subject: Healthy Support Networks Lead to Healthy Practices [print this page] Healthy Support Networks Lead to Healthy Practices
Support: Your greatest asset to growing your practice
Your practice will grow only as well as you nurture it. You could have two practices in the same community, but one is more successful because the practitioner is a go-getter who's eager to network and meet people in the optometry world, while the other practitioner isn't.
I'm a big believer in the necessity of hard work when building a practice, but I also recognize and appreciate the need for finding support through different networks of people and perhaps the two best networks are other practitioners and members of your family.
1) Connect with other practitioners
When I ran my practice, I was part of a 12-person study group that assembled once or twice a year to share ideas and talk about ways we could improve our practices. We got advice and counsel without being judged. It created an opportunity for each of us to have 11 mentors and this affected my practice dramatically. Even 27 years after we first gathered, we can call any of the other people in that group, and they would do whatever they could to assist one another.
A lot of people stop with their local optometric meetings. Those are worthwhile gatherings, but that won't be as intimate and personal as a study group relationship with people you pull together. You'll hear one another's success stories and failure stories, and you'll experience tremendous growth and insight.
2) Find support from your family
Nobody in a family is involved in anything that doesn't affect everyone else in the family at one time or another. You need to have your spouse and other family members supporting you as you're facing new challenges and affirming that they want you doing that work. Nothing is more miserable than thinking you're providing for your family, only to find out later down the road that your family resented the job because it took you away from them.
For many people, optometry is an increasingly flexible field, following the path charted by the pharmacy field. Both fields have transitioned from a cottage, mom-and-pop industry into a more corporate setting. When there was a huge demand for more pharmacists, many women answered the call because they could earn good money while working in a positive setting that offered more regular hours and the opportunities to work part-time.
A similar thing is happening in optometry. I know of one practice run by three women who have worked out a schedule that works well for all of them they all value balance in their family commitments and their work commitments. Cooperation with other practitioners can allow you to build a strong practice while finding time for your family and drawing support from that important network.
