For many optometrists, there comes a pivotal moment in their careers when starting their own practice becomes the next big step. And for some, it’s even more rewarding when they take the leap with their significant other by their side.
Launching a business can be daunting and lonely, especially if there is no one to share the burden. So why not launch one with a best friend, partner, or confidante? Investment in each other – as well as the success of the overall business – could translate into something positive.
This is a model that many independent optometry businesses across Australia have adopted, owned and operated by a husband-and-wife, mum-and-dad duo, and often with a high degree of success.
Insight sits down with three couples at various stages of running their own optometry practices, each sharing their pearls of wisdom, and how they reap the benefits of working with their significant other.
Daniel and Michelle Tracton
Throughout Mr Daniel Tracton’s 28 years in optometry, he has traversed independent practice as well as holding corporate roles. Recently, he decided to go greenfield, and opened his current practice, Tracton Optometrists, in Sydney’s Bondi Junction in 2021 alongside his wife Ms Michelle Tracton.
Unlike Daniel, Michelle did not have a career in optics, but the satisfaction Daniel would get from his work rubbed off, and she decided to transition careers.
This, according to Daniel, was beneficial, as Michelle entered the business with “fresh eyes” and could view the needs of their local community from an outsider’s perspective.
“Michelle had been hearing about the optical industry for nearly 30 years. It’s like dinner time conversation, so she wasn’t really a stranger to the industry,” he says.
Michelle adds: “Dan would come home and say, ‘Someone had double vision and hasn’t been able to drive for 10 years. I’ve given them an optical correction that’s fixed their vision and now they’re back driving’. And I thought: ‘You did that in one day?’. This is a really appealing aspect of working in an optometry practice, you can literally see the difference you make to someone’s quality of life”
Working together wasn’t initially the plan – Michelle intended to help with the setup of the practice, and then decided to jump ship and join Daniel.
Now, she manages the practice, and works alongside the dispensing team.
During the setup, Daniel and Michelle recognised that there was a gap in their local market: there was no family-owned independent practice in the area.
Daniel was familiar with Ms Carolyn and Mr Peter Hewett’s (more on them below) practice in Mosman across the harbour, and the dynamics they had in place resonated with him. So, he sought to recreate a similar environment in his own practice, with a strong community feel and continuity of care for patients. Daniel first met Carolyn Hewett in the mid 1990s while she was coaching at the practice he worked at.
“Everything worked out very well with Michelle joining the practice. We never really considered working together – but we took advantage of this opportunity to invest our time and turn a dream into a reality,” Daniel says.
“We considered that by combining our differing skill sets, we could provide a gold standard, independent and family-owned optometry practice that provides excellent eyecare, beautiful eyewear, and specialty contact lenses, building long term relationships in our local community.”
Since opening the practice, a new paradigm for Daniel and Michelle to navigate is establishing a work-life balance.
For them, the biggest challenge is creating boundaries between professional and private lives.
“We come to work together. We leave work together. We talk about work outside of work hours – it infiltrates all parts of our life,” Michelle says. “However, our work is deeply rewarding so this is more of a challenge than a problem.
“We’re trying to create a balance but also accept that it’s not very easy to achieve if you’re committed to your work. And especially with those two years of setting up the business.”
Daniel adds: “We had three days off over a recent long weekend, and we made a conscious effort to take a break from work and had a great weekend.
“We made sure we had a balanced time and didn’t have anything to do with work. But I think that’s the eternal challenge, and it definitely is harder if you’re working with your partner as you can just kick into work mode at any point.”
Above all, Daniel and Michelle reiterate the benefit of going into business with someone familiar as opposed to someone unfamiliar.
Daniel’s perspective as an established optometrist is that while optometry is ostensibly a primary health care profession and providing top quality care is the key priority, the people delivering it are equally as important.
“Having a great team is essential and knowing the person you are going into business with takes the risk out of getting your team right. Also, with a family business there is a long term stability to the team structure which is another valuable deliverable to patients,” Daniel says.
Michelle adds: “We have different strengths which complement each other and we’re confident in each other’s ability. If we divide the work in a way that plays to our strengths, it takes the guesswork and the luck out of starting a practice.”
Carolyn and Peter Hewett
Ms Carolyn and Mr Peter Hewett are a retired couple who boast more than 30 years in business together. With decades of experience as partners, they truly understand the secrets to achieving success together.
The Hewetts’ story begins in 1923, with Peter’s father and grandfather’s optometry practice in Martin Place in Sydney’s CBD. Peter joined the family business in the 1980s, marking the third generation of optometrists in his family.
“We have a history of family working in the practice. My grandfather’s sister worked in the practice and on the front desk and she was very good with people,” Peter says. “And then my mother worked with my father in the practice.”
Carolyn, an orthoptist, joined the practice as its manager in 1988. In 1993 they opened a second location in Mosman, which they ran until their retirement in 2021.
Ideally, the Hewetts suggest that couples have a deep understanding of each other’s character before diving into business together. This familiarity can make the process smoother and less uncertain.
Peter knew that he could focus in the consultation room, while Carolyn maintained a strong front-of-house. Working synergistically and trusting each other made for a well-rounded patient experience.
“One of the benefits is that you have continuity,” Peter says. “You don’t have an external force coming in trying to re-invent the wheel, because you’re working together.”
However, lack of boundaries with each other in terms of when to switch off work conversations was a persistent challenge in the household.
For example, there would be a marketing plan in place by the time the practice closed, which would be shared with staff. And, to the dismay of the employees, the plan would have changed overnight because Peter and Carolyn continued discussions after hours.
“One of the advantages of working together is you’re always working on the business. One of the disadvantages is you’re always working on the business,” Carolyn says.
Despite this, she adds that tackling issues daily, rather than during less frequent meetings, enables quicker and more efficient decision-making.
“It also allows for immediate problem solving,” Carolyn says. “You can move very fast because you’re working through problems on a daily basis, not at weekly meetings or monthly meetings.”
Working with a person one has a close relationship with, such as a partner, often means business values and principles align.
However, Carolyn advises not to expect staff to share the same principles.
Instead, owners should be evolving with their staff to soften the impact when they do move on.
“Much of my responsibility in the practice was to train and release, because realistically, no one’s going to stay with you forever,” she says.
“You’ve got to have a good attitude, because they’re going to come to you, you’re going to develop them, and then they’re going to leave for a bigger and better career.”
Carolyn adds that going into business with this mindset, and having the right support staff, can make or break the practice.
Peter adds that they knew when a staff member was ready to move on to their next step.
“We’d ask them, ‘What do you think you want to do with the rest of your life?’ And then we’d assist them to achieve that. This gave us time to bring someone else in,” he says.
“You need to be constantly evolving with your staff and having their interests first, because I think that makes an easier exit for people.”
The dynamic the couple brought to their practice was specifically sought out by patients. They complemented each other well, and were able to deliver eyecare at a high level.
“I looked after patient’s eye health and vision, and Carolyn would look after their eyewear,” Peter says, “But above this, we became part of the community.”
Carolyn adds: “I think people still crave being looked after and having someone that they can trust that they know and who’s consistent. Continuity of care is so important.”
They say it made them more accessible and open for people to walk into the practice, and discuss their concerns with Carolyn, if Peter was busy with a patient.
“They knew they could talk to Carolyn, and there is no doubt that the information would get back to me,” Peter says.
The duo says that working together enabled them to prioritise quality eyecare, build lasting relationships with their patients and foster strong community ties, which to them, has proven most rewarding.
“Looking back, there isn’t much we would do differently because we dealt with issues as they came. We focused on providing good care and building relationships with our patients. Our patients appreciated the continuity of care, which is hard to find nowadays,” Peter says.
Carolyn adds: “Working together in the practice allowed us to provide high-quality care and build strong relationships with our patients and community. While it had its challenges, it was a fulfilling career choice.”
For anyone in a similar position, Carolyn advises couples starting a business together should do so if that is their life’s work. Otherwise, there is no joy.
“If you’re working as a team – there’s a different feeling behind it,” she says.
“For example, someone pulled into the business against their better judgement – and against their will to a certain extent – is going to affect the business. I think if people are going to work together, it shouldn’t be as a default; it should be as a career choice.”
Robert Nawrocki and Simone Hibbert
In Melbourne, Ascot Vale Eyecare is a greenfield practice established in October 2023 by optometrist couple Mr Robert Nawrocki and Ms Simone Hibbert. Unlike the Tractons and Hewetts, both are practising optometrists.
After spending much time in the industry, the next obvious step for Robert and Simone was to establish their own practice.
Each toyed with the idea of starting their own individual practice – ultimately, it made sense to join forces and bring the best of both worlds together. Born and bred in this pocket of Melbourne, they knew the ins and outs of the area and were prepared to go greenfield.
“We arrived at the idea independently. But thought this made sense to be the next step in our careers. We had a lot of similarities – we grew up in the area and had similar ideas. It just made sense to do it together,” Simone says.
Robert adds: “Opening in metro Melbourne as an independent is tough, but being embedded in the community helps.”
Duties – outside of clinical – fell organically depending on their abilities, such as social media administration or hands on related work.
“There have been tasks over the journey, where we’ve both had a go at them at the start, but some things played to each other’s strengths a bit more. Certain tasks have just naturally fallen into one domain or the other,” Simone says.
Having a wealth of optometry experience between them was advantageous for the clinical aspect of the practice, however, they lacked administrative acumen in the early stages.
“It helps to keep on top of the day-to-day processes earlier. Knowing the practice management software intricately from day one would have helped us. There are many things we’d do differently, but hindsight is 20/20,” Robert says.
In terms of establishing a business with a partner, Robert and Simone are advocates for striking a balance between following intuition and asking lots of questions.
“Trust your gut, talk to as many people as you can, and seek advice. There will be naysayers, but trust your instincts,” Robert says.
A well-informed intuition for the couple can be attributed to their length of optometry service, and the confidence that they’ll work well together.
“We’ve been in the industry long enough to have an idea of what we’re doing. I wouldn’t recommend it for new graduates, as it’s too challenging,” Simone says.
“It’s been challenging but rewarding: if you’re thinking about it, be confident you’ll work well together.”
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