Eye Own a Business

Digital Eye Strain: New Treatment Options and Business Opportunities

Digital eye strain, while frustrating for your patients, presents a tremendous opportunity for your practice. In the past, contact lenses often had less than stellar outcomes for patients experiencing eyestrain on digital devices. Many of these patients ultimately dropped out of contact lenses. This was not good for the patient or the practice. 
Advancements in contact lens technology have created a new option that’s getting raving reviews from both patients and doctors. Patients love the visual comfort and symptomatic relief the lens provides, and doctors love the ease of fitting (98 percent of patients found their final lens with 2 pairs of lenses or less). In this episode with Dr. Michele Andrews, we discuss a lens with potential to create a lot of happy patients (and doctors): MyDay Energys.

Structure Your Optical so the Selling is Done for You

Is it possible to set up your optical so most of the selling is done for you without having to speak to the patient? Where you get the patient 80% of the way there and then you close the last 20%  
When the patient walks into your optical, there are a lot of factors that can encourage or discourage a sale. Many of these operate on a subconscious level. Things like the number of decisions the consumer is forced to make, where frames are placed relative to eye level, and even the cleanliness of the frames can impact sales.  
In this episode with Susan Daly, Director of Optical Strategy and Development for IDOC, we cover 10 tips for boosting sales and several of these tips challenge conventional thinking.  

I Found You Online! Online Marketing that Gets Results

When people search for an eye doctor (or related service) in your area, are you the one who shows up? If not, you’re losing patients and money! 
While word-of-mouth marketing may still be king for many practices, online marketing is not far behind. In this episode with Wayne Street, SEO Manager at IDOC, we discuss the most effective online marketing strategies, how to position your website and content to rank high when people in your area search for eye care services, and reasons your marketing is not working (wasting money). 
For those who lack the time or expertise to manage their own marketing successfully (probably most of you), Wayne also discusses how IDOC can do it for you. As Wayne states, “It’s easy to do, but involves a lot of work!” 

Staff Training: A Recipe for Success

One of the most important responsibilities of private practice ownership, and perhaps one of the most neglected, is staff training. Some of the most common reasons for inadequate training are lack of time, poor training systems, and poor follow-up.  
 
Kayla Ashlee has built a wonderful training platform at Bespexy.com. In this episode, we take a deep dive into some of the most common mistakes with staff training, the role of leadership in executing a training program, building a training structure, and how to continue developing employees beyond the onboarding stage. If your practice struggles with staff training, this episode is a must-listen! 
 
Click here to access Kayla’s New Hire Training Checklist  

Transition From Patient Care to Practice Development

Do you aspire to spend less time seeing patients are more time developing your practice? If you’re not developing and growing your practice, then who is? 
Early in his career, Dr. Larry Golson was somewhat dismissive of the term “leadership,” but came to realize how important it was to the growth of his practice. To be a better leader, he needed to get out of the exam room! 
Dr. Golson adopted an entrepreneurial operating system called Traction, which allowed him to create a practice with more clarity, greater organization, increased accountability and sustained growth. He now teaches this system to other ODs.  

Can’t Find Staff? Try Using a Virtual Assistant

For years we’ve been hearing, “It’s hard to find good employees.” Over the past few years that’s become, “It’s hard to find ANY employees!”  
A few years ago, virtual assistants in eye care were unheard of. Today many practices are testing the waters with this concept. Dr. Adam Ramsey is one of those innovative ODs. In this episode, he shares his experience working with a virtual assistant. He discusses how he uses the assistant, his approach to training a virtual staff member, the reaction from both staff and patients, and much more! If you’re on the fence about virtual staff, this episode may convince you to give it a try! 

Don’t Just Treat Dry Eye, Build a Dry Eye Brand

You may be a doctor who treats dry eye, but are you THE DOCTOR in your area who treats dry eye? In this episode with Dr. Janelle Davison, we discuss how to build a brand around dry eye and the many opportunities this can create for both the patient and the practice. When patients have dry eye, are YOU the one they think of for help? 
In this interview, we tackle many of the questions you may have about building your own brand. How should I market myself? Should I focus on my current patient database or external patients? What equipment should I start with? How do I present prices to the patient? Tune in to learn how Dr. Davison built her dry eye brand, grew this specialty, and became THE DOCTOR in her area. 

Team Building: The Magic Wand to Creating a Multi-Million Dollar Practice

“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! 

Nutritional Supplements: Which ones, educating patients, in-house sales, and more!

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. 

Peace of Mind: Align Business Goals with Personal Goals

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?