Eye Own a Business
Build an optometry practice and life you love! Eye Own a Business teaches independent ODs how to grow a thriving practice while wearing the hats of both a doctor and a business owner. Tune in as Dr. Steve Vargo and his guests guide you with the tools and strategies you need to build the practice of your dreams, one step at a time. Eye Own a Business is brought to you by IDOC. Learn more at IDOC.net
Episodes
Tuesday Mar 14, 2023
Team Building: The Magic Wand to Creating a Multi-Million Dollar Practice
Tuesday Mar 14, 2023
Tuesday Mar 14, 2023
“You can make drama or you can make money, but you can’t make both. The thing that Zig (Ziglar) always said about building a team is that “together everyone achieves more”. I have found in my 25 plus years of consulting that this is the magic wand to creating a multi-million dollar practice. The team is everything.”
The above is directly off of Sharon Carter’s website. In this episode, we tackle the topic of team building and the impact this has on your practice. If you aspire to be a better leader and build a team that takes your practice to the next level, this episode will not disappoint! We cover how to get the right people on board, the importance of empowering people, becoming a more effective communicator, culture building, embracing failure, and much more!
Tuesday Feb 28, 2023
Tuesday Feb 28, 2023
Every eyecare practitioner wants what’s best for the patient in the chair. So, why do we sometimes stop short of providing the best care? In this episode with Dr. Selina McGee and Zac Denning of ScienceBased Health, we explore the role of nutrition and nutritional supplements in the care of patients, and address some of the most common reasons ODs struggle to make this a more meaningful part of their practice.
Perhaps the reason is that you’re not comfortable “selling” products in the office, or you lack the time to discuss these options with patients, or you struggle getting your staff to embrace their role in communicating this treatment option to patients. All of that and more is addressed in this interview. A lot of the ideas presented are not just applicable to supplements, but any area of your practice that you desire to grow.
Tuesday Feb 14, 2023
Peace of Mind: Align Business Goals with Personal Goals
Tuesday Feb 14, 2023
Tuesday Feb 14, 2023
How do you define success? Would your definition of business success and personal success conflict with each other? Sometimes it feels like they are aligned when they are not. Business success often requires long hours and hefty sacrifices that come at the expense of family and personal joy. In optometry school, did you set a personal goal to spend less time with your kids, take fewer vacations, and watch a savings account grow with money you didn’t get to enjoy?
In this episode with Adam Cmejla, we take a look at this topic and discuss how important it is to work to live, not live to work. Even if you love your job, your practice can and should be in service of not only your business goals but also your personal goals. From a financial planning standpoint, how can you set yourself up for success on both fronts?
Tuesday Jan 31, 2023
Create Your Own In-house Discount Plan
Tuesday Jan 31, 2023
Tuesday Jan 31, 2023
In this episode I sit down with Dr, Candace Hoff to talk about something she’s doing that a lot of ODs ask about, but very few successfully execute. That “something” is an in-house discount plan.
In Dr. Hoff’s case, this allowed her practice to drop a few vision plans while retaining a healthy percentage of those patients. The feedback from patients has been mostly positive, and the feedback from staff has been even better. The success of this discount plan has Dr. Hoff targeting additional plans to drop.
Take a listen to learn how she did it, how she communicated this option to patients, and much more!
Tuesday Jan 17, 2023
The 5 Levels of Leadership
Tuesday Jan 17, 2023
Tuesday Jan 17, 2023
“Leadership is not about title or positions, it is about one life influencing another.” These are the words of world-renowned leadership expert John Maxwell. In this episode, I had the opportunity to interview Chris Goede, Vice President of Client Success for The John Maxwell Company. Chris is one of our keynote speakers for our upcoming national convention, The Connection, in Orlando on February 16 -19. In this episode, Chris takes us through the foundational principles from John Maxwell’s best-seller, The 5 Levels of Leadership.
As you’re listening, try to determine what level you are currently at, and what needs to change to advance to the next level. Don’t get stuck at a low level! Developing and growing your leadership attributes will pay huge dividends in managing your team and growing a successful practice.
Thursday Jan 05, 2023
Trouble Getting Patients to Say Yes? Try Communicating Differently.
Thursday Jan 05, 2023
Thursday Jan 05, 2023
Patient education and effective communication are not the same thing. Patient education only guarantees people will hear what you say. Effective communication increases the odds people will do what you say. So, how do we become better communicators?
Fortunately, we don’t have to guess at that, we just have to make some small but powerful changes in how we communicate with patients. There is a mountain of research demonstrating how to be more effective and influential when communicating with others, and this can be easily applied to patient care. In this podcast, I present some of these concepts and share an audio lesson from a course I created designed to help doctors become more effective communicators. If you’re an IDOC member, email me at svargo@idoc.net for a link to download the entire course for free.
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Tuesday Dec 20, 2022
New Year, New Goals! 3 Goal Setting Flaws that Sabotage Success
Tuesday Dec 20, 2022
Tuesday Dec 20, 2022
Have you set annual goals for your practice in the past that required you and your staff to perform or produce at a higher level to reach the goal? Did you succeed, or did you find yourself coming up short at the end of the year?
There are many flaws and weaknesses in traditional goal setting, this is especially prevalent with annual goals and bonuses. Leaning on research in workplace behavior, I discuss 3 common reasons practices fail to reach their annual goals, and how to devise a system that increases your chances of success.
Follow us on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/idocnet/
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/IDOC.OptometricAlliance
Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/company/idoc
Interested in an optometry specialty? Join our community FB group https://www.facebook.com/groups/idocspecialty
Tuesday Dec 06, 2022
The Job Interview: Don’t Just Ask Questions, Become a Great Interviewer!
Tuesday Dec 06, 2022
Tuesday Dec 06, 2022
What should I look for in a resume? How do I prepare for an interview? What questions should I ask? These are good questions to answer, but many employers just “wing it” when it comes to interviewing job candidates. There is an art to asking the right questions, knowing what to listen for, and identifying the right qualities in a candidate that will not only increase your odds of finding the ideal candidate but also avoid the hassles and headaches of hiring the wrong person.
Employers must also consider that the job candidate is interviewing them! They want some assurance before accepting the position that this will be a great fit for them. The job interview can serve to showcase your office culture, a defining factor in candidate’s choosing your practice over another.
Tuesday Nov 22, 2022
Switching Patients to Daily Disposables (Without Patient Resistance)
Tuesday Nov 22, 2022
Tuesday Nov 22, 2022
There are times when an OD feels it’s in the best interest of a patient to modify their contact lenses. This often involves making a change, such as changing the brand or modality. This can be a challenge with a patient who is not experiencing any problems with their habitual contact lenses. It can be even more challenging when the lenses you’re prescribing will cost the patient more money than their current lenses.
In this episode, Dr. Moscow shares his strategies for presenting daily disposable, handling objections, and getting the patient’s “buy-in.” These strategies have led to 80% of his contact lens patients being fit with daily disposables!
Follow us on instagram at https://www.instagram.com/idocnet/
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/IDOC.OptometricAlliance
Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/company/idoc
Interested in an optometry specialty? Join our community FB group https://www.facebook.com/groups/idocspecialty
Tuesday Nov 08, 2022
My One Year Education in Managing an Optical
Tuesday Nov 08, 2022
Tuesday Nov 08, 2022
Let’s dig into a topic many ODs lack knowledge and expertise about… optical and inventory management. They didn’t teach us that in school!
Dr. Neil Patel is a young OD who purchased a practice one year ago. His first thought was “How hard can this be?” Not long after he confided to an IDOC Optical Consultant, “I have no idea what I’m doing!” That self-realization led to his quest to work with our Inventory Management team and learn more about how to successfully manage his optical and inventory. In this interview, Dr. Patel shares what he’s learned over the past year and how the IDOC Inventory Management service has allowed him to run a successful optical with fewer demands on him and his staff.
Follow us on instagram at https://www.instagram.com/idoc.alliance/ or https://www.instagram.com/idocnet/
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/IDOC.OptometricAlliance
Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/company/idoc
Interested in an optometry specialty? Join our community FB group https://www.facebook.com/groups/idocspecialty