Through the toughest of times, optometry has proven its resilience, making it attractive for prospective business owners and partners. There are various models for entrepreneurial eyecare professionals to consider, depending on their career aspirations. Here, Insight provides a cross-section of what’s available across the Australian landscape, sprinkled with some wisdom from seasoned campaigners.
Young independent finds stability to become thriving owner
At the age of 24 – and only two years out of university – Ms Emma Slinger became an independent practice owner. She had no real business management knowledge and made some mistakes along the way, but between these and advice from Eyecare Plus – from both National Office staff and other members – she’s accumulated valuable knowledge to ultimately lead a thriving business.
Initially she joined the independent network – with 120 practices – because the practice, Eyecare Plus Karalee, was already Eyecare Plus-branded. With the practice going through ownership changes, she wanted to maintain consistency for the business while learning how to hold the reins. Two years in she even did her due diligence, exploring other options.
“But I stayed because the value to membership with Eyecare Plus couldn’t be beaten. I had access to mentors who had seen it all before, marketing support and business operation support to help me grow my business,” she says.
Slinger says Eyecare Plus’ licence fees are reasonable at 0.7% of turnover. But in her 10 years as a member, she’s never paid the full licence fee due to it being offset by the Strategic Partner usage incentives and advertising support.
“Most of the time, Eyecare Plus has essentially been paying me money to be a member as my incentives have been greater than the licence fees,” she says.
Eyecare Plus allows her to “have my cake and eat it too”, receiving the benefits of clinical autonomy but the power of a joint brand and access to better discounts and extra support from suppliers.
“One of the best services available at Eyecare Plus is the done-for-you marketing included with your licence fees. Eyecare Plus National Office manages and funds the website with a customisable page for each practice, funds SEO marketing and even location specific Google Ads to help each practice generate more patients without having to lift a finger.”
For a small additional contribution, she says members can also access Meta (Facebook and Instagram) and catch-up TV advertising, something that is difficult for a standalone independent to achieve. “This is all possible because we have a joint brand,” she adds.
For optometrists considering ownership, she advises taking time and obtaining firsthand experiences and advice from colleagues who have done the same thing.
“There are so many costly mistakes I could’ve avoided if I had reached out to others first. Also, ensure that you seek the advice from other professionals such as an accountant and solicitor before making the purchase,” she adds.
Fiercely independent while remaining ultra competitive
Mr Mark DePaola’s entire professional life has been spent at Graham Hill Eyecare in Shepparton, Victoria – initially as an employee optometrist, a business partner and now as a business owner.
His long tenure can be attributed to being part of a large, independent, passionate and professional team. The practice, a member of the ProVision network with 440 practices, employs six optometrists complementing one another with varying clinical interests.
With the clinical side supported by a suite of advanced technology, Graham Hill Eyecare has also achieved commercial recognition. It’s been awarded a Shepparton Chamber of Commerce Hall of Fame Award for 50 years of service to the Greater Shepparton region.
Being part of the ProVision network has been a “tremendous resource”.
The business can leverage the network’s buying power, business coaching, practice management systems, networking opportunities and more.
“My business coach Julius Maloney provides an outside and industry wide view of our business offering. He provides great insights to improve our business model, culture and team structure. The buying power and particularly ProVision’s ProSupply ordering system make a great difference to us in stock control and value,” he says.
“We also utilise ProVision’s marketing campaigns, especially the end-of-year health fund campaigns, to provide professional and effective marketing messaging – it also saves me time and is efficient financially. ProVision makes it easier to ensure our business can continue providing our own special brand of individual and holistic eyecare while remaining cost competitive.”
After an extended period with the practice, DePaola was inspired to contribute at a higher level. By 2010, it became clear that for Graham Hill Eyecare to continue being an autonomous business without corporate influence, a succession plan to facilitate ownership transfer from Mr Graham Hill to himself would be key.
“Graham and I had always worked very well together, so the potentially daunting prospect of being ‘joined at the financial hip’ was made easy by our strong, long-term relationship and common goals,” he says.
“Business ownership can be incredibly rewarding as well as challenging at times. However, delivering the best eyecare experience is made all the easier by the brilliant and passionate team around me. Encouraging each employees’ strengths, training aspirations and personal goals to flourish has resulted in great team retention, business culture and continued growth in patient numbers.”
He says prospective owners should consider a workplace environment that will invigorate them long-term, supported by mentors and groups like ProVision.
“It may be a greenfield practice, or if it’s taking over from a current owner, an important ingredient to a successful ownership is to find a business partner or team you feel wholly comfortable with to share the good times, the challenging times and the vision of a bright future.”
Retiring on your own terms with your practice intact
The proudest aspect of Mr Ian Brigden’s optometry career is simple – his longevity. He’s been practising for 45 years and there aren’t many professions these days where one can say that.
But he’s also proud of having built his Nelson Bay practice, in the Port Stephens local government area north of Newcastle, NSW, from “almost nothing” in 1980 to what it is today. For most of its existence, Brigden’s practice has been independent, but in recent years he sought a transition to retirement.
That’s when he came across George & Matilda (G&M) Eyecare. Since its foundation in 2016, the network has partnered with several practices with owner optometrists, like Brigden, near the end of their careers. Now serving more than 100 communities, many of these practices are part of the fabric of their local area, so G&M has also made it a priority to find suitable, long-term successors, and is now offering buy-in partner opportunities.
“When I retire from fulltime practice next year, I will be 68, but will want to continue dabbling in optometry while enjoying some travel, fly fishing and improving my golf handicap,” he says.
“I knew others who had joined G&M and they all had good things to say and great experiences. I didn’t want to walk out and close the door, I have built this practice since 1980 and want to see the support I provide to the community continue.”
Since joining G&M in March 2023, Brigden says his consulting practices haven’t changed.
“I still see patients the way I always have. Clinical freedom was very important to me because I didn’t want to be told to do 15-to-20-minute appointments, or to have others trying to influence my prescribing habits – this doesn’t happen at G&M,” he says.
“Long term patients have been surprised when they come back in that everything seems the same and I am still here. G&M’s marketing is driving a lot of patients back to the practice. Our books are filled two weeks in advance, which can at times create its own challenges.”
Looking ahead, Brigden says G&M is already helping find a successor for the practice whom he will work alongside before pulling back.
“Anyone thinking of being a partner or selling their business should talk to G&M and they will probably be surprised. I haven’t had any regrets,” he says.
“I also recommend any early- to- mid-career optometrists to consider regional areas. They have cheaper housing, better lifestyles, you are respected in the community, and can practise community-based optometry. Regional roles allow you to practise a wide scope of optometry and build good relationships with other medical professionals in your area.”
‘It takes dedication, but the reward is undoubtedly worth it’
For optometrist Ms Christina Pizzuto, the Specsavers Joint Venture Partner (JVP) offers the ideal environment for her entrepreneurial skills to flourish, while knowing someone is always in her corner.
“You get the best of all worlds, and this is what attracted me to this model over any other,” she says. “Having your own business in which you can actively reflect, enact change and see the results – with a profit share provided to you based on those positive results – is ideal, but can feel overwhelming without support.
“With Specsavers you have an entire support office on hand to help with anything you need so you aren’t alone in it. There is always a team backing you in all areas of the business, but you can still feel empowered in making your own mark in your business.”
The Specsavers JVP model means each store is locally owned and led by the partners – usually an optometrist partner, retail partner and audiology partner.
As the optometrist partner at Specsavers Broadmeadows, Victoria, Pizzuto is a shareholder. She receives a guaranteed base salary package for the lifetime of the agreement. This is in addition to dividends generated by the business profits, calculated and distributed monthly – and she enjoys capital growth.
From the moment she became a graduate optometrist Specsavers has been her employer, including a brief period overseas. Later, she saw the growth opportunity that came with becoming partner, in terms of personal development and financial reward.
Specsavers’ Pathway Program equips JVP-aspiring optometrists for partnership. Once she completed this, Pizzuto was fortunate that Specsavers Broadmeadows needed a new optometrist partner – and it meant she could lead a team she already knew and loved.
“The ability to continue to grow and develop beyond a clinical career, especially in terms of being a leader, has been a highlight,” she says. “Helping develop early career optometrists from starting out to partaking in the partnership training program has been hugely rewarding for me, knowing that my contributions have impacted others in reaching their goals.”
For others considering partnership, she says it offers a career that’s rewarding and sustainable.
“Being able to work as a clinical optometrist who has also developed a set of skills around business literacy and leadership means you can constantly develop without a feeling of stagnancy – life as an optometrist can be repetitive, but in partnership no two days are the same,” she says.
“Your contributions to developing a team and making a store successful provides visible outcomes which you can take a lot of satisfaction from. The role takes a lot of dedication, but the reward is undoubtedly worth it.”
Independent finds ideal custodian for his business legacy
When university mates Mr Edward Kosmac and Mr Ian Clemens completed their optometry degrees together in 1989 and became housemates in their first year out – working for opposing independent practices in Bendigo – they began hatching a plan.
“Sharing our experiences we spent many a night talking about how we could provide a quality optometry service if only given the chance,” he recalls.
“That chance came when we opened our first practice in the rural town of Kyneton in January 1992. Along with help from friends and family we fitted the rooms out and took our first phone call on an old dial phone the previous tenants had left behind.”
Over the course of 30 years, Kosmac & Clemens Optometrists grew to six practices in regional Victoria, adding a third partner Mr Arthur Stevens along the way. In 2023, the practice joined The Optical Company (TOC) now with a 60-practice network.
TOC is part of Healthia – a major allied health group that itself was acquired in December 2023 by Pacific Equity Partners. TOC remains as the Eyes & Ears division of Healthia, offering independents various options, including an immediate or phased exit plan, as well as full or partial sale.
In Edward Kosmac’s case – creating a group practice over three decades – the energy to sustain the business was depleting. Three years of COVID trading stress and Arthur Stevens approaching retirement meant it was time for an energetic organisation to take over that was willing to preserve the legacy.
“At no stage did we ever feel comfortable having the business rebranded to be completely consumed by a corporate machine,” he says.
“Consequently, we were impressed with TOC’s approach which aligned with our general ethos; to behave and be seen as an independent group which has earned the trust of our clients and provide a consistently high level of quality care and service.”
He was struck with TOC’s professionalism and affinity for Kosmac & Clemens’ philosophies.
“They were a delight to deal with during the negotiation process. Even after the acquisition we feel they are completely approachable for any operational concerns. In general, they’ve been extremely supportive of our desire to improve as a practice and entrench the Kosmac & Clemens brand within our communities,” he says.
Now working as an employee optometrist, rather than a director, Edward Kosmac says the practice feels as it always has with no perceivable change to his consulting experience.
“The main pro is that I can now focus all of my attention on practising optometry; it’s a real privilege to provide my clients with the best of my skills as I enter the autumn years as a consultant,” he says.
TOC says it is in active discussion with several prospective additions to the business as the network’s growth continues. It welcomes new contact by interested independents.
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