Having a codified business plan is an excellent way to ensure your optical business stays oriented towards its goals, whether you are a brand new business, or have been operating for years. Let us shine some light on how your optometry business can benefit from creating an optometry business plan, and what your business plan should look like!
Why You Need an Optometry Business Plan
A formal optometry business plan is so important because it serves as the “north star” for your business. When in times of doubt regarding what strategies to pursue, or what initiatives to prioritize, you can always return to your business plan for guidance. Managing a small business can be incredibly stressful, and it is extraordinarily easy to lose sight of your long-term goals while you are short-staffed or putting out short-term fires. Although short-term issues you may encounter in your business (like how to increase efficiency in a certain area) absolutely merit attention, many businesses lose their way by letting these challenges continually take precedence over their high-level growth goals.
As we approach the end of the year, if you are looking back at your 2023 goals and wondering how your business could have performed better, you likely could have benefited from the strategic guidance of a business plan that provides a singular home for all things goal-setting and financial planning.
Having all of your business’s critical information, from financial projections and goals to mission statements, available for reference at any time makes it far easier to track performance against your goals, and ultimately achieve them. As a brand-new business, an optometry business plan can keep you laser-focused on critical benchmarks during the ups and downs of your first few years of operation. A robust business plan is equally valuable for an established business, especially one that is going through a period of growth and needs to stay grounded in its purpose and goals.
The Key Components of an Optometry Business Plan
So, what should your business plan look like? Here are some of the critical components that your business plan should include:
Executive Summary: Start with a short description of your business and its vision. Don’t be short-sighted in your thinking. Try to succinctly summarize everything your business does, and why you do it. If you have concerns about branding down the road, you can return to your initial definition of your business and its purpose.
Market & Competitor Analysis: Conduct a thorough analysis of your regional market, as well as any relevant macroeconomic or industry trends when preparing your business plan. Consider how your business compares to its direct and indirect competitors, and what makes you better and different. Note where your business excels, and where your business needs to improve. The market has changed drastically over the last 20 years, and the businesses that tend to win are the businesses that know where the market is going before their competition. Strive for an extremely nuanced understanding of the industry in which you operate.
Services and Specialization: Identify where your business wants to focus its offerings. An optical business focused on selling high-end designer frames is going to operate considerably differently than a family optometry practice. Your specialization should be reflected in your branding, who you hire, and how you position yourself in the marketplace.
Additionally, be sure to note potential areas of expansion that can serve as additional revenue streams, like myopia management or dry eye care. It is commonplace for potentially productive expansion initiatives to fall by the wayside due to a lack of planning, so keep any opportunities on your radar.
Marketing Strategy: Even if you are an established business, marketing yourself is an incredibly important part of making sure that your business is recognized as the industry leader it is. Codify your marketing strategy, and note what has worked, and what hasn’t (if you have a pre-existing marketing strategy). It is also critical to ensure you have strong tracking capabilities in place to measure the effectiveness of your marketing campaigns, and that you invest in the initiatives that drive success for your business (Eye Cloud Pro has a great tool for doing just this!).
Financial Projections and Goal-Setting: One of the most important components of your business plan is robust financial projections. Having codified, ambitious growth goals is essential to realizing your business’s full potential, and these projections should be the focus of your business plan. Ensure you are tracking progress towards these numbers regularly, and evaluating your performance accordingly. If you notice you are on pace to drastically miss your revenue target for a particular quarter, for example, that is a major sign that your business may need to reorient its strategy to focus on closing that gap.
Compliance: Compliance is much more than just checking a box. Codify your business’s compliance strategy to ensure alignment with HIPAA and other regulatory requirements.
Building/Growing Your Team: The importance of a streamlined onboarding process for your employees cannot be overstated. Your business plan should outline what your onboarding process looks like, ensuring your business is continually putting its employees in the best position to succeed.
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The complexities of managing an optical business can be challenging, and the allure of short-term problem-solving can often obscure long-term objectives. Your business plan acts as a constant reference point that guides informed decision-making and keeps your focus on your overarching goals. A robust business plan is the linchpin that aligns your purpose, goals, and performance metrics, ensuring that your optical business not only survives, but thrives in today’s dynamic healthcare landscape.
If your optical business is looking to get the most out of its operations, Eye Cloud Pro can help. Our intuitive, all-in-one solution helps streamline your operations, making life easier for both you and your employees. If you would like to learn more about Eye Cloud Pro, give us a call at 404-537-2900.
