A New Optometry Practice can be Overwhelming
A New Optometry Practice can be Overwhelming
Finding a mentor, making good decisions, and managing risk are keys to handling the feeling of being overwhelmed
When I sat down to create my Pulse Pointsof the Million Dollar Practice program, one of my top priorities was serving as a mentor who would offer insight and advice for people who feel overwhelmed, frustrated, or confused about their direction and the future of their practices. I wanted these folks to know that they're not alone and that's one of the important roles of a mentor. I've traveled this path in my own life as a practitioner, and countless other people are on the same journey right now.
The state of feeling overwhelmed is a particularly common experience for practitioners especially practitioners who fit into one of two categories.
1. New optometrists can feel overwhelmed
If you're a new optometrist, it's pretty easy to feel overwhelmed, whether you're working as an associate or launching your own practice. You're quickly discovering that practicing optometry is not what you actually learned in optometry school you now have to truly figure out on your own how to practice optometry.
Additionally, whatever your role, you face important responsibilities from both the business and regulatory standpoints. You have knowledge because of your training and education, but you still have a lot of questions about the practical side of running a business:
How do you set up accounts receivable?
How should you do billing?
How do you learn the coding to communicate with insurance companies?
What's it mean to make a capital investment?
What do you need to know about employee people?
What's the best way to manage your employees?
The list goes on and on. Your lack of experience sits at the root of your feelings of being overwhelmed.
Find answers through the right kind of mentor
If you're feeling overwhelmed because you're new to optometry, I'd encourage you to find a mentor. I believe mentors fall into one of three categories:
Peer.
Expert.
Reverse.
A peer mentor is a colleague; you both benefit from sharing your knowledge and discussing your experiences. An expert mentor is someone with expertise in a specific area, such as an attorney or tax adviser or accountant, all of whom can help you; information flows one way in this mentor relationship. The reverse mentor is a younger individual whose insights can help you consider cultural and technological changes.
You will probably benefit most from both a peer mentor someone traveling a similar journey as you in their practice and an expert mentor someone who can help you with specific issues you must address in your practice.
2. If you're an established practitioner Practice Growth opportunities can feel overwhelming
Even established practitioners can feel overwhelmed, especially when they have growth opportunities, such as a new location, a marketing program, a community outreach program, a unique service at your practice, or the addition of more staff. Anytime you grow, you face new challenges in leading and managing. What made you successful as a $500,000 practice is different from how you lead a $750,000 practice or a $1 million, $1.5 million, or $2 million practice. That's why I set up my Pulse Pointsof the Million Dollar Practice program to help guide and mentor people through these growth stages.
If you're feeling overwhelmed because you're facing a growth opportunity, you need to develop a method for making good decisions, and you need to consider the risks ahead.
I'd encourage you to use a SWOT analysis when making major decisions:
Strengths: What are the advantages, strengths, and benefits of making this decision?
Weaknesses: What are the weaknesses of the decision being made?
Opportunities: What opportunities are available by making this decision?
Threats: What is the potential downside by making this decision? Will it reduce threats?
This will help you make good decisions, but it will also help you determine how much risk you are able or willing to take when facing a growth opportunity. Some risks should be avoided, but if you avoid every risk, you lose great opportunities. And a peer mentor could also prove beneficial someone who's walking the same path as you or might be a few steps ahead and can share insight and wisdom.
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