Insights From Our Editors

How Much Will You Earn in the Coming Years?

The more time an OD spends in practice the greater his or her income, findings from Jobson Optical Research’s 2014 ECP Compensation Survey reveal. As years in the position increase the compensation goes up significantly. The average compensation for employed optometrists with less than five years in the position was close to $21,000 less than for those more than 10 years in the position. The average total compensation for owner/partners with less than five years in the position is over $55,000 less than for those in the position over 10 years.

Click HERE to purchase Jobson Optical Research’s 2014 ECP Compensation Survey.

Are you ready for a raise?

Jobson Optical Research’s 2014 ECP Compensation Survey gives the results for two groups of ODs: employed ODs and owner/partner ODs. The results for each group are broken down into three sections: ODs in practice less than five years, ODs in practice 5-10 years and ODs in practice greater than 10 years.

Two clear observations are seen when looking at the results for average compensation: (1) owner/partner ODs make more than employed ODs and (2) the increase in average income is approximately 10 percent between the three reporting groups based on length of time in practice (i.e.: people practicing five to 10 years make about 10 percent more than those practicing less than five years, and those practicing greater than 10 years make about 10 percent more than those practicing five to 10 years).

Owner/partner ODs make more income than employed ODs because they own the business. The owners of any business should make more income than the employees of the business. That news has been reported before. The new news is how much of an increase in income occurs as ODs move between the three reporting groups. The average income reported goes up about 10 percent for both employed ODs and owner ODs as you move through the three groups.

To think about this a different way, if you made $100,000 five years ago, are you now making $110,000? Let’s keep this in context. Inflation has been about 2 percent each year over the last five years. That puts the inflation change over the last five years around 10 percent. If your income has increased 10 percent over the last five years, then you’ve just kept pace with inflation. You really haven’t made any purchasing ability gains.

If you are going to ask for a raise as either an employee or owner, make sure you can answer this question: What changes are you going to make to bring more income into the practice to justify the raise? Are you going to see more patients per unit of time? Are you going to increase your per patient average income by delivering more care per patient? Are you going to help the practice decrease its expenses in order to increase the practice net? What specific changes are you making?

You shouldn’t expect a raise higher than inflation just because time has passed. The key to success in any organization is to make yourself valuable to the organization. Your action plan this week is to find ways to make yourself more valuable to the practice.

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