Good, fast, cheap: why you probably can’t have all three
20/20 MONEY: The Business of Optometry
Release Date: 10/05/2026
Optometrists make good money. So why aren’t they wealthier?
20/20 MONEY: The Business of Optometry
Optometrists earn good incomes—so why does the profession’s median net worth tell a very different story? In this episode of 20/20 Money: The Business of Optometry, I’m joined again by Dr. Chris Lopez to unpack findings from the latest ODs on Finance financial survey, which gathered responses from nearly 2,000 optometrists. We dig into the numbers behind OD income, student loan debt, net worth, and practice ownership—and, more importantly, what those numbers actually mean for the financial decisions optometrists make throughout their careers. Chris and I discuss...
info_outline
Rewind: Lying in plain sight: identifying errors in your practice financials with Hayley Stewart
20/20 MONEY: The Business of Optometry
Welcome to this episode of 20/20 Money! My guest on today’s show is . Hayley is the and predominately focuses her time and expertise on bookkeeping services for IDOC clients. Hayley joins the show to talk about the importance of bookkeeping in practices and how to properly ensure that your books are accurate. We spend a lot of time talking about items that are reported on the balance sheet and specifically talk about why it’s important to understand the relationship of your retained earnings and your net income. As a reminder, you can get all the information discussed in today’s...
info_outline
Rewind: Simple Numbers, Straight Talk, Big Profits with Greg Crabtree
20/20 MONEY: The Business of Optometry
Welcome to this episode of 20/20 Money! My guest on today’s show is . Greg is the author of two of my favorite books about running a business and using the numbers of your business to make informed decisions ( and ). He’s also the Partner in Charge in the Huntsville, AL office of Carr, Riggs, and Ingram and I was excited to chat with him about the concepts he talks about in his book. We talk about cash reserves in your business, the 4 forces on cash flow and the importance of starting with profitability, the lies that business owners tell themselves through their financials, why...
info_outline
Practice benchmarks update: what your practice numbers are really telling you about growth, overhead, & profitability
20/20 MONEY: The Business of Optometry
In this episode of 20/20 Money: The Business of Optometry, I’m joined by Nathan Hayes of Books & Benchmarks to go over their recently updated benchmarks analysis and unpack what the latest optometry practice data says about growth, overhead, and profitability. We discuss why a benchmark is a starting point, not a verdict on your practice, and why rising expense ratios may call for a closer look at revenue rather than an immediate round of cuts. We also talk about the difference between profit and cash you can take home, how equipment purchases affect the balance sheet, and what...
info_outline
Good, fast, cheap: why you probably can’t have all three
20/20 MONEY: The Business of Optometry
The most expensive professional service may not be the one with the highest price—it may be the one you mistakenly thought was a great deal. In this episode of 20/20 Money: The Business of Optometry, I explore the familiar idea of “good, fast, and cheap: pick two” and applies it to the professional services optometric practice owners rely on every day. It’s easy to compare prices. It’s much harder to compare value—especially when you’re hiring an attorney, financial advisor, consultant, accountant, IT provider, or other professional precisely because they possess...
info_outline
The problems success doesn't solve
20/20 MONEY: The Business of Optometry
What does it really take to build and lead a successful multi-location optometry practice? In this episode of 20/20 Money, I’m joined by Dr. Andy Yaryan, Dr. Jeni Kohn, and Dr. Patrick Curran, three experienced practice owners who offer an honest look at what is happening beneath the surface of a growing practice. We discuss the challenges that remain even after achieving visible success, including rising expenses, staffing and culture, shrinking margins, associate recruitment, and the danger of becoming complacent. We also explore how each owner evaluates investments in the practice,...
info_outline
Before you write the check, prove the problem first
20/20 MONEY: The Business of Optometry
The most expensive mistake in your practice might be solving a problem you never proved existed. Dr. Jen Stewart joins me back on the show for a conversation about making better decisions before writing the check. Inspired by we explore why practice owners should test assumptions, gather evidence, and understand what success actually looks like before committing significant money or resources to a decision. One idea kept resurfacing throughout our conversation: more isn’t better; better is better. Before you hire another employee, buy another piece of equipment, or sign...
info_outline
Building the perfect portfolio when you own a practice
20/20 MONEY: The Business of Optometry
The investments you own may be perfectly reasonable—and still be completely wrong for you. In this episode of 20/20 Money: The Business of Optometry, I’m joined again by Peter Lazaroff, Chief Investment Officer at Plancorp and author of , for a conversation about what actually makes an investment portfolio “perfect.” We discuss why portfolio construction has to begin with the investor rather than the investments, why simplicity is valuable but shouldn’t become an ideology, and how to evaluate whether added complexity is actually solving an important problem. Peter...
info_outline
When success quietly creates too much risk
20/20 MONEY: The Business of Optometry
You may feel diversified while quietly becoming more dependent on the exact same sources of wealth. In this episode of 20/20 Money: The Business of Optometry, I explore concentration risk from two angles that practice owners often don’t connect: what’s happening inside an investment portfolio and what’s happening on their personal balance sheet as their practice becomes more valuable. We start with the S&P 500. Because the index is market-cap weighted, the companies that perform best naturally become larger portions of the index. Today, . That doesn’t make the S&P 500 a bad...
info_outline
Does your optometry practice even need a front desk anymore?
20/20 MONEY: The Business of Optometry
What if one of the most familiar parts of your optometry practice is also one of the things most overdue for a rethink? This week’s episode of 20/20 Money: The Business of Optometry is a little different. After a few updates on what’s ahead for the podcast—including upcoming guests, a potential optometry-owner ski meetup at Copper Mountain before IDOC Connection 2027, and an opening in the OD Masterminds Founders Club—I’m sharing an episode from another project that some listeners may not yet have discovered: The Optometry Success Podcast. The Optometry Success Podcast...
info_outlineThe most expensive professional service may not be the one with the highest price—it may be the one you mistakenly thought was a great deal.
In this episode of 20/20 Money: The Business of Optometry, I explore the familiar idea of “good, fast, and cheap: pick two” and applies it to the professional services optometric practice owners rely on every day.
It’s easy to compare prices. It’s much harder to compare value—especially when you’re hiring an attorney, financial advisor, consultant, accountant, IT provider, or other professional precisely because they possess expertise you don’t.
That’s the paradox: the reason you need the professional may also be the reason you’re not qualified to judge the quality of their work.
I discusses why dramatically lower pricing shouldn’t automatically be viewed as either a red flag or a great deal, why practice owners should instead ask how the economics of the provider’s business model work, and what may be exchanged for a lower price. He also shares practical ways to pressure-test professional advice without becoming an expert yourself, including asking what alternatives were considered, where a recommendation could go wrong, how work is reviewed, and when a second opinion may make sense.
Because price is what shows up on the invoice. Cost is what the decision ultimately takes out of your pocket—and your calendar.
NBS: Choose one high-consequence professional relationship in your personal or professional life and pressure-test it. Ask what alternatives were considered, what could cause the recommendation to fail, how the work is reviewed, and whether the stakes justify getting a second qualified set of eyes. You don’t need to become the expert—you need to become a better buyer of expertise.
Resources:
—————————————————————————————
Please rate and subscribe to 20/20 Money on these platforms
Spotify
—————————————————————————————
For past episodes of 20/20 Money with full companion show notes, please check out our episode archive here!
Check out Adam's other podcast!
The Optometry Success Podcast
Subscribe on Apple Podcasts: https://bit.ly/4tttng6
Subscribe on Spotify: https://bit.ly/4tuf0YM