Should New Graduate Optometrists Open Practices Cold?

At Vision Expo East, 2017, the CovalentCareers team had the opportunity to sit down with Kristin O'Brien, OD, of Vision Source of Green Valley Ranch. The team asked her how she felt about several career paths for new ODs. One question we asked her was, "Should new graduate optometrists open practices cold?"

Her answer surprised us.

Should new graduate ODs open practices cold?

As mentioned, Dr. O'Brien feels strongly that they should. We prodded her a bit to understand why she feels the way she does. Here are a few reasons why she feels new grad ODs are in the best position to open practices cold:

You're never going to have less to lose.
You're never going to have fewer ties to the community.
There's never a time in life when you'll be better poised to take a risk.

Challenges you'll face.

That said, it's not easy to open optometry practices cold. You'll certainly face challenges along the way, including:

Deciding where you want to practice. But, Dr. O'Brien points out, you'll have to ask yourself that question regardless of whether you plan to open a practice cold or take an associate OD position.
How do you finance the practice? Dr. O'Brien recommends that you start thinking about building your credit from the moment you decide that you'd like to own a practice. Consult an advisor if you're not feeling savvy with finances.
How do you run a business? We don't learn that in OD school, so you're going to need to seek out education in order to be successful. She recommends getting involved in clubs and seeking out mentors whose practices represent the one(s) you'd like to open.

How to get the word about about yourself as a new OD

One of the biggest challenges in opening a practice cold is spreading the word. Not just spreading the word to patients, but also to other professionals. Dr. O'Brien recommends the following to help out in this vein:

Get involved in state and local associations. You'll meet other ODs and eyecare professionals, not to mention keep a finger on the pulse of optometry as a profession.
Make sure that you are networking all the time. Make time for networking at conferences and, when you're there, make it known what you want in your career. The more you share with other ODs, the more they can help you become successful.
Know what you want in your career. Dr. O'Brien makes a good point. If you're not sure what you want in your career, how can you take steps to achieve it? And, worse, you might be taking steps toward a career path that you think you want - perhaps because you feel like you should want it - rather than one you actually want.

The biggest rewards of a private practice

This article certainly points out the challenges and work involved with opening practices cold. But what about the rewards? As it turns out, they're plentiful.

You get to focus on your own passions and goals. When you work in some settings, you practice how you're told to practice. It can be frustrating. When you open a practice, only you can decide how you want to practice. And it's refreshing.
You can focus on your own niches. In a similar vein, you can specialize as much as you want, and build out additional practices in any way you wish, too! For example, you might choose to focus on contact lenses in one practice, pediatrics at another, and low vision at your third. This model works great for satellite offices, according to Dr. O'Brien.
You experience stability. You get to attend conferences, network, have flexibility in your schedule, and make a name for yourself around town, all the while knowing that you're still making money on the days you're not at the practice.

How to grow a private practice

Dr. O'Brien had some recommendations for how to successfully run, and grow, a private practice. These bits of wisdom are applicable whether you're opening practices cold, or buying into them.

Practice by numbers. If you don't track something, you can't improve it. People understand numbers, so when you can show your staff that numbers are improving, you can get your staff's buy in for initiatives more easily.
Have an open book policy and show numbers to the staff. Your staff is not dim-witted. They see the revenue coming in, but they need to know what goes out, too. Otherwise, they might perceive that you're raking in the dough and not sharing it with the team. Dr. O'Brien points out that transparency helps inspire your staff to work harder. She recommends that you treat your staff like you treat your family. If you don't treat your team with respect, your staff won't treat your patients with respect.
Have regular meetings and team bonuses. Rather than setting individual sales goals, consider setting team goals. It helps build camaraderie and helps your staff members understand that you have their backs.
Have an open door policy. Let your staff know that you're always open to their help and ideas to grow the practice. Allow them to feel like the practice is as much theirs as it is yours.
Sign up for the MBA (Management and Business Academy) - They have statistics to help you track and measure the numbers of your practice. For example, you'll want to know your average gross per patient, which will help you have a baseline for improvement. Similarly, you'll want to get an idea of how many dollars you spend per staff member. If you're spending a lot on each member, but everyone still feels overwhelmed, you might need to fix some of your operations!

One final bit of wisdom that Dr. O'Brien left us is this: The difference between a job and a career is passion. A job is a job, but a career is something you're always thinking about, in terms of improving it, growing it, and adding value to your patients, team, and the optometry profession.