Practice Management

Key Analytics to Look at to Forecast the Future of Independent Optometry

Mattiei with Madison Barnes, OD, who cold-started See & Be Seen Eyecare and Aesthetics in Sandy Springs, GA.

Mattei with Madison Barnes, OD, who cold-started See & Be Seen Eyecare and Aesthetics in Sandy Springs, Ga. Mattei says that an analysis of key metrics shows that independent optometry still offers significant advantages. Photo credit: Stefan Jobe.

Future of independent optometry practices

Part two of a two-part article offering a numbers-based look at the future of independent optometry. Click HERE to read part one.

By Erich H. Mattei, MBA

Jan. 22, 2025

Have you ever considered the future of your practice as a small business in your community?

American small businesses (companies with <500 employees) are a source of innovation, economic dynamism and overall economic prosperity¹¹, employing nearly half of the entire U.S. workforce.

Small businesses are critical to job creation and sustaining the economy, and integral to the nation’s employment health and economic success.

Only 16 percent of small businesses employ 1-19 employees (and less than 2 percent 20-499). The average small business, in other words, is the same size of many optometry private practices. These small businesses, including practices like many of yours, are essential to the well-being of your local and regional economy¹¹.

Independent optometrists as small business owners often serve as cornerstones to their community providing patient care, and creating jobs and sustainability for the local economy.

It is for these reasons— the impact to patients, providers and communities, that the fastest-growing industries in small business include private practice healthcare.¹¹

Your Future in Private Practice

Business Risk

Although private practice healthcare is among the fastest growing segments of small business, and private healthcare practices hold the highest small business survival rates across all industries,¹¹there is inherent risk in business.

In fact, 20 percent of small businesses fail in Year 1, 30 percent in Year 2 and 50 percent by Year 5.¹¹While this may be intimidating, digging deeper into the reasons why small businesses fail provides clarity as to why private healthcare practices rarely fail, and how you can be proactive in your business to ensure that your private practice thrives.

According to U.S. Bank, the top reasons why new businesses fail include: lack of demand/market fit, no plan, insufficient financing, bad location, inflexibility and rapid expansion.¹²

Establishing Your Business Foundations

So, where to start to ensure your optometry private practice will succeed?

No matter where you are in your private practice journey—starting your first business, scaling your established business, transitioning your legacy business— achieving your business goals starts with establishing solid business foundations composed of: financial forecasting and analysis, market and competitive analysis and the strategic plan to implement in that phase of the business lifecycle.

Financial Analysis:
- Financial Pro Forma offers a snapshot of the financial state and future of the business including necessary capital investments and debt service requirements. Financial pro forma are integral to myriad use cases including cold-starting, expanding or renovating the office, hiring an associate doctor and more.
- Benchmarking compares the business to its peers and identifies opportunities to impact growth and profit. Develop systems to benchmark and monitor three key drivers of the business: financial performance and profitability, operations (performance and efficiency) and marketing channels. Monitoring frequency should range from weekly for operations benchmarking to bi-weekly for financial benchmarking to monthly for marketing benchmarking.
- Cash flow and valuation analytics monitor the financial health of the business. Where is the money going and how much is the business worth? These are key questions that can guide decision-making throughout all phases of business lifecycle—starting with the early years, growth and scaling years and the years when you are transitioning your legacy.
Market Analysis:
- Socio-Economic and Healthcare Demographics offer insights to deliver appropriate scope of care to the surrounding community. Scope of care impacts start-up costs and ongoing expenses associated with equipment and technology and human resource requirements, and revenue of billable patient encounters across vision, medical and specialty care.
- Lifestyle and Consumer analytics provide insights to optimize the optical, aesthetics and retail offerings to best serve the interests of the local market. Additionally, these analytics are integral to location selection for ODs looking to establish a second (or third) location, specialty practice, spa or boutique or luxury optical.
- Competitive market analysis identifies area competition. Understanding the competition is integral when building your brand identity, establishing your scope of care and retail offerings and differentiating your practice.
Strategic Plan:
- Stakeholder-centric strategies, those that provide mutual benefit to staff and office culture, patient care and experience and practice profit and efficiency are more sustainable than those that fail to meet the expectations of any stakeholder group. Create a plan that benefits everyone.
- Operations aligning with core values, mission, vision and purpose power sustained, steady performance and growth of a business compared to short-sighted, temporal shifts. Clearly defining, documenting and communicating operations, organizational structure and implementation create the framework for action.
- Milestones are key points throughout the business lifecycle, or a specific project or time horizon that prove a defined degree of progress. SMART goals (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, time-bound) foster action and provide the feedback loop to effectively monitor progress and adapt as appropriate.

Bottom Line: Independent Optometry Provides Most Benefit to Stakeholders

As demand grows across vision, medical and specialty eyecare, and consolidation and competition proliferate, a look at public health economics and stakeholder benefits across modes of care indicates private practice provides the most benefits to stakeholders—doctors, patients and communities.

Achieving your goals in private practice is about being proactive—analyzing relevant facts; creating a stakeholder-centric strategy; and being assertive in implementing, monitoring and adapting your plan in your business.

Review of Optometric Business