Top 5 Mistakes Cold Start Practices Make

If you know me, you know I love to talk business. I also enjoy hearing from other ODs who have started practices, or are inspired to start that journey. While we can often feel that everyone seems to have it all together and doesn’t have struggles, we have all made mistakes. But, the hallmark of being a successful business person is learning from those mistakes, adapting, and making sure we don’t continue to make the same mistakes over and over again.

One of my roles in the optometric industry is meeting with cold start practices and acting as a project manager to help link them with the best resources that I think can help guide them successfully. I have met with a number of doctors this year, and I have noticed some similar challenges many have faced.  

What are my top five mistakes I have seen cold start practices make?

Buying Equipment They Don’t Need (Or Don’t Have A Plan For)
This one has come up over and over again, and it’s a hard one for me to counsel ODs on. When I started Look New Canaan, I spent a lot of time on my vision. What did I want my practice to be? What are the parts of optometry I enjoy, and how will I use that to build a successful business? In that same vein, what DON’T I need? Open a journal, attend any meeting, or just check your email, and you will be inundated by the newest in technology, tools, and equipment that are being marketed as “must haves” for our practices. While there are basics we need to provide patient care, a lot of these extra tools are “nice to haves.” 

I have seen a number of practice owners get into serious trouble with equipment they bought but can no longer afford. What do I hear time and time again? “The rep told me it will bring in cash pay patients.” However, these patients don’t just walk in the door. Any new equipment purchase needs a serious thought process. There has to be a business plan attached — including a marketing plan, cost/benefit analysis, and a deep look at one very important question: “Do I actually need this?”  

While it can be tempting to buy every shiny object, I encourage practices to have a needs versus wants list. While I don’t encourage you to cross off your wants completely, I’d recommend moving them to your one-, three-, and five-year plans. Start planning ahead!

It’s Always Been Done This Way
A cold start is an exciting time. You have the opportunity to create the practice YOU want, but many of us get stuck shelving our ideas to do things the tried and true way. Many ODs I have talked to have amazing ideas, and when I ask them why they haven’t implemented them, they say, “What if it doesn’t work?” My response is always, “But what if it does?” The best part of being an entrepreneur and small business owner (and the reason most of us take the leap) is for the flexibility and freedom to make our own decisions — so, we need to do it! I have made many mistakes along the way, but I have also had some crazy ideas come to life. You never know until you try!

Making Emotional Decisions 
It can be hard to wear two hats all the time — our doctor hat and our business owner hat. We are REALLY good at the doctor part. This is what we learn in school and spend a lot of time focusing on during continuing education classes. What don’t we typically spend as much time on? Running an efficient, effective business. It can be hard to take the emotion out of our businesses, but that is what we need to do to run a successful practice. We need a business plan to get bank approval, but after that, how many of us continue to follow a plan? How many of us use metrics to set goals, monitor, and calibrate? Metrics take the feeling out of our planning and can help us run our practices as the businesses they are.

Spend All Our Time IN the Practice
Successful business owners know that as important as their time IN the business is, working ON the business is equally as important. As a cold start owner, we are often trying to maximize our practice profitability by seeing as many patients as possible. Some of us even pick up work elsewhere to generate income. It can be difficult to think of making ANY time to be the CEO, as we’re often left feeling guilty that that time could be better spent in patient care.   

I’m here to encourage you to schedule SOME time for business planning, reflection, and forward thinking. Whether it is an hour a week, a half a day a month, or a full day, this is truly time well spent. The trick? You have to actually block it off in your schedule or it won’t happen. There will always be a patient who needs to be seen, a staff issue, or just general practice business. This time, while uncomfortable at first, is essential for running a successful business. As important as your role is in seeing patients, as a CEO and practice owner, you also need the time to think, strategize, work with consultants, and review your business.  

Not Asking for Help
This has been the hardest part of practice consulting for me. Seeing the true struggles of colleagues and how they could’ve been prevented with the right advice and support. I am the biggest proponent of asking for help whenever and however I need it. Whether that is clinically or in business growth, I have realized long ago that there is such value in aligning myself with others who may look at things differently, as they will give me honest advice, and in general, they’ll likely know more than I do. It is okay to admit we don’t know everything and we can’t do it all. When this idea clicks, true growth can occur. Asking for and needing help doesn’t make you a failure — it will only help you. No successful business person does it all themselves, and in optometry, we are so fortunate to have so many consultants and groups ready to support us.

As a serial entrepreneur, there is nothing I love more than business development and strategy. Cold starting a practice has come with so many rewards (and challenges!), and I am encouraged by the number of practitioners I see who are also taking the leap. My best advice? Have a dream AND a plan. Stick to it, make smart decisions, and align yourself with great people.