Opening a private practice can be overwhelming.
There are many things to consider when opening a private practice, and you may or may not have the knowledge or experience needed to make informed decisions about everything early on in your career.
The decisions you need to make when opening a private practice can significantly influence the type of practice you develop, and ultimately your success.
We had the opportunity to sit down with Eric Baas, O.D., and Bob Steinmetz, O.D. of ICare Advisors, LLC at Vision Expo West and gain some valuable insight on the many questions you will face when opening a private practice.
This series of video interviews will provide you with some essential tips, insight, and information to help you when you begin to plan for opening your private practice.
1) Is It Possible for New Graduates to Open a Private Practice With Increasing Student Loan Debt
Optometry school costs a lot of money. Most students graduating from optometry school will have well over 100 thousand dollars in student loan debt. This is a major concern for many new aspiring practice owners that may make you question whether or not it is possible or practical to take on even more debt to finance your private practice.
2) Is It Possible to Obtain a Practice Loan With Existing Student Loan Debt
You will need to acquire funding to open up your dream practice. One concern is that the presence of student loan debt (for many recent grads, a lot of it) will be looked at unfavorably by potential lending institutions when attempting to obtain a practice loan. Here is what you need to know about choosing a lending institution, the financing of your loan, and down payments on your new private practice.
3) The Biggest Financial Pitfall When Opening a Private Practice
Once you have funding to open your dream practice, you need to be cognizant of needs versus wants. You want to avoid this common pitfall when opening a practice that can derail your finances.
4) How Traffic Flow Can Influence Your Practice
Determining a practice location is always one of the most difficult decisions to make when opening a practice. One major thing to consider is traffic flow and the retailers that surround your practice. Here is how these factors can influence the type of patient base you may be serving.
5) When You Can Expect Your Practice To Become Profitable
One of the most important questions one has when opening a private practice is when will it start to produce enough revenue to sustain itself. Here is typically when practices begin to generate income and some key factors that play a role in this stage of private practice ownership.
