’s confusing, especially if you’re a new grad or just someone that’s new to this business side, kind of understanding that. So that would be the, the secondary question that normally follows up.

[00:38:11] Evon: Gotcha. How, how about you, Jennifer? What are you seeing?

[00:38:14] Confusion Around Practice Value and What to Do After the Purchase

[00:38:14] Jennifer: I see the same, and I think people are, are very confused about what things are worth, and that is on both sides. You know, we know that private equity has been around for a while and that has. Driven the payouts out. And I think the, the sellers have heard, everyone’s heard a story of somebody, you know, striking it rich and selling their practice for a lot of money.

[00:38:37] and, and a lot of these practices have a, a false sense of what their practice is actually worth. And then you have the buyer who’s going in thinking it’s. It’s worth a lot less. So I think if, you know, kind of understanding what the true value of a practice is. And then on the, on the buyer side, I think it’s understanding then what comes, what comes after that.

[00:38:57] I think there’s so much focus on the actual, you know, buying and selling of the practice. And then, but what happens once you do have that practice? And I, I, I see another blanket statement when people are saying, you know, I’m thinking of cold starting versus buying a practice. And there’s a lot of blankets saying, oh, you should not cold.

[00:39:13] Start the cash flow of having an existing practice always wins. And I, I will say again, it depends and it depends on the practice you’re buying and the patients and the staff and what changes you wanna make. So I think kind of weighing both,both scenarios, even if somebody has not thought about cold starting, it’s not always less expensive to buy a practice than Cold Start.

[00:39:34] And there’s a lot of things that come after the sale now that people might not be prepared for, that they’ve only focused on the numbers. And, and now they get in there and they wanna make all of these changes right away. And they have a staff and patient base that are not willing to accept those changes.

[00:39:52] And now the doctor is thrown into kind of a, oh gosh. Now I. You know, I always call it a cruise ship. You know, I’ve got this cruise ship to steer and it’s not as nimble as a cold start where we can make changes and, and it can, we can change very quickly. So I think there’s so much focus in, in the buying, on the buying itself, but not the piece that comes after.

[00:40:14] Once you’ve, you know, shaken hands and now you own that practice, I think so many are focused on just the sale and then they get this practice and they’re like. Oh my gosh, I actually have to run this and, you know, my staff is leaving, or these patients don’t want the type of care I’m providing. I wanna gut the whole practice and change it, you know, kind of thinking these things through.

[00:40:36] Or I’ve worked with practices where the staff doesn’t know the practice is being sold and they have no idea and the doctor doesn’t wanna tell them and he, he’s gonna tell them, he or she is gonna tell them after the sale. I mean, just so many things that you just don’t consider. I think it’s, you know, we don’t, we don’t focus on the, after we focus so much on the sale itself.

[00:40:57] But really having, again, a team in place, you know, maybe a practice consultant to say, okay, we got you through the sale now what do we do once? That’s your practice. ’cause that’s where it really is important. And now we have to put in plan in place to grow this practice or change it or hire staff or get rid of staff or.

[00:41:16] Introduce ourself to patients. If the doctor’s leaving or if the doctor’s staying, how do I handle that? So there’s just so many things that come after that I think so many people aren’t prepared for because they’re focused so much on the sale.

[00:41:27] Aaron: I’m just gonna go off of what John said because there is this misconception in our industry that you buy a practice, it’s a guaranteed return. The practice, it’s not like buying an S&P 500 index fund.

[00:41:37] I mean, obviously it’s not even guaranteed with that, but

[00:41:40] Evon: Yeah, I was gonna say, Hey, let’s, let’s, let’s hold off there. It’s not guaranteed.

[00:41:44] Aaron: Yeah. Yeah. But you’re gonna have to run it. It’s not other folks running it. And

[00:41:48] you’re just relying on those returns. I mean, this is you jumping into the driver’s seat and what happens with most of these practice purchases? I, I tell most folks that go into it, expect to not make as much money as what the previous OD made.

[00:42:01] ’cause you’re gonna have attrition patients when they know that the OD’s retiring, they’re not gonna want to come back to the practice. There’s gonna be staff turnover. Things are gonna happen. You don’t, you’ve never ran a business before. You’re gonna make mistakes. So ultimately you can’t just expect to make that, and of course you have to debt service your loan.

[00:42:17] So all that net income, that’s not gonna be the reality for you. So there, there has to be that, that really to set that pill that you have to take and be like, okay, this is. What’s actually gonna happen afterwards. But yeah, it’s easy to look at a broker’s numbers and be like, oh great, I’m gonna make $200k a year by buying this thing.

[00:42:35] And I don’t, I don’t have to put any money down ’cause the bank’s gonna That’s really not the reality and it’s gonna become your 24 7 as well.

[00:42:43] going into it realistically versus being a little bit more dreamy about it. Yeah.

[00:42:48] Evon: I love that. And as you mentioned, earlier, Aaron, you’re, there’s, it’s not like buying a car, there’s. There’s the value, but there’s two different people’s value. There’s, yeah, there, there may be a third party valuation, but the owner feels it’s, it’s higher probably, you know, respectfully it is their, their baby.

[00:43:08] They, they probably built it from the ground up. the, entering doctors looking at that valuation and saying, well, I should be paying less than that. And then there’s the bank who really is probably the limiting factor unless the, the owner or the seller doctor wants to do owner financing in addition. So there’s a third party that has their own idea of what that business should be valued at for, for the loan purposes. So we’ve got all these different opinions on what the value should be, and they have to come together to figure out, okay, what is that final sales price gonna be? And is it seems like there is an art to making change. After, After, a big purchase like that, is there a best practice? ’cause I’m sure every optometrist should come into it feeling like there’s improvements they could be making. What’s the best practice to start to implement those changes after a purchase like that?

[00:44:02] Aaron: Yeah. You know, I think there’s no, once again,

[00:44:05] Jennifer: It depends.

[00:44:06] Evon: It, it depends.

[00:44:09] Aaron: But what I’ve found has been a kind of, just a great guideline for a lot of ODs and actually for myself as well, has been the book Traction. And that’s basically, if you’re gonna make a change, first of all, you gotta give it at least six months to see if it actually works in a business. And you don’t wanna just lop on changes right away.

[00:44:25] They have to be done systematically. You have to realize you’re gonna be doing this for your whole career. So there’s no reason to just rush everything right off the bat. So you have to do these things slow. You have to see how your staff reacts to ’em. See how your patient base reacts to ’em as well and see if these are the right changes.

[00:44:40] ’cause ultimately you don’t know until you do. But at the same time, it’s not just like you, you hear about something or read about something that’s absolutely gonna work and you’re gonna drive your revenue up. That’s not the case for most businesses. ’cause these are all unique. I like to call ’em living organisms.

[00:44:55] So you’re essentially things that we can manipulate, that we can control to a certain degree. Ultimately the consumer is what drives the business. And so we have to see what they respond to. And of course our staff is what makes that consumer experience, so we have to see what they respond to as well. So it’s all just a cycle understanding that takes time. So that that’s our big take for ODs out there.

[00:45:18] Evon: Mm.

[00:45:20] Jennifer: I agree and I think that that so many of us get so excited and we come in and we’re like, I’m gonna. I bought it on Friday, Saturday, we close and we’re completely redoing everything and I’m getting rid of all the frame lines and we’re gonna, you know, charge double And this doctor wasn’t charging for this.

[00:45:38] So everyone’s getting charged for this. And you know, this is the new. Way we’re doing things and I, I think that can be kind of a really hard approach. That’s a cold start approach. If that’s how you wanna do it, that’s a cold start approach. You go in and you can do what you want. And I’ve done both. So I bought into a practice very early on in my career and then I cold started and I, so I’ve done both and, I treaded very lightly buying into my practice.

[00:46:03] I was the youngest person there. I had been there by far the least amount of time. So if I walked in and was. And had all these ideas for change, it would’ve made it a really rough, transition. So I, you know, we made tra changes slowly. For me it wasn’t fast enough and now cold starting, I was able to just come in with a list of how I exactly wanted things to go.

[00:46:25] I think it can be, yeah, very challenging to kind of go in, I would say make a list of, of everything you want again. Start, you know, start early, making a list of what you want that practice to be, and then over time make those changes. Because I think that’s where people get in trouble. And I think take a page from private equity, you know, a little, not usually something I would ever say, but when private equity buys a practice.

[00:46:50] They go in and say, nothing’s going to change, everything’s going to be the same. And, and we all know that’s not the case, but they make those, it’s, you know, they turn up the burner very slowly and things start to slowly, slowly change in that practice. They don’t walk in day one, there’s, there’s some major changes they make day one.

[00:47:09] but those changes kind of come very slowly over time. And then that’s when you can really see how people feel about the practice. But, they don’t walk in day one. Sometimes they leave the name alone or the staff stays the same, but there are changes they make, to go in, but. To go in and make all those changes.

[00:47:27] Day one would not be a great business decision. And they’re in, you know, they’re in, in business to, to buy these practices, grow them, and then sell them so they know kind of the art of, of what to change right away. And then what to slowly dial up those changes over over time. Not that, not, might not be the changes.

[00:47:44] I agree with. but that’s how, you know, they can make those changes over time and not go in and maybe they don’t wanna drive all their patients away either. so I think if we can be a little more patient and, you know, make those changes slowly, but again, if there’s a practice that you are, that you’re buying, that you look at and say.

[00:48:00] I wanna buy this practice, but I’m gonna completely gut it. I’m gonna, you know, completely change everything. I want all new equipment, all new frame lines. the patient demographic is not what I like and I don’t really love the staff. I would challenge you to say like, what are you actually buying? Right?

[00:48:14] It’s, you know, are you better served by cold starting it? And, and to really kind of map out both and meet with a consultant and, and say, you know, here’s what I want. Here’s what I’m looking at buying. Is it actually more expensive for me to buy this practice, kind of obliterate it and start over? Or could I just cold start and have a very, you know, kind of a similar approach, but maybe that would actually save me money.

[00:48:37] So that’s where I would say enlist the help of, of a consultant who’s been through this and knows those numbers and, and can help you because that’s a, it’s, it’s probably one of the biggest decisions we will ever make. And it’s one that you really wanna come in knowing all of the variables and knowing what to expect.

[00:48:55] Not just going in there blind because somebody on on Facebook said, you should buy a practice versus Cold Start. That is the right decision. And I would challenge anyone listening, that’s not always the right decision for everybody. It can be the right decision, but it, it depends, and that’s where you have to kind of weigh both of those.

[00:49:13] But hire a consultant, have somebody help you run those financials. Don’t think you have to do it all on your own because that’s a huge financial decision. And do it before you, before you buy.

[00:49:23] Evon: Yes. Yeah. And it’s, I mean, it’s interesting ’cause I, if you think about it from the, Jennifer, from what you were talking about, if you’re going in there and making all these changes, I mean, it sounds like you may be. buying a cold start, like you’re, you’re essentially paying a lot of money for

[00:49:38] for what

[00:49:38] start on, on another, another point.

[00:49:41] If you are going in and you are going to have to make changes like that because equipment’s out of date or there just needs to be a lot of updates to the, to the business, then you are also buying a cold start. And you have to think about that carefully too.

[00:49:53] But thinking about it from purely a financial aspect, like when you’re going to get these businesses valuated and you’re going to buy it at a certain price. What that valuation’s gonna hold is it’s gonna inherently show the assets plus the predictability of the earnings of that business moving forward. And that predictability, that valuation is gonna be based on what that business has been doing, what what the business looks like today moving forward. And if you start introducing a lot of changes to that. You are inherently making that future predictability of the earnings less certain. Like it may work out, it, it may work out in your favor and your profit may increase. The cash flow of the business may increase, you’re also taking a chance that you’re going to put off patients and lose patients put off staff, which is a huge part of that, that business’s ability to operate well is the team in, in the business.

[00:50:46] And so. You’re also introducing, you know, the opportunity that you buy the business and then almost immediately make that value drop because the, the changes don’t work out as well as you thought it would. I don’t know if that’s interesting for, for you, but I, I thought that’s just an interesting way to look at it.

[00:51:03] Jennifer: I think it’s just important to, to think about that and, and that’s, you know, people will say, oh, I found this practice. It’s, you know, a diamond in the rough, it’s. Paper charts and it’s got, you know, old equipment and I, this is what they’re bringing in. And I, you know, the doctor has a high net ’cause they haven’t invested any money in the practice.

[00:51:21] So I’m gonna go in and buy all new, brand new fancy equipment, bring in fancy frames and, and be profitable. And, and that’s where I go, you know, possibly, right. It, it’s a gamble. that demographic may not, that might not support the demographic and, and you might have a slower time. Yes, you might. Lose patients.

[00:51:40] ’cause they, they don’t want that. And then you have to build that back up. But I think it’s really important to know that going in and to really plan for that. And have a plan in place that if you do have a drop in revenue, how am I going to handle that? What, what is my plan? How am I gonna pay the bank back?

[00:51:54] The bank wants to know that. So

[00:51:56] Evon: Yes. Yeah. Well, I, I think out of respect of your time, I think we’ll, we’ll kind of wrap it up here. There’s, we can go all day long on, on this. This is fun,

[00:52:05] Jennifer: we have a part two.

[00:52:06] Evon: maybe we’ll have a part two. Yeah, we’ll, we’ll dive into this part two, because there’s a lot more to dive into, but, To kind of wrap it up here.

[00:52:12] What Are They Most Excited About for the Future of Optometry?

[00:52:12] Evon: I guess one question I’ve been asking as I, as I wrap up these episodes is, what do you, when you think about the future of Optometry, and again in the context of this conversation, the future of private practice Optometry, what are you most excited about?

[00:52:26] Aaron: Sure. Yeah, I can go first. You know, I’m excited to see our industry continue to grow and I really, I’m a firm believer in private practice. I know we’re kind of preaching to the choir with the three of us

[00:52:35] now, but I really think that’s gonna be the future of our industry. ’cause if we don’t save private practice, we’re gonna go the way of pharmacy.

[00:52:43] There’s a lot of disruption that’s happening right now. We see what AI can do with eye exams. We can, we see the remote eye exams, everything in between, and ultimately what patients want out there and what they’re willing to pay for is good quality service. They’re willing to pay for that private practice experience. Every patient that walks into all of our practices, they come because they know they have a million other options. I mean, there’s corporate all around. in the tech capital of the world, but come to us for the service. They come to us for the unique experience that we offer, and that’s something that if you’re interested in owning a business, if that’s something you’re kicking around, maybe as a student or a new grad, or maybe you’ve been an associate for quite a while, that’s something that you really wanna jump into because that’s always gonna be there regardless of everything else that comes around that patient doctor interaction. experience they have in our office that’s always gonna be there and that’s what’s gonna grow our profession ultimately into the future.

[00:53:39] That’s my firm belief and that’s what’s gonna keep us financially salient as well. Because if we all become employees, that’s just gonna be a race to the bottom at the end of the day. shade to the employees out there. It’s that’s the nature of it. If corporations take over everything. So us having our own unique businesses, being able to provide that unique service that is gonna keep our industry going.

[00:54:01] Evon: Jennifer.

[00:54:01] Jennifer: I, I’m just excited to see this resurgence of people interested in starting or buying private practice. I think for a little bit of time it. Somehow went out of favor. But there’s, I think since Covid been this huge resurgence in people really wanting to create their own destiny and create their own future and, and create a, a, a practice that supports what they want out of life.

[00:54:22] And I think if there was one thing that came out of the pandemic, we could even kind of take a, take stock of what’s important to us in our, in our lives and think about not just saying, how do I adapt my, my life to my career, but now how do I. Adapt my career to my life. And private practices have such a unique opportunity to, to do what they want to do.

[00:54:41] And we’re kind of challenging the norms of what our predecessors did. And people will say to me, I, I don’t wanna work evenings and weekends and said, so don’t. You’re your own boss. Create a practice that supports the life you want. And if it doesn’t align with that, figure out how not to do it. You know, you have to be a little creative in some places, but I think in private practice we have such flexibility in doing what we wanna do and that we’re not.

[00:55:08] Tied down to doing things the way that it’s always done. If, if there’s patient types that you like seeing, if there’s parts of Optometry you really enjoy, create a business around that and, and find a, a, a colleague who’s really good at the rest and send them, those patients don’t feel you have to do everything.

[00:55:24] And I, that’s what I’m seeing in cold starts or people are doing it for a reason. There’s a reason there’s a type of patient they want to serve, and now they’re, they’re trying to figure out how do I build a business around that? And that’s exciting to me and it’s. What I’ve done here and what I, I would, what I love and what brought me back to private practice and cold starting at age 43.

[00:55:45] So I think that’s exciting to me, is seeing people really challenging what Optometry has been in the past and saying, I, I wanna do it my way. And that’s how I’m starting a business and I’m running it as a business and it’s gonna support my personal and professional goals.

[00:55:59] Evon: I love those answers. that’s fantastic, especially with a lot of the doom and gloom opinions out there. I, I love to hear the, the. Excitement about the future of Optometry and private practice. And, as we wrap up, how can people find and follow and learn more about what you’re doing?

[00:56:15] Aaron: Yeah, just jump onto odsonfinance.com and we’re both happy to help you. There’s a link there and you can book a consult with us. It’s absolutely free. 30 minutes. We just chat one-on-one and just look at your goals and see if we can help you out and direct you in the proper direction.

[00:56:30] Evon: Perfect. Well, I will throw all that into the show notes. I appreciate both your time and for the listener, appreciate you listening today. We’ll catch you on the next episode. In the meantime, take care.