The Story So Far

On September, 25 2009 1:30pm CT, I walked out of my employers' office for the last time. The last month had been bumpy. Well, uncomfortable is more the word. The news of my impending departure had gone to my employer in a roundabout way. That is to say, it didn't come from me. I had been dragging my heals on that conversation so I could make a seamless departure. Alas, that was not to be. For the previous 10 years I was left alone and now I was the traitor, the interloper that was going to off with the goods. The reality was the goods were already mine, but it wasn't a database or inventory it was knowledge. The problem I would have is that the knowledge was flawed. The model that built that practice to a 7 figure office was based on an older concept. Did it work for them? Yes. Would it work for me? No. I just hadn't figured it out yet.

Success in Opticianry is a simple idea. Offer a great product at a good price along with amazing service. This is what I was taught all my career. This was the mantra that was drummed into my head again and again. Then I got out on my own. It was the basis of the office I had just left. I could see the appointment book and could do the mental math to see the revenues. What I didn't account for were the changes. That practice I left has 2 doctors and 8 staff. I have no doctors and just me. The business plan I had developed was flawed and I was in trouble. What I came to realize was that eyewear is a commodity. Eyewear is a widget and widgets have no real value. Eyewear is everywhere at every price you can imagine. Do a Google search on "Eyewear" and you'll have 22,600,000 results. The top one is the largest discount online eyewear retailer there is. They're based in China and sell products at prices I couldn't get anywhere near to competing against. Eyewear is a widget. Eyewear is a commodity. Eyewear is not what I want to sell. Eyewear is never going to send my kids to college. This was my panic moment. I had sunk thousands of dollars into a store. I had set up a business and I was doomed to failure unless I shifted the focus. Of course this bit of knowledge didn't come in an "ah ha" moment. It was over many conversations with my friend Dan. In the first months Dan would stop by my office almost everyday and we would talk about everything, especially the business. We would brainstorm and think up how to market the store. It was during one of these brainstorming moments that I began to realize that I needed to stop selling eyewear. I needed to sell the only really unique thing I had. I had to sell me. If I sold my abilities to help my patients, they would happily purchase the eyewear. The eyewear became the secondary issue. The product was no longer eyewear. The product was me and my abilities. Google search me and I come out on top.