20/20 MONEY: The Business of Optometry Peeling back the layers of private equity with Dr. Chris Wolfe (my guest appearance on EyeCode Media Podcast)
Welcome to this episode of 20/20 Money! This episode is the guest appearance I did on Dr. Chris Wolfe's podcast Eyecode Media (which is part of Eyecode Education). Chris had me on the show to unpack private equity a bit more and talk about how PE is structured from an investment perspective and what the "end game" looks like for a PE fund. This is a follow up conversation to an article that I wrote for Review of Optometric Business (link) where I showed the math on how selling to a PE firm could actually cost a practice owner 6 figures. Before I get into the episode, I'd like to just acknowledge that I have no horse in this race: the purpose of this show has always been to be objective about any of the planning strategies or concepts that I discuss and lay out the pros and cons or benefits and exchanges to the decisions that one makes with their money. With private equity getting a lot of attention lately it could be perceived that I'm taking a contrarian view for the purpose of building exposure, and that's simply not the case. For some practice owners, a private equity exit might be the best option for them. For others, not so much. My position, with a decision like this, has been to be transparent about the entirety of the process and, using history as our guide, what it could mean for the profession of optometry.
Everything that we do with our money comes at a cost—sometimes that cost is explicit and sometimes it's implicit. But it's our job (responsibility?) to ensure that we know as much as we can about the implications of our decision…and that's been the focus of this show. With the subject of this episode and the conversation that Chris and I have, I wanted to just share that additional update.
As a reminder, you can get all the information discussed in today's conversation by visiting our website at integratedpwm.com and clicking on the Learning Center. While there, be sure to subscribe to our newsletter and you can also set up a 20-30min Triage conversation to learn a little bit more about how we serve in the capacity of a personal and professional CFO: helping OD practice owners around the country reduce their tax bill, proactively manage cash flow, and make prudent investment decisions both in and out of their practice to help them live their best life on purpose. You can also check out any number of additional free resources like our eBooks, blog posts, and on-demand webinars. Lastly, if you're interested in learning more about the upcoming launch of the 20/20 Money Membership, please check out the link in the Resources to learn more about what we have in store for you!
And with that introduction, I hope you enjoy my conversation with Dr. Chris Wolfe.
Resources:
Review of Optometric Business: Why Selling to PE Could COST You Six Figures
Research paper: Financialization in Health Care: The Transformation of US Hospital Systems
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