Selling an optometry practice is not like it once was. Decades ago, when a solo optometrist approached retirement he would put his office up for sale and within 12 to 18 months the practice would sell. The buyer might have requested the seller remain working in the practice for a year or two, but most likely the seller would hand the keys to the buyer and walk away.

Welcome 2015 and the new normal. Most graduating ODs are looking to work as associates so they can maintain an active lifestyle outside of their optometry career. They are prime candidates for the employing OD, but they are not potential buyers.

Business DealAs a seller some day, I worry about the pool of potential buyers continually decreasing. Optometrists are consolidating to create increasingly larger practices while more and more solo practitioners are closing the doors without a sale. To ensure that this is not my fate, my partner and I have worked to find ODs who have expressed a long-term goal of owning a practice. Once they become associate optometrists of our practice we begin mentoring them to develop an owner mindset.

Three fundamental practices of mentoring an associate:

  1. Meet regularly – Make a weekly commitment to meet for 30 minutes and discuss the week. Talk about clinical care cases and staff management issues that you have dealt with. Let them know you are available and willing to answer their questions.
  2. Lead by example – Most of what is caught is not taught. Your associate OD is watching how you handle situations and wondering, “If I were the boss, would I be capable of managing day-to-day operations successfully?” Your associates are trying to decide if they would succeed owning a practice.
  3. Work to make them successful – As an optometry CEO, you will need to lead your associate in the process of becoming a leader within the practice. Most students did not apply for optometry school with aspirations of leading, they wanted to practice medicine of the eye. Your initiative to walk alongside them and make them successful will be the key. This may mean using their ideas in the practice. They need to see that they can lead. They also need to see that they can achieve buy-in of the senior staff. You can help this by building up the associate OD’s leadership characteristics in front of the staff.

If you own a practice and are worried about potentially selling your practice, it is never too late to get started in the mentoring process. The above practices not only develop great future owners, but it gives them the confidence to move forward in the purchasing process. I’ve mentored many optometrists looking to purchase practices, and I have found they all share one common characteristic–an underlying fear of failure. You as the owner can understand and recognize this fear of failure in your associates and help them to alleviate it. Doing so will not only provide you with a committed buyer, but it will ensure that your long-time patients are still in good care.