Cold Start vs. Practice Purchase: Most Common Questions & Misconceptions with Dr. Jennifer Stewart and Dr. Aaron Neufeld

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Evon (00:04):
Hey everybody.
Welcome back to the OptometryMoney Podcast, where we're
helping ODs all over the countrymake better and better decisions
around their money, theircareers, and their practices.
I am your host, Evon Mendrin,Certified Financial Planner(TM)
practitioner, and owner ofOptometry Wealth Advisors.
An independent financialplanning firm just for
optometrists nationwide.

(00:24):
And thank you so much forlistening.
Appreciate your time andattention today.
And on today's episode, I havetwo very exciting guests, Dr.
Erin Neufeld and Dr.
Jennifer Stewart, and we diveinto some of the most common
questions and misconceptionsaround cold starting Optometry
practices and purchasingOptometry practices.
And they bring not only theirexperience owning their own

(00:48):
practices to the conversation,but they also offer free
consultations to ODs on Financecommunity members on navigating
decisions around cold startingpractices or purchasing
practices.
And so they're able to sharesome of the most common
questions they hear as a part ofthose conversations as well as
how they answer those questions.
This was a really funconversation.
Hopefully this is helpful foryou if you are thinking about

(01:10):
cold starting or purchasing apractice, maybe you're already
going through that process ormaybe you know someone else
that's considering the same.
Pass this along to them as well.
And if you have any questionsfor the guests, of course you
can go to the ODs on Financecommunity and get in touch with
them.
Or you can reach out to me aswell at
podcast@optometrywealth.Com.
you can also click the link atthe top of the show notes and

(01:31):
you can send a one way messageto me.
So if you have any questions orfuture ideas or questions you'd
like to see answered on futurepodcast episodes, it'd be great
to hear from you.
And of course.
If you've enjoyed the podcast sofar, please leave a review
wherever you listen to yourpodcast.
It's always helpful to see thatfeedback and hear where I can
improve the, the podcast.

(01:51):
And, it helps to get moreeducation in the hands of, of
more optometrists all over thecountry.
And without further ado, here ismy conversation with Dr.
Jennifer Stewart and Dr.
Aaron Neufeld.
Welcome back to the podcast.
I'm your host, Evon Mendrin, andI'm excited to welcome to the

(02:12):
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 thepodcast before.
Jennifer.
This is your first time welcome.
hopefully it's a greatexperience for you and I, I'm
excited to talk with you bothabout common questions, maybe

(02:32):
even misconceptions that youboth hear, talking with other
optometrists about the ColdStart process or, or those that
want to purchase a practice.
And, both of you.
Are involved in both the ColdStart Accelerator program and
the Practice PurchaseAccelerator program for the ODs
on Finance community.
Just talk to us about what thatis.

(02:54):
What, what are those programs?
What type of calls and work areyou both doing?

Aaron (02:58):
Yeah.
We started the Cold StartAccelerator.
That was the first program, andthat'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 wereinterested in starting their own
practice.
They just didn't know where tostart.
There's a lot of resources, butwhen you look online, it's kind
of this plethora of resources.
You don't know what to take,what not to take.
And so really it was just anopportunity for them to meet

(03:20):
with one of us, just have a 30minute chat and kind of get
their bearings so that theyunderstand how to go about this
cold start properly.
And we weren't sure what wasgonna happen with it, but it
took off.
And then the practice purchaseaccelerator came soon after, and
that was basically the sameprocess for ODs that were
looking into buying a practice.
Either buying it out completelyor buying in as a partner.

(03:41):
And so that's been a greatexperience.
I know Jen and I have both spokewith so many colleagues and just
a lot of new grads andsometimes, you know, I've even
talked to a 65-year-old OD thatwas wanting to get into practice
ownership for the first time.
So it's been an awesomeexperience and hopefully it's
been a huge benefit to ODs outthere.
I,

Jennifer (03:57):
I, I joined, I guess last year, and it's been really
fun for me to meet so many ODsand I cold started February of
2024, so we just celebrated ayear.
I.
In my cold start, but I had alsopurchased a practice and sold it
in the past.
So I think my u my uniqueexperience kind of doing
everything has, has been reallyhelpful for ODs and, especially,

(04:19):
I'm 44, so cold starting alittle later in, in my career,
and I'm a mom of two kids, so Ithink that has really touched a
lot of female ODs who havereally thought about wanting to
open a practice but weren't surehow to balance it, and how to
really create a practice thatsupported both their personal
and professional life.
So I have a special place in myheart for, for working with

(04:42):
women ODs, especially those witha family, to help guide them to
make those decisions and, andfigure out how to do it best.

Evon (04:48):
Very cool.
Yeah.
And it sounds like you bothbring a ton of experience in
your own respective careers andin your own respective
businesses and having, eitherpurchased and or cold started,
practices yourselves.
And, and as a part of theseconversations, you're able to
sort of guide other ODs that arethinking about it through.
The process and through allthese resources that they may

(05:08):
need at each step.
And, I'm sure you've had a lotof these conversations.
I'm sure you've both heard a lotof great questions.
I'm sure you've both heard a lotof misconceptions and maybe some
myths out there and, and maybesome hesitations.
And, and so I wanna talk to youabout what are some of these
most common questions.
And I guess we can start on justthe cold start side.

(05:29):
What are some of the most commonquestions that you both hear?
when talking with other ODsabout the Cold Start process,
and I guess Dr.
Stewart, let's, let's start withyou.
What, what do you hear?

Jennifer (05:38):
So, I think a lot of people just think they can't do
it, and that's where a lot ofdoctors think, well, you know, I
don't have that ability to dothat, or it's just not in me.
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 thishesitation to think that, that
you have to be, you know,special to Cold Start.

(06:01):
And there's a lot of work thatgoes into it.
But I think that's the biggestmisconception is that you have
to be the right age or the rightlocation.
I mean, the location does help,but the right.
Person to do it.
And I think that's the biggestmisconception is that not
everybody can do it and it's notthe easiest thing in the world.
But I think, you know, I alwaysam happy when somebody reaches

(06:23):
out to me while they're thinkingabout it.
It's harder to, to, to make somechanges once you've already done
it and maybe didn't have thatguidance to start.
So I, you know, I love talkingto doctors who are maybe
employed.
Or are in a practice thatthey're, they've got a great
situation, but they've got thisentrepreneurial mindset and
they've got this, this desire tocold start.

(06:44):
Maybe it's not the, the, theideal fit for them, but that's
when I love having thatconversation because they can
start thinking and planning and,and doing a lot of that legwork
before they open.
So I think if you.
Spend the time before and reallydial down and understand what
you wanna get out of thatpractice and have the time
before, that's when it, you canha, I can feel like I can be so

(07:05):
impactful for them to startplanting the seed of what they
need to do and who they need towork with before they've cold
started.
So I think that's the biggestmisconception is that people
think they just can't do it.
And I'm here to help them makethat dream a reality.

Evon (07:19):
So they don't need to be the second coming of Steve Jobs
to No.
To start a successful coldstaror endowed from heaven with all
business knowledge, like they,no.
And so are, are a lot of thehesitations, Jennifer, that
you're seeing, is it mostlyabout their ability to handle
the business stuff on top ofseeing patients and everything

(07:40):
else, just not having had theexperience?
Like how do you, how do youanswer that?
How do you kinda walk themthrough, yes, you can do this,
and in fact, here's here's how.

Jennifer (07:50):
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 Ithink.
There's so much misconceptionabout what your practice needs
to be, so I really like sittingwith them and and talking about,
what do you wanna get out of acold start?
Why are you having this thought?
What are I.
If you had this, if you lookedat a schedule and it was full of

(08:13):
your Dream day patients, whatwould that look like?
And that's gonna look differentfor everybody and, and build
from there.
So I said, you know, I've, I hada small practice that grew to a
huge practice.
I sold that and now I have avery small practice again.
and I am quite happy to have.
Exactly what I want, but I tryand get them to think about what

(08:33):
they wanna get out of coldstarting and not do it because
that's what everybody's doing,or I wanna do it.
To, you know, become something Idon't actually want it to be,
but to think about really deepdown why they want a cold start
and use that to make all of thedecisions that you have to make.
I mean, there are a gazilliondecisions you have to make in a

(08:53):
cold start, but if you canreally sit down and, and think
about what you want and why it'sin the back of your mind.
And if it keeps popping up, youknow, there's, there's a reason
that you're thinking about it.
it could be flexibility, itcould be to do a specific type
of care.
It could be.
To move and, and start somewherenew.
But to really lean into that andto really think about.

(09:16):
Why you wanna do it and whatwould make this the right
decision?
And use that thought process tomake the decision on location
equipment, you know, whatinsurances you take, what type
of frames you have, what staffyou have, and just keep coming
back to that vision of whatyou're trying to create.
But to get really intentionalabout it before you.

(09:36):
Start something and then go, ohmy gosh, like, this is not what
I envisioned at all.
and I think that's the, thehardest part is, is being really
honest and intentional aboutwhat you wanna get outta your
business.

Evon (09:47):
Aaron, how would you respond to that type of
hesitation or that those type ofquestions?

Aaron (09:53):
Yeah.
You know, it's something that wesee quite often and I think it
really is just a psychologicalgap and it's.
it's what do you want?
What do you want to get out ofyour career?
You know, that cold starting,it's not gonna be an easy
process.
And I think a lot of ODs, theylook at cold starting and it's
like, oh, I've got the comfortof a good associate job.
I.
Making a good income and thenall of a sudden I'm diving into

(10:14):
something that I have no ideawhat's gonna happen here.
'cause as Jen mentioned, wedon't learn about this in
school.
And on top of that, yeah,probably not gonna make a whole
lot of money in the first yearto year and a So just kind of
reconciling that, helping themunderstand, okay, is something
that you're gonna be creating.
And then just going from there,if this is something you really

(10:34):
wanna do.
Here are the steps to do it.
We're gonna list this all outfor you.
We're gonna give you theresources 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 alot of my Cold start consults,
I.
A lot of these ODs realize, ohwait, I don't think I actually
want to cold start.
I might want to purchase apractice.

(10:55):
I want that cash flow up front.
I have a family and I've got asupportive family and I don't
wanna be, you know, moonlightingtwo days a week.
Others are like, no, let's gofor it.
You know, let's find thatlocation.
Let's get this started.
So I think it's really justunderstanding what you want and
long-term trajectory for yourcareer.

Evon (11:11):
that's interesting.
What does it look like for thatOD that it doesn't make sense to
cold start?
What things are you hearing tosay to them?
Okay, maybe this is not theright direction for you, or
maybe practice ownership isn'tthe right direction for you.
Like what, what are some ofthose things you might hear to
kind of indicate to you thatmight be the case?

Aaron (11:32):
You know, for certain ones, a lot of'em, they want
that steady income and they justwant it to be easy.
They don't wanna have to put alot of creativity into it or a
lot of extra work into it.
And that might be for a varietyof reasons.
Maybe they have otherresponsibilities and they just
don't have the time to put intoit.
And so that's one where wereally talk about it.
And be like, Hey, maybe at theend of the day this isn't the
best option for you.

(11:54):
And then there's other ones thatmight not be in the right
environment.
I talked to OD recently,actually in the Bay Area and you
know, they were looking at coldstarting it was in a city that's
already extremely saturated.
And we're like, okay, the onlyway this is probably gonna work
with just the reliance on VCPshere is you gotta do a specialty
practice.

(12:14):
that OD wasn't really interestedin doing a specialty practice.
we're like, okay, well.
Maybe you could cold start, butit's probably not gonna be a
huge revenue practice because ofall these other underlying
variables.
So situations like that where wetalk it out, but the majority of
cold starts that are interestedin cold starting end up doing
it, and we find a pathway forthem.

(12:34):
But it's always good to knowthat upfront rather than to dive
into it, you know, take out a$500k loan and then realize,
wait a minute, this wasn't thebest idea.
Now I

Evon (12:43):
Right, right.
Jennifer, how about you?
what are some things you'd hearthat might indicate, okay, maybe
this isn't the right path for,for that OD?

Jennifer (12:52):
I would say, you know, somebody who upfront says to me,
I don't really like business.
I don't really wanna manage astaff.
I just wanna kind of come in, domy job and leave and not have to
worry about anything else.
That, to me.
It doesn't say, you know, thisis never gonna work, but.
There's always things you haveto be thinking about.

(13:13):
I'm on the other side.
I love running a business.
I am not meant to work forsomebody.
I have never worked.
The first year I practiced, Iworked in two part-time jobs.
Since then, I have been involvedin, 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.

(13:35):
And I don't find that to bework.
I don't find it to be somethingI dread doing.
So managing staff, that is noteasy.
Even me, there are days whereI'm like, okay, if I could just
do this alone, I'd be, you know,a lot better off.
But when somebody starts thatconversation and they, they're
pretty adamant that this issomething they don't really like

(13:55):
doing, they have no interest inbeing the manager of the team
or, You know, I, I don't reallylike the business side.
It's really hard unless you havesome magic way to do it without
having to, to you have somebodyto hire that can manage it all
off the bat.
that could be the only way Icould see it working, but you
have to really have to manage itlike a business.

(14:16):
And if somebody says to me, Ijust really like practicing
Optometry, but I don't like theother stuff that goes along with
it.
I'll say to them, there'snothing wrong with practicing
Optometry and enjoying that.
And business ownership is notfor everybody.
It's not for the weak.
and I think that could be, youknow, a really a time to say,
you know, this is again, a timeto kind of sit down with your

(14:36):
own thoughts and think I.
What do I enjoy about Optometryand what do I not wanna do?
And if the thought of running abusiness just is not for you,
then don't do it.
You know, there, it, it, there'snothing wrong with knowing that
about yourself, that at fiveo'clock I wanna leave and exit
and not think about Optometrytill 8:30 or nine o'clock
tomorrow morning.

(14:56):
If that's really deep down howyou feel, it's absolutely fine
not to do it.
And it doesn't mean thateverybody has to be a practice
owner or cold start or buy, butI think it's just being really
honest and being true toyourself because if that's how
you feel going into it, it'sgonna be a really hard, really
hard road.

Evon (15:12):
Yeah, being true to yourself and I.
yeah.
I would imagine it is the casethat, hey, Optometry needs
highly skilled practitioners and

Jennifer (15:20):
Yes.

Evon (15:21):
need highly skilled practitioners.
And, and that's perfectly fine.
And that's a perfectly fine wayto go about your career, and you
can be successful in eitherdirection.
And, and there are ways,bringing back to the finances, I
mean, there, there are ways toarrange your finances in
preparation for a huge lifedecision like this.
To at least, bring down thestress level on the household
side because that financialrunway is really important.

(15:43):
You need to know that you cankeep your lights on, put food on
the table for as long as youneed to get that practice up and
running.
And a lot of it's just gonnacome down to cashflow
flexibility, and liquidity.
Do you, can you create as muchcash flow flexibility as
possible?
A lot the times it's gonna comedown to how you handle the
student loans.
being careful on not purchasinga huge house right as you're

(16:06):
about to cold start, and thenhaving a pretty healthy amounts
of cash in the bank if possible.
I know lenders are gonna want tosee something in the bank.
that amount of net liquidity isgonna be important, but nothing
brings down the stress levels ina household, like having a nice,
healthy, warm, fuzzy amounts ofcash in, in savings.
So, there, there's some thingsyou can do on the financial

(16:27):
side, but like you bothmentioned, you do have to be
true to yourself, right?
If you're not interested inbusiness ownership and, and all
the other parts of it, thenregardless of what other people
tell you you should do, like,it's probably just not gonna be
the right, the right path foryou.
that's awesome.
I, I appreciate that.
Aaron, what about you?
What are, what are somequestions you're seeing on, on
the Cold start side?

Aaron (16:49):
Yeah.
You know, the cold start sidewhen someone's really looking
into this, number one, it'slike.
Where should I cold start?
That's location's obviously abig one.
And so we kind of go throughthat.
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 walkingthrough each individual step.

(17:09):
'cause you know, creating abusiness from scratch isn't an
easy process, but there is a wayto do it and there's a, you
know, there are set things thatwe can do to get this thing
started, to make sure that itmeets all the tax legal
obligations and also so we canget it running in our
communities.
So that's kind of what we gothrough and that's probably the
first start off question thatI'll get for a Cold Start

(17:29):
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'sprobably the, the next one up.
how many do I take?
All the VCPs, do I take none?
You know, what insurances am Ibringing into the practice?
How am I gonna track folks in?
the big conversation isultimately what brings patients

(17:52):
into your practice is yourdifferentiation.
all the other practices in yourarea, it's what, what unique
value are you offering that youcan give to your community so
that those patients come in?
And so that's a big conversationthat we have.
ultimately could be a pr, aregular practice.
It could be a co, a dry eyepractice, it could be a

(18:12):
specialty lens practice, butultimately you've gotta get some
sort of marketing behind that sothat you can get those patients
in.

Evon (18:19):
Hmm.
In terms of that location, howdo you help the OD think through
what the right location is?
What should they be looking for?

Aaron (18:27):
Yeah.
Yeah, there's definitely a lotof things to look for.
I always tell'em, you know, thesimplest way to go about this.
Just go on Google and see whereare these o other practices
located.
You probably don't wanna open upa practice, so you want to have
a little bit of space.
And actually, through ODs onFinance, we do offer a location
service analysis, we've actuallydone that for a few ODs, and
that just kind of finds the bestlocation possible.

(18:50):
But ultimately it comes down to.
are you trying to achieve withyour practice?
Because there's certainpractices out there, they just
want to see volume.
They wanna see as many patientsas possible.
Nothing wrong with that.
That's not really the way Iwould open a practice, but some
of them just wanna do that.
other ones are really trying tojust maximize the revenue per
patient, which I think is thebest way to go.
And so that can be a strategiclocation.

(19:12):
I remember one OD I was talkingwith out in Portland, Oregon.
He decided to open up at thebottom of basically one of those
five level, you know, brand newapartment complexes in a very
affluent area.
And bottom level was all shops.
And we were looking at rentprices and it was like, okay,
this is a lot more expensivethan being five blocks away,

(19:33):
he's in the middle of this newmecca of folks that are making
$200k plus a year.
So they've got that cash to goin.
He doesn't have to take VCPs hecan be a cash pay practice.
And with the convenience factor.
And then the unique offerings,you can really make that work
and probably only see five tosix patients a day and probably
make as much as practicing 40patients that are, you know,

(19:54):
paying$40 a a patient can see.

Evon (19:56):
Hmm.

Aaron (19:57):
that's just one anecdotal example, but it's going through
these different thoughtprocesses of what do I wanna
achieve with this practice?
How do we get there and how dowe set that geographic location
so that we can achieve this?

Evon (20:11):
Got it.
And that that surroundingdemographic has to meet that
vision for the practice, itsounds like.
Yeah.

Aaron (20:16):
Yeah.

Evon (20:17):
Jennifer, what, what are your thoughts on that?

Jennifer (20:20):
I agree.
I mean, it, it really depends.
I think, again, knowing whattype of patient you wanna see
will guide you.
I am a very highly retailfocused practice.
I am mostly, eyewear and it's,you know, very unique niche.
So I, when I was looking atspaces, I was very specific
saying, I do not wanna be in thethird floor of a medical

(20:41):
building.
That's not the space for me.
so I am on a retail street, veryhigh rent.
but that fit my business model.
So if I was a medical, highlymedical practice where I was
focused on volume, my spacewould not make sense.
So it's really getting.
To understand what type ofpatient you're trying to
attract.
I'm, you know, looking for, youknow, I'm in a very high-end

(21:03):
affluent area and this locationfits that, but you have to be
clear'cause that will guide thedirection and that also helps
the banks understand you have tohave 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 tocreate.
This is why I need this money,or that's how the.
The very high rent that I'masking, you know, that I'm, I'm

(21:25):
looking at supports what type ofpractice I'm trying to see.
So I think really kind offiguring out what type of
patient you're trying toattract.
Are you in the right demographicand space for that?
and, and then figuring out howto find that space and not being
able to afraid to ask for help.
You know, I think one of thebiggest misconceptions that
optometrists.

(21:47):
That I see with optometrists isthey think they have to do all
this on their own, and theythink that they're responsible
solely for making thesedecisions and that everyone
who's cold started has done iton their own and figured it out
by themselves.
And I, you know, hopefully ifsomebody gets one, one piece of
advice from this, this podcastis that you do not have to go at
it alone.
And I certainly did not.

(22:08):
I had the guidance of, of lotsof friends and colleagues to
help me, so.
There are you people have donethis before and they're, you
know, and that's what we do ishelp guide and triage people to
get to the right people to helpthem make these decisions.
So all the things we're, we'retalking about and asking, don't
feel.
You have to just think about italone.
And then I.

(22:29):
Find the space on your own andnegotiate on your own.
Please don't.
and, and really there are, youknow, reach out to me.
I am happy to help you guidethrough that conversation, but
don't feel you have to, to knowall of this and that we've, that
we should have learned this inschool because we certainly
didn't.
But we're help, we're here tohelp guide you through that
process to start thinking aboutthe questions that we're asking

(22:52):
so that.
We can help get you to the rightpeople who can then help you
make those decisions and save alot of time and save a lot of
money.

Evon (23:01):
As Aaron talked about, okay, what other 50 decisions do
I need to make after we solvethis one big one, right?
There's all these decisions andit can seem overwhelming, but.
There, there are all theseresources.
I mean, you, you two areproviding, a Wealth of knowledge
and resources to, to those ODsthinking about this and
interesting, your, your pointsabout the rent, because a lot of
times you can see that and the,the owner doctor may think,

(23:24):
well, that is way too much as afixed expense to pay.
Or sometimes you might look atbenchmarks, which in a cold
start, I mean, if there are apercentage of revenue, it's hard
to gauge what, what that reallyis, but.
If you're looking at severalbenchmarks about what rent
should be, you're gonna look atsomething like that and say,
well, I'm never gonna go there'cause it's way too high, but it
fits the business.
Like that's what you both justmentioned.

(23:45):
It fit your business, Jennifer,and it fit that other
optometrist business.
that's gonna allow them to besuccessful because they're in
such a, an appropriate area anddemographic for their business.
Sometimes you just have to goagainst what you hear and, and
just do what makes sense foryour own business.

Jennifer (24:04):
my, everyone, I, whenever I share, you know what
I, what my rent is, people arelike, that's crazy.
And I go, that's a.
A, a bargain for what I get, youknow, 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 avatarthat you're trying to create.
Are they going to find you inyour location?
And my, my realtor kept showwanting to show me office space

(24:27):
and I said, I'm not, this is,this is a retail business that
I'm creating.
I don't belong in a medicalbuilding for the type of
business I'm creating.
There's a huge mismatch there.
Would I save money?
Probably.
But would that I.
Rent be paid, you know, thewalk-in traffic I have alone
from, you know, picking theright location has made such
sense.
But having, I think, again,having that thought process

(24:49):
ahead of time versus now endingup in a space that maybe wasn't
the ideal location, but was abargain.
And then kind of trying tobacktrack and create a business
based on the space you're inversus creating a business and
finding the right space forthat.
So doing all the homework aheadof time is just, I can't
underscore that enough.

Aaron (25:06):
Just echo one thing that Jen said

Evon (25:08):
yeah.

Aaron (25:09):
that there's experts out there for everything you need to
do.
So definitely reach out, get thehelp.
Our job with ODs on Finance isto triage that so that we send
you to the right folks, andthat's basically what we do on
our consults.
But there are folks out therethat can help you with every
step of the way, includingfinding a space, which is
actually obviously probably oneof the most important ones.
But yeah, just reach out.

(25:30):
You don't have to spend a ton ofmoney.
There's folks out there that aregoing to help you and it's gonna
make sense for your business.
Just like Optometry, right?
We hate when patients go onlineand try to get medical advice.
So if you're getting advice forthis or that, or you know, even
CFPs, with Evon, I mean, that'swhy you exist, is so that you
can help folks.
You have the expertise.

(25:51):
harness expertise of all thoseindividuals out there, don't try
to go at it alone.

Evon (25:55):
Yeah, that's, that's a great point.
And I wanna go back, Aaron, toone of your final things that
you mentioned was that.
vision plans, and there's a lotof 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 mypodcast talking about a direct
care model of business whereyou're not necessarily accepting

(26:18):
vision plans.
It's more of a fee for service,potentially medical.
So.
What do you, what do you thinkabout that decision?
Should cold starts accept visionplans from the beginning?
Should it just be considered amarketing expense to get
patients to the door?
How should they think aboutthat?

Aaron (26:35):
No, that's question.
And that's, you know, the ahundred million dollar question.
'cause it's actually, it'sdifferent for every situation.
It's not, obviously if you go onthe ODs on Finance forum,
everyone says VCPs are horribleand they're evil.
But they do have a place, and Isay that because with all of our
practices here in the Bay Area,California, I mean we're about
75% VSP and we're never gonnadrop VSP because it kind of

(26:58):
rules the tech world, and we'rein 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 inthe Midwest where these VCPs are
few and far between, and reallyyou could do better being a
catch pay practice or just beinga heavy medical insurance
practice.
So it's unique to the practice.
And what I hate seeing isthere's.

(27:21):
Some advice out there where it'slike, okay, just take
everything, just take thekitchen sink, and that way it
gets patients in your office.
But what you're doing with thatis you're not creating the
practice that you want.
You're just taking everythingthat's willing to kind of fall
into your practice.
You're, you're scraping thebottom with a barrel, which is
not how you want to start abusiness, especially if you're
building your own unique legacy,because you're gonna have to

(27:43):
fight your way up eventually.
You're gonna realize, okay, Iwant to drop this vision plan, I
want to drop this one becausethey're not reimbursing
properly.
But it's gonna be tough'causeyou already have a patient base
that's relying on you, and howdo you go about that?
So realistically, it's gonna bedifferent for every person.
And what we see is, hey, whatare your goals?
What are you trying to achievewith this practice?

(28:04):
And ultimately, how do you wannahave that work life balance?
If you're seeing 40 Davispatients a day, your work life
balance probably isn't greatunless you really like doing
that.
You like seeing patients every15 minutes, that's fine, but
most folks probably go intoprivate practice so they don't
have to do that.
So they can see a patient every30, 45 minutes.

(28:24):
That's what I enjoy aboutpracticing and I know Jen's the
same way, is just getting to seethese patients, you know, they
walk out the door, they'respending a couple thousand
dollars because they had a greatexperience, and we have a great
experience.
We build those relationshipswith patients.
Build that community aspect, butultimately, no wrong or right or
wrong way of doing it.
It's just what do you want todo?
What do you wanna achieve withyour, your practice?

Evon (28:46):
Jennifer, what are your thoughts?

Jennifer (28:47):
I agree.
I mean, nothing gets my my I upthan blanket statements on any
of the Facebook groups of whateverybody should, should do and
either, you know, don't take anyplans or, you know, if you take
this you're a poor businessperson or you know, it is these
blanket statements of whatpeople should do.

(29:08):
That is, I think, very.
Frustrating for ODs and can bevery intimidating for Cold Start
because they're reading peoplesaying Do this, do this, do
this.
And they're all seeing differentthings.
So then they're left going,well, how am I ever gonna start
a business when everyone'stelling me to do 10 different
things?
And I, I agree there, and it'slike, what comes down to your
business model?

(29:29):
And when I cold started, I don'ttake medical insurance at all.
I take vision plans and Ipractice medical care here, but
I am cash pay.
And the number of doctors whotold me I was going to be a
failure and be out of businessso fast, was pretty amazing on
Facebook.
People love to share theiropinion, based on your business.

(29:49):
And say some some crazy thingsthat 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 pairis really helpful.
And then the next three to sixpairs that they get are cash
pay.
But it's a very deliberatedecision.

(30:10):
So I think it goes back toexactly what kind of business
are you trying to create.
And also the second piece ofthat is.
Monitoring that and being reallydiligent about tracking your
metrics and tracking whatpatients are spending and what,
what different plans arebringing you, and that's where
you can really make thosedecisions.
If you do take a few more plansthan you planned, well keep in

(30:34):
mind you can break that down andsee what types of patients
you're getting and what typesof.
you know, what they're spendingand are they a value to your
practice?
So I think some of us get sobogged down in just thinking, I
need to do all this and takethem all, and then I'm just
churning and I, I'm seeing 40patients a day and I don't, I
don't know what I'm doing.
Something's not right.
I.

(30:54):
I think the second piece is justmaking sure you're continuing to
monitor that.
And that's something I'mchecking all the time is what
are these patients that I'mtaking these plans spending and
are they worth my time?
And if they're not, then they'regone and I have to make a plan
for that.
So I think I.
Being really diligent about whatyou do to start, but then
continuing to monitor that andevolve as your business grows.

(31:16):
And it might be that you takemore 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 tocontinue monitoring that as your
bi, as your business grows downthe line.
If you're booked out six to ninemonths, do you really need those
plans?
But if you don't know.
If you can't break it down andsee the metrics and the value of

(31:37):
certain patients, how do youknow 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 todrop?
Now you have to start digginginto your, your business and run
it as a business and run it as abusiness where you're tracking
these metrics.
So I, I, I agree.
It, it's not, I always try andchime in when somebody says to a

(31:59):
cold start, like, don't start bytaking anything'cause it's never
gonna work.
It call me set, set up an email,you know, send me an email.
That set up a time.
'cause that's not those blanketstatements of take everything or
take nothing I don't think aresuper helpful.
'cause it really depends on thepractice and it, it leads to
just people feeling like I, Idon't know what to do because

(32:19):
everyone's telling me somethingelse.

Evon (32:21):
Yeah, my favorite answer is it depends,

Jennifer (32:23):
It depends.
Yes,

Evon (32:25):
depends.

Jennifer (32:26):
it depends.

Evon (32:27):
a, a lot of the opinions we see, and I'm in ODs on
Finance too, so I, I see a lotof the comments there.
Our may be educated opinions,but based on that person's
experience.
So that may be the right opinionfor that

Jennifer (32:39):
Yes.

Evon (32:40):
not necessarily the one answer asking the question.
And so, as you both mentioned,it depends on what you want your
business to look like and yoursituation.
And now that we just talkedabout how bad blanket statements
are, I'm gonna ask you both tomake a blanket observation here.
you feel like.
If a, a cold start is going togo without vision plans
initially the very beginning, dowe feel like that runway to

(33:05):
profitability include?
I would think about that,including the wage to the owner.
It needs to be thought aboutlonger, meaning it's gonna take
a little, little longer to getto that point.
is there any clear trend?
Like what are your thoughts onthat?

Jennifer (33:19):
It depends.
No.

Evon (33:20):
It depends.
Okay.
Alright.
Wrap it up.

Jennifer (33:24):
I had to say I, I really think it depends,'cause I
think it depends on the businessmodel.
And if it's somebody who, youknow, 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 haveto fill, you know, my, my
schedule and I have a fullstaff.
Or if it's somebody who has 500square feet and it's just the OD

(33:45):
and they don't have any staffand they're gonna do it all
themselves.
That's where I think it reallydepends.
So if it, it depends on yourbusiness model, it depends on
your, your cost, it depends onyour startup cost, it depends
on, on what you're trying toachieve.
And I, I think, It, it can bereally hard, those blanket
statements of you're not gonnamake any money from one to

(34:05):
three, to two to four to threeto five years.
And again, ODs see that andthey're like, oh gosh.
You know, that's absolutelyterrifying.
You know, somebody says, well,you can't expect to, to make any
money for 20 years in a coldstart.
Whatever these blanketstatements are.
I, I really do think it dependson, on what you've.
What type of business you arerunning?

(34:25):
I will say the last three monthsit is, we have been very
understaffed and it's just beenmy office manager and I, and I
never anticipated that we wouldhave this practice where just
the two of us did everything andit'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 thosetwo months is very different

(34:48):
than if I had four staff.
So it really, it, it's hard tosay if you're not taking vision
plans, you're not gonna beprofitable for X number of
months or days.
'cause I really do think itdepends on what your, what your
outlay was.
are you working somewhere else?
How are you getting thosepatients?
It's doable.
I think it just takes somecreativity and now you really

(35:09):
have to set yourself apart.
'cause I, I always think I havethe best ideas in the world and
that if I op, if I, if I buildit, they will come.
And that doesn't, that doesn'talways happen.
So you have to have a reallygood marketing plan in place to
get those patients in, andfigure out how you're gonna
attract those patients if theycan't find you just by looking
in their insurance.

Evon (35:29):
Hmm.
Aaron, I, I wanna ask you about,I, I'm sure we can go all day
talking about cold-starts somuch to dive into here that I
wanna ask more about, but outtarespect of both your time.
I, I wanna ask about practicepurchases and, and what are some
of the questions you're bothseeing in terms of.
on the purchasing side, startingwith you, Aaron, what are some
of the most common questions or,or misconceptions you're seeing

(35:51):
around the purchase side?

Aaron (35:52):
Yeah.
You know, I think the, thebiggest question I see for
practice purchase acceleratorconsult is, how do I even go
about doing this?

Evon (35:59):
Hmm.

Aaron (36:00):
there's a practice I'm interested in.
It looks like it's an older ODhe wants to retire.
This is always a scenario,basically.
And it's like, how do I approachhim first of all, and tell him I
want to buy your practice andwhat do I offer him or does he
offer me a number?
And then what do I doafterwards?
'cause obviously I don't have$500,000 in the bank.

(36:21):
And that's really the, theprocess.
Each of these calls goes downand 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 areinterested in selling.
And really, a lot of times theyare.
And they're not gonna beoffended by it.
As long as you show up andyou're yourself and you are just
genuinely there to see if theywanna buy, sell the practice, or

(36:42):
maybe it's a practice listing,obviously that's gonna be a
little bit easier'cause then youknow that they are wanting to
sell.
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 threeyears of financials and
everything else that goes intothis practice, do our due
diligence.
And once we find a price that wethink is fair, we can present
that.
Of course, it's gonna go backand forth.

(37:04):
ultimately we're gonna come toan agreement, and then that's
when we can do our purchase.
But it just, every step of theway there's a question because
it's, it's not like buying acar, it's, it's a little bit
more complicated because you'redealing with another person and
their legacy that they'reessentially passing to you
through a monetary exchange.
So it's, Hey, how do we go aboutthis and how do we just do this
properly?

Evon (37:25):
Got it.
So your, your questions aremostly about the process of what
do you even do and what are allthe different decisions you need
to make in that process?

Aaron (37:33):
Yeah.
And then along the ways there,and normally it's like, Hey, is
this even worth it?
You know, is do I make thisworth it for myself?
Because it's really, it is toughto delineate.
obviously you'll see grossrevenue that seems to be the
ultimate vanity metric in ourindustry, but it ultimately
means nothing because you canmake$5 million a year and also
lose a million dollars whileyou're doing it.

(37:54):
Or you could make$300k a yearand net$200k out of that.
So really you have to look at alot of different variables and I
think that's just somethingthat's confusing, especially if
you're a new grad or justsomeone that's new to this
business side, kind ofunderstanding that.
So that would be the, thesecondary question that normally
follows up.

Evon (38:11):
Gotcha.
How, how about you, Jennifer?
What are you seeing?

Jennifer (38:14):
I see the same, and I think people are, are very
confused about what things areworth, and that is on both
sides.
You know, we know that privateequity has been around for a
while and that has.
Driven the payouts out.
And I think the, the sellershave heard, everyone's heard a
story of somebody, you know,striking it rich and selling

(38:35):
their practice for a lot ofmoney.
and, and a lot of thesepractices have a, a false sense
of what their practice isactually worth.
And then you have the buyerwho's going in thinking it's.
It's worth a lot less.
So I think if, you know, kind ofunderstanding what the true
value of a practice is.
And then on the, on the buyerside, I think it's understanding

(38:55):
then what comes, what comesafter that.
I think there's so much focus onthe actual, you know, buying and
selling of the practice.
And then, but what happens onceyou do have that practice?
And I, I, I see another blanketstatement when people are
saying, you know, I'm thinkingof cold starting versus buying a
practice.
And there's a lot of blanketssaying, oh, you should not cold.
Start the cash flow of having anexisting practice always wins.

(39:17):
And I, I will say again, itdepends and it depends on the
practice you're buying and thepatients and the staff and what
changes you wanna make.
So I think kind of weighingboth, both scenarios, even if
somebody has not thought aboutcold starting, it's not always
less expensive to buy a practicethan Cold Start.
And there's a lot of things thatcome after the sale now that

(39:38):
people might not be preparedfor, that they've only focused
on the numbers.
And, and now they get in thereand they wanna make all of these
changes right away.
And they have a staff andpatient base that are not
willing to accept those changes.
And now the doctor is throwninto kind of a, oh gosh.
Now I.
You know, I always call it acruise ship.

(39:59):
You know, I've got this cruiseship to steer and it's not as
nimble as a cold start where wecan make changes and, and it
can, we can change very quickly.
So I think there's so much focusin, in the buying, on the buying
itself, but not the piece thatcomes after.
Once you've, you know, shakenhands and now you own that
practice, I think so many arefocused on just the sale and

(40:20):
then they get this practice andthey're like.
Oh my gosh, I actually have torun this and, you know, my staff
is leaving, or these patientsdon't want the type of care I'm
providing.
I wanna gut the whole practiceand change it, you know, kind of
thinking these things through.
Or I've worked with practiceswhere the staff doesn't know the
practice is being sold and theyhave no idea and the doctor

(40:43):
doesn't wanna tell them and he,he's gonna tell them, he or she
is gonna tell them after thesale.
I mean, just so many things thatyou just don't consider.
I think it's, you know, wedon't, we don't focus on the,
after we focus so much on thesale itself.
But really having, again, a teamin place, you know, maybe a
practice consultant to say,okay, we got you through the

(41:03):
sale now what do we do once?
That's your practice.
'cause that's where it really isimportant.
And now we have to put in planin place to grow this practice
or change it or hire staff orget rid of staff or.
Introduce ourself to patients.
If the doctor's leaving or ifthe doctor's staying, how do I
handle that?
So there's just so many thingsthat come after that I think so

(41:24):
many people aren't prepared forbecause they're focused so much
on the sale.

Aaron (41:27):
I'm just gonna go off of what John said because there is
this misconception in ourindustry that you buy a
practice, it's a guaranteedreturn.
The practice, it's not likebuying an S&P 500 index fund.
I mean, obviously it's not evenguaranteed with that, but

Evon (41:40):
Yeah, I was gonna say, Hey, let's, let's, let's hold
off there.
It's not guaranteed.

Aaron (41:44):
Yeah.
Yeah.
But you're gonna have to run it.
It's not other folks running it.
And you're just relying on thosereturns.
I mean, this is you jumping intothe driver's seat and what
happens with most of thesepractice purchases?
I, I tell most folks that gointo it, expect to not make as
much money as what the previousOD made.
'cause you're gonna haveattrition patients when they
know that the OD's retiring,they're not gonna want to come

(42:05):
back to the practice.
There's gonna be staff turnover.
Things are gonna happen.
You don't, you've never ran abusiness before.
You're gonna make mistakes.
So ultimately you can't justexpect to make that, and of
course you have to debt serviceyour loan.
So all that net income, that'snot 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 belike, okay, this is.

(42:27):
What's actually gonna happenafterwards.
But yeah, it's easy to look at abroker's numbers and be like, oh
great, I'm gonna make$200k ayear by buying this thing.
And I don't, I don't have to putany money down'cause the bank's
gonna That's really not thereality and it's gonna become
your 24 7 as well.
going into it realisticallyversus being a little bit more
dreamy about it.

(42:47):
Yeah.

Evon (42:48):
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'stwo different people's value.
There's, yeah, there, there maybe a third party valuation, but
the owner feels it's, it'shigher probably, you know,
respectfully it is their, theirbaby.

(43:08):
They, they probably built itfrom the ground up.
the, entering doctors looking atthat valuation and saying, well,
I should be paying less thanthat.
And then there's the bank whoreally is probably the limiting
factor unless the, the owner orthe seller doctor wants to do
owner financing in addition.
So there's a third party thathas their own idea of what that

(43:28):
business should be valued atfor, for the loan purposes.
So we've got all these differentopinions on what the value
should be, and they have to cometogether to figure out, okay,
what is that final sales pricegonna be?
And is it seems like there is anart to making change.
After, After, a big purchaselike that, is there a best

(43:50):
practice?
'cause I'm sure everyoptometrist should come into it
feeling like there'simprovements they could be
making.
What's the best practice tostart to implement those changes
after a purchase like that?

Aaron (44:02):
Yeah.
You know, I think there's no,once again,

Jennifer (44:05):
It depends.

Evon (44:06):
It, it depends.

Aaron (44:09):
But what I've found has been a kind of, just a great
guideline for a lot of ODs andactually for myself as well, has
been the book Traction.
And that's basically, if you'regonna make a change, first of
all, you gotta give it at leastsix months to see if it actually
works in a business.
And you don't wanna just lop onchanges right away.
They have to be donesystematically.
You have to realize you're gonnabe doing this for your whole
career.

(44:29):
So there's no reason to justrush everything right off the
bat.
So you have to do these thingsslow.
You have to see how your staffreacts to'em.
See how your patient base reactsto'em as well and see if these
are the right changes.
'cause ultimately you don't knowuntil you do.
But at the same time, it's notjust like you, you hear about
something or read aboutsomething that's absolutely
gonna work and you're gonnadrive your revenue up.
That's not the case for mostbusinesses.

(44:51):
'cause these are all unique.
I like to call'em livingorganisms.
So you're essentially thingsthat we can manipulate, that we
can control to a certain degree.
Ultimately the consumer is whatdrives the business.
And so we have to see what theyrespond to.
And of course our staff is whatmakes that consumer experience,
so we have to see what theyrespond to as well.
So it's all just a cycleunderstanding that takes time.

(45:14):
So that that's our big take forODs out there.

Evon (45:18):
Mm.

Jennifer (45:20):
I agree and I think that that so many of us get so
excited and we come in and we'relike, I'm gonna.
I bought it on Friday, Saturday,we close and we're completely
redoing everything and I'mgetting rid of all the frame
lines and we're gonna, you know,charge double And this doctor
wasn't charging for this.
So everyone's getting chargedfor this.
And you know, this is the new.

(45:42):
Way we're doing things and I, Ithink 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 whatyou want.
And I've done both.
So I bought into a practice veryearly on in my career and then I
cold started and I, so I've doneboth and, I treaded very lightly

(46:02):
buying into my practice.
I was the youngest person there.
I had been there by far theleast amount of time.
So if I walked in and was.
And had all these ideas forchange, it would've made it a
really rough, transition.
So I, you know, we made trachanges slowly.
For me it wasn't fast enough andnow cold starting, I was able to
just come in with a list of howI exactly wanted things to go.

(46:26):
I think it can be, yeah, verychallenging to kind of go in, I
would say make a list of, ofeverything you want again.
Start, you know, start early,making a list of what you want
that practice to be, and thenover time make those changes.
Because I think that's wherepeople get in trouble.
And I think take a page fromprivate equity, you know, a
little, not usually something Iwould ever say, but when private

(46:48):
equity buys a practice.
They go in and say, nothing'sgoing to change, everything's
going to be the same.
And, and we all know that's notthe case, but they make those,
it's, you know, they turn up theburner very slowly and things
start to slowly, slowly changein that practice.
They don't walk in day one,there's, there's some major
changes they make day one.

(47:09):
but those changes kind of comevery slowly over time.
And then that's when you canreally see how people feel about
the practice.
But, they don't walk in day one.
Sometimes they leave the namealone or the staff stays the
same, but there are changes theymake, to go in, but.
To go in and make all thosechanges.
Day one would not be a greatbusiness decision.

(47:29):
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 tochange right away.
And then what to slowly dial upthose changes over over time.
Not that, not, might not be thechanges.
I agree with.
but that's how, you know, theycan make those changes over time
and not go in and maybe theydon't wanna drive all their

(47:50):
patients away either.
so I think if we can be a littlemore patient and, you know, make
those changes slowly, but again,if there's a practice that you
are, that you're buying, thatyou look at and say.
I wanna buy this practice, butI'm gonna completely gut it.
I'm gonna, you know, completelychange everything.
I want all new equipment, allnew frame lines.
the patient demographic is notwhat I like and I don't really

(48:11):
love the staff.
I would challenge you to saylike, what are you actually
buying?
Right?
It's, you know, are you betterserved by cold starting it?
And, and to really kind of mapout both and meet with a
consultant and, and say, youknow, here's what I want.
Here's what I'm looking atbuying.
Is it actually more expensivefor me to buy this practice,
kind of obliterate it and startover?

(48:31):
Or could I just cold start andhave a very, you know, kind of a
similar approach, but maybe thatwould actually save me money.
So that's where I would sayenlist the help of, of a
consultant who's been throughthis and knows those numbers
and, and can help you becausethat's a, it's, it's probably
one of the biggest decisions wewill ever make.
And it's one that you reallywanna come in knowing all of the
variables and knowing what toexpect.

(48:55):
Not just going in there blindbecause somebody on on Facebook
said, you should buy a practiceversus Cold Start.
That is the right decision.
And I would challenge anyonelistening, 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 weighboth of those.
But hire a consultant, havesomebody help you run those

(49:16):
financials.
Don't think you have to do itall on your own because that's a
huge financial decision.
And do it before you, before youbuy.

Evon (49:23):
Yes.
Yeah.
And it's, I mean, it'sinteresting'cause I, if you
think about it from the,Jennifer, from what you were
talking about, if you're goingin there and making all these
changes, I mean, it sounds likeyou may be.
buying a cold start, likeyou're, you're essentially
paying a lot of money for forwhat start on, on another,
another point.
If you are going in and you aregoing to have to make changes

(49:44):
like that because equipment'sout 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 thatcarefully too.
But thinking about it frompurely a financial aspect, like
when you're going to get thesebusinesses valuated and you're
going to buy it at a certainprice.
What that valuation's gonna holdis it's gonna inherently show

(50:05):
the assets plus thepredictability of the earnings
of that business moving forward.
And that predictability, thatvaluation is gonna be based on
what that business has beendoing, what what the business
looks like today moving forward.
And if you start introducing alot of changes to that.
You are inherently making thatfuture predictability of the
earnings less certain.

(50:26):
Like it may work out, it, it maywork out in your favor and your
profit may increase.
The cash flow of the businessmay increase, you're also taking
a chance that you're going toput off patients and lose
patients put off staff, which isa huge part of that, that
business's ability to operatewell is the team in, in the
business.

(50:46):
And so.
You're also introducing, youknow, the opportunity that you
buy the business and then almostimmediately make that value drop
because the, the changes don'twork out as well as you thought
it would.
I don't know if that'sinteresting for, for you, but I,
I thought that's just aninteresting way to look at it.

Jennifer (51:03):
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 therough, it's.
Paper charts and it's got, youknow, old equipment and I, this
is what they're bringing in.
And I, you know, the doctor hasa high net'cause they haven't
invested any money in thepractice.
So I'm gonna go in and buy allnew, brand new fancy equipment,

(51:24):
bring in fancy frames and, andbe profitable.
And, and that's where I go, youknow, possibly, right.
It, it's a gamble.
that demographic may not, thatmight not support the
demographic and, and you mighthave a slower time.
Yes, you might.
Lose patients.
'cause they, they don't wantthat.
And then you have to build thatback up.
But I think it's reallyimportant to know that going in

(51:46):
and to really plan for that.
And have a plan in place that ifyou do have a drop in revenue,
how am I going to handle that?
What, what is my plan?
How am I gonna pay the bankback?
The bank wants to know that.
So

Evon (51:56):
Yes.
Yeah.
Well, I, I think out of respectof your time, I think we'll,
we'll kind of wrap it up here.
There's, we can go all day longon, on this.
This is fun,

Jennifer (52:05):
we have a part two.

Evon (52:06):
maybe we'll have a part two.
Yeah, we'll, we'll dive intothis part two, because there's a
lot more to dive into, but, Tokind of wrap it up here.
I guess one question I've beenasking as I, as I wrap up these
episodes is, what do you, whenyou think about the future of
Optometry, and again in thecontext of this conversation,
the future of private practiceOptometry, what are you most
excited about?

Aaron (52:26):
Sure.
Yeah, I can go first.
You know, I'm excited to see ourindustry continue to grow and I
really, I'm a firm believer inprivate practice.
I know we're kind of preachingto the choir with the three of
us now, but I really thinkthat's gonna be the future of
our industry.
'cause if we don't save privatepractice, we're gonna go the way
of pharmacy.
There's a lot of disruptionthat's happening right now.

(52:46):
We see what AI can do with eyeexams.
We can, we see the remote eyeexams, everything in between,
and ultimately what patientswant out there and what they're
willing to pay for is goodquality service.
They're willing to pay for thatprivate practice experience.
Every patient that walks intoall of our practices, they come
because they know they have amillion other options.
I mean, there's corporate allaround.

(53:08):
in the tech capital of theworld, but come to us for the
service.
They come to us for the uniqueexperience that we offer, and
that's something that if you'reinterested in owning a business,
if that's something you'rekicking around, maybe as a
student or a new grad, or maybeyou've been an associate for
quite a while, that's somethingthat you really wanna jump into
because that's always gonna bethere regardless of everything

(53:29):
else that comes around thatpatient doctor interaction.
experience they have in ouroffice that's always gonna be
there and that's what's gonnagrow our profession ultimately
into the future.
That's my firm belief and that'swhat's gonna keep us financially
salient as well.
Because if we all becomeemployees, that's just gonna be
a race to the bottom at the endof the day.
shade to the employees outthere.

(53:49):
It's that's the nature of it.
If corporations take overeverything.
So us having our own uniquebusinesses, being able to
provide that unique service thatis gonna keep our industry
going.

Evon (54:01):
Jennifer.

Jennifer (54:01):
I, I'm just excited to see this resurgence of people
interested in starting or buyingprivate practice.
I think for a little bit of timeit.
Somehow went out of favor.
But there's, I think since Covidbeen this huge resurgence in
people really wanting to createtheir own destiny and create
their own future and, and createa, a, a practice that supports
what they want out of life.

(54:22):
And I think if there was onething that came out of the
pandemic, we could even kind oftake a, take stock of what's
important to us in our, in ourlives and think about not just
saying, how do I adapt my, mylife to my career, but now how
do I.
Adapt my career to my life.
And private practices have sucha unique opportunity to, to do
what they want to do.
And we're kind of challengingthe norms of what our

(54:45):
predecessors did.
And people will say to me, I, Idon't wanna work evenings and
weekends and said, so don't.
You're your own boss.
Create a practice that supportsthe life you want.
And if it doesn't align withthat, figure out how not to do
it.
You know, you have to be alittle creative in some places,
but I think in private practicewe have such flexibility in

(55:05):
doing what we wanna do and thatwe're not.
Tied down to doing things theway that it's always done.
If, if there's patient typesthat you like seeing, if there's
parts of Optometry you reallyenjoy, create a business around
that and, and find a, a, acolleague who's really good at
the rest and send them, thosepatients don't feel you have to
do everything.
And I, that's what I'm seeing incold starts or people are doing

(55:27):
it for a reason.
There's a reason there's a typeof patient they want to serve,
and now they're, they're tryingto figure out how do I build a
business around that?
And that's exciting to me andit's.
What I've done here and what I,I would, what I love and what
brought me back to privatepractice and cold starting at
age 43.
So I think that's exciting tome, is seeing people really

(55:47):
challenging what Optometry hasbeen in the past and saying, I,
I wanna do it my way.
And that's how I'm starting abusiness and I'm running it as a
business and it's gonna supportmy personal and professional
goals.

Evon (55:59):
I love those answers.
that's fantastic, especiallywith a lot of the doom and gloom
opinions out there.
I, I love to hear the, the.
Excitement about the future ofOptometry and private practice.
And, as we wrap up, how canpeople find and follow and learn
more about what you're doing?

Aaron (56:15):
Yeah, just jump onto odsonfinance.com and we're both
happy to help you.
There's a link there and you canbook a consult with us.
It's absolutely free.
30 minutes.
We just chat one-on-one and justlook at your goals and see if we
can help you out and direct youin the proper direction.

Evon (56:30):
Perfect.
Well, I will throw all that intothe show notes.
I appreciate both your time andfor the listener, appreciate you
listening today.
We'll catch you on the nextepisode.
In the meantime, take care.

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Cold Start vs. Practice Purchase: Most Common Questions & Misconceptions with Dr. Jennifer Stewart and Dr. Aaron Neufeld

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