Rewind: Adding an associate: Understanding marginal chair cost to leverage your practice
Release Date: 08/30/2021
Dr. Jennifer Stewart's "tepid" start optometry practice: the power of vision & intentionality, the importance of an ideal patient avatar, and reconciling business risk with a conservative personality
20/20 MONEY
Welcome to this episode of 20/20 Money! My guest on today’s show is Dr. Jennifer Stewart, OD. Jen joins me on the show today to talk through her journey launching her tepid start practice, Look New Canaan. I’ve had Jen on the show multiple times in the past, and this was admittedly one of my more enjoyable conversations with a podcast guest. Maybe it’s because it was live, or maybe it’s because Jen’s passion for this profession is so, well…passionate. But we hit on so many amazing and pointed topics that I would challenge any listener to NOT find at least one actionable or...
info_outline
Increasing optical revenue by rethinking--from buying to selling--your frame management with Kayla Ashlee of Spexy
20/20 MONEY
Welcome to this episode of 20/20 Money! My guest on today’s show is . Kayla joins me live on location at IDOC Connection 2024 to talk all things optical. Optical is admittedly an area of practice management that has always been intriguing because of the retail component—I feel like there are a lot of “retail 101” lessons that we can take from how other retailers manage their business. While practice owners may not have the multi-million dollar IT and inventory management systems that large, big-box retailers have, Kayla illustrate why it doesn’t take an incredible amount of...
info_outline
Using Medical Virtual Assistants in your practice to increase efficiency (and profitability) with Dr. Adam Ramsey, OD
20/20 MONEY
Welcome to this episode of 20/20 Money! My guest on today’s show is Dr. Adam Ramsey, OD, representing . In this episode, we talk about the role that a virtual medical assistant can play in your practice’s patient flow and how to think about the changes that you’d have to make in your practice for this to be a viable option. Adam provides a list of responsibilities that they’re doing in his practice and how he thinks through capacity for this person while ultimately striving to deliver the best experience for his patients. As a reminder, you can get all the information discussed...
info_outline
Hiring an associate full time vs easing into it: the discussion, numbers, and mindset for optometry practice owners with Nathan Hayes
20/20 MONEY
Welcome to this episode of 20/20 Money! My guest on today’s show is Nathan Hayes from IDOC. Nathan joins me back on the show to discuss and dialogue about the two basic ways practice owners can think about the way in which they hire associates for their practice: easing into it by bringing them into the practice gradually or proactively planning ahead by stockpiling cash in the practice and thus then “making the leap” by hiring an associate full-time—and then intentionally stewarding the practice to success by ensuring profitability in as timely manner as practicable for the...
info_outline
A pay structure that works for optometry partnerships with Kurt Steele, OD
20/20 MONEY
Welcome to this episode of 20/20 Money! My guest on today’s show is Dr. Kurt Steele, OD. Kurt joins me back on the show to talk in further detail how he and his partners have structured their compensation structure in a way that works for everyone in the practice while also ensuring that there is parity in comp based on the amount of revenue that each of them collect for the work they do clinically in the practice. He shares the details and formula he uses and we run a couple of hypothetical examples to show how the numbers work out for each partner. He also shares how he uses operational...
info_outline
How a hyper-effective, right-fit team can increase your profitability: a follow up convo with Dr. Mike Neal, OD
20/20 MONEY
Welcome to this episode of 20/20 Money! My guest on today’s show is Dr. Mike Neal, OD. Mike is the founder of a number of different businesses, include a primary care practice in PA called and , an effective outsourced hiring system for eyecare that does not use resumes. Mike joins me back on the show to provide additional context and clarity around the numbers that he shared on the first episode, proving/dispelling the naysayers out there about the margins of his practice. This episode admittedly went long, but I really believe it's packed with a lot of great insight for practice owners....
info_outline
Reconciling a successful succession plan with a growing practice with Dr. Kurt Steele, OD
20/20 MONEY
Welcome to this episode of 20/20 Money! My guest on today’s show is Dr. Kurt Steele, OD. Kurt is one of the owners of Precision Eyecare, a member of the Vision Source Network, in Newport, TN and also the founder of , a consulting firm to help ODs unlock the potential in their practice. Kurt joins me on the show today to talk through the unique and successful way that he has married the growth of his practice into the succession planning considerations that he wanted to have in place to ensure continuity of the practice to the next generation of ODs. We talk through a hypothetical example...
info_outline
Using a cash balance plan strategies when you sell your practice with Charlie Steingas of Cash Balance Actuaries, Inc.
20/20 MONEY
Welcome to this episode of 20/20 Money! My guest on today’s show is Charlie Steingas, founder and chief actuary at , a firm that specializes in the design, implementation, and ongoing monitoring of cash balance plans. In this episode, we define what a cash balance plan is and how it’s different from a defined benefit plan (hint: they’re similar, but still different), what influences whether one would go DB vs Cash balance plan, how investing your plan assets impacts overall plan funding requirements, how cash balance plans influence the funding strategies of a defined contribution...
info_outline
"Flights and Insights" with Dr. Michael Neal: Implementing finance charges, profit sharing with team members, associate comp structures, and new reads
20/20 MONEY
Welcome to this episode of 20/20 Money! My guest on today’s show is Dr. Michael Neal, OD and this is another episode in which I experimented a bit with the format of 20/20 Money: we recorded this episode at 8,000 feet, flying from Indianapolis to Chicago! As you’ll hear in the beginning of the episode, Mike was in town meeting up with other successful practice owners from around the country. They’re all friends and have turned their personal friendships into a professional mastermind group, where they get together at least one time per year to exchange ideas, talk about the business of...
info_outline
An optometry practice "cold start" update with Drs. Bob Steinmetz & Eric Baas, OD from iCare Advisors
20/20 MONEY
Welcome to this episode of 20/20 Money! My guests on today’s show are Drs. Eric Baas and Bob Steinmetz, co-founders of iCare advisors, a consulting firm dedicated to the success of cold start practices nationwide. With close to 350 successful cold starts nationwide and 11 practice starts between them, I was really excited to have them back on the show to talk through the “state of the cold start” marketplace—looking back on 2023 as well as looking forward (as best they can) to what’s coming down the pipe here in 2024. We spend time talking through data that their team has...
info_outlineWelcome to this episode of 20/20 Money! My guest on today’s show is Dr Matt Mitchell and this is actually an episode rewind, going back to episode #43 of 20/20 Money which aired almost 2 years ago to the day!
I’ve been having a lot of conversations with both new and existing clients about how and when to break through to the next level and add an associate to help grow revenues and, ultimately, net income to the practice owner. There are a couple of different ways to determine when to take that next step, and this conversation with Matt really got into the weeds about how he thinks about capacity constraints in his office. Here’s my recommendation for this episode if the words “marginal chair cost” sound foreign: have a cleaned up/accurate profit/loss of your practice handy for the first 20 minutes or so of the episode and take good notes about how Matt calculates his marginal chair cost. If you want a sample P/L that we recommend ODs, click on the link in the show notes to download a sample chart of accounts that we’ve put together for your P/L. Once you’re through the first 20 minutes or so, then you can go for your run, or go to the gym, mow your lawn, or whatever else it is that you do when you listen to 20/20 Money on a weekly basis.
As a reminder, you can get all the information discussed in today’s conversation by visiting our website at integratedpwm.com and clicking on the Learning Center. While there, be sure to subscribe to our newsletter and you can also set up a 20-30min Triage conversation to learn a little bit more about how we help ODs around the country reduce their tax bill, proactively manage cash flow, and make prudent investment decisions or check out any number of additional free resources like our eBooks, blog posts, and on-demand webinars.
If you’re interested in having your question and your voice featured on the 20/20 Money podcast, you can submit it here. You can either include your name or submit anonymously. Please keep your questions short and to the point. Sometimes writing it down beforehand can help.
And with that introduction, I hope you enjoy my previous conversation with Dr. Matt Mitchell, OD.