20/20 MONEY

Hello, and welcome to this episode of 20/20 Money! My guest on today’s show is Dr. Steve Vargo, OD. Steve has had a storied career in optometry, starting out as a clinician after graduating from ICO in 1998. His interest for business led him to earn his MBA and eventually land at IDOC in the role of a practice management consultant. Having had over 3,000 consultative conversations over the years, he’s realized what every OD needs to know: we all have largely the same playing field. The difference, however, is in the execution of ideas and strategies, and it was in his curiosity of execution that led Steve to author a number of books, including his most recent one titled Prescribing Change: How to Make Connections, Influence, Decisions, and Get Patients to Buy Into Change. Steve joins me on the show to talk about what he’s learned in researching and writing his book on how to influence change at the patient level. We talk about how you first need to understand the patient’s problems and not necessarily just jump into making clinical diagnosis based off data collected. We talk about how to transition from a “versus” to a “team” approach in the decision making process, the different levels of the brain that are involved when we make decisions, ways in which doctors can influence and build trust with their patients, and the importance of understanding something called “motivational interviewing.” It was a very enjoyable conversation and I learned some things as well that I’ll be looking at in my own firm! 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, you can also set up a 20-30min Discovery conversation to learn a little bit more about how we serve ODs around the country & what it means to work with our firm or check out any number of additional free resources like our eBooks and on-demand webinars. And with that introduction, I hope you enjoy my conversation with Dr. Steve Vargo, OD. ————————————————————————————— Please rate and subscribe to 20/20 Money on these platforms Apple Podcasts Spotify Google Play Stitcher  ————————————————————————————— For past episodes of 20/20 Money with full companion show notes, please check out our episode archive here!

This is part 2 of my conversation with Jason Preator. Please be sure to check out part 1 from last week!  As a reminder, you can get all the information discussed in today’s conversation by visiting our website at www.integratedpwm.com and clicking on the Learning Center. While there, you can also set up a 15min pre-discovery conversation to learn a little bit more about what it means to work with our firm or check out any number of additional free resources like our eBooks and on-demand webinars. And with that introduction, I hope you enjoy part 2 of my conversation with Jason Preator.  ————————————————————————————— Please rate and subscribe to 20/20 Money on these platforms Apple Podcasts Spotify Google Play Stitcher  ————————————————————————————— For past episodes of 20/20 Money with full companion show notes, please check out our episode archive here!

Hello, and welcome to this episode of 20/20 Money! My guest on today’s show is Jason Preator. Jason is one of the leading resources and advisors in the optometric space when it comes to helping optometry practice owners sell their practice to a private equity firm. Today’s conversation was so good and long that I actually made the decision to break it up into a two-part episode. In today’s episode, we talk about the duration of the process of selling, making sure you understand your why around selling your practice, two big factors that influence your valuation, why it’s important to understand first market mover advantage, when there’s an ideal time to break the news to your team and why you should have a conversation with your associate in the beginning, and we wrap up this part of the convo by discussing where are we at in the PE cycle. I also wanted to let you know that we actually recorded this episode earlier in spring, long before the COVID-19 disruption turned everyone’s lives on a dime. I held the release of the show because I wanted to make sure that the content that we were putting out was timely and relevant. Now that practices are starting to open up, I reached out to Jason to see if he had any additional thoughts on how transactions are being affect post-COVID closures, and here was his response in an email: the market continues to change and evolve with the passage of time.  The activity has definitely picked up with the buyers as states remove the stay at home orders and practices begin to re-open with many fully re-opened.  The buyers are optimistic but cautious as they want to ensure that the demand is returning, which all indicators from the buyers and our clients is that the demand, capture rate, and other KPIs are strong. As a reminder, you can get all the information discussed in today’s conversation by visiting our website at www.integratedpwm.com and clicking on the Learning Center. While there, you can also set up a 20-30min Discovery conversation to learn a little bit more about what it means to work with our firm or check out any number of additional free resources like our eBooks and on-demand webinars. And with that introduction, I hope you enjoy my conversation with Jason Preator. ————————————————————————————— Please rate and subscribe to 20/20 Money on these platforms Apple Podcasts Spotify Google Play Stitcher  ————————————————————————————— For past episodes of 20/20 Money with full companion show notes, please check out our episode archive here!

Hello, and welcome to this episode of 20/20 Money! My guest on today’s show is Dr. Damon Dierker. Damon already has a very storied career in optometry, so I was excited to have him on today to talk about dry eye and I feel it’s important to give a bit of a backstory to help set the stage. Clinically, he is a partner and Director of Optometric Services at Eye Surgeons of Indiana, one of (if not the) top tertiary care/referral center in the state of Indiana. His areas of clinical expertise include advanced retinal disease including diabetic retinopathy, macular degeneration, and glaucoma as well as advanced ocular surface disease treatment. He is a frequent presenter of continuing education presentations to doctors across the country and is an adjunct faculty member of Indiana University’s School of Optometry and directs the clinical externship program at ESI. As if that wasn’t enough, he is also the President-Elect of the Indiana Optometric Association. The reason that I wanted to have Damon on the show today is because he’s created a program that has helped many ODs around the country implement a dry eye treatment program in their practice. It’s no secret that treatment of dry eye is becoming a growing topic of concern—both from the patient’s and doctor’s perspective. It’s also an area that over time can boost revenue and thus profitability of a practice. However, implementing a dry eye program into an existing practice can seem daunting and something that ODs may put off until “they get around to it.” In this conversation, Damon talks about how he came up with the idea of forming his Dry Eye Boot Camp program and how it evolved and grew into a passion project side business for him to help ODs implement dry eye tx into their practice. We cover all aspects of dry eye: the mindset shift that first must occur with the OD, the equipment and tech needed, the investment needed of both time and money, the potential ROI, a scheduling strategy to consistently grow dry eye in your practice, the standard of care for diagnosing and treating dry eye, and the various ways of marketing this additional service to both existing and new patients. As a reminder, you can get all the information discussed in today’s conversation by visiting our website at www.integratedpwm.com and clicking on the Learning Center. While there, you can also set up a 20-30min Discovery conversation to learn a little bit more about what it means to work with our firm and how we serve ODs all over the country or check out any number of additional free resources like our eBooks and on-demand webinars. And with that introduction, I hope you enjoy my conversation with Dr. Damon Dierker. ————————————————————————————— Please rate and subscribe to 20/20 Money on these platforms Apple Podcasts Spotify Google Play Stitcher  ————————————————————————————— For past episodes of 20/20 Money with full companion show notes, please check out our episode archive here!

Hello, and welcome to this episode of 20/20 Money! My guest on today’s show is Dr. Gina Wesley. Gina joins the show to discuss various ways in which scheduling has impacted the profitability of her practice. We talk about the direct and indirect benefits of having a scheduling philosophy and why empowering your team is an important component to helping you manage an efficient practice. We also discuss the importance of communicating and setting expectations with patients is important regardless of the type of exam or the journey that they went through (normal exam vs emergency vs walk-in) and examples of language that you can use to communicate to patients that you understand that their time is valuable as well. We also discuss one of the biggest culprits that exists in an office which can throw off the schedule (hint: it may or may not be who you think it is) and how you can fix that problem and we wrap up the conversation with her pre-appointing process and how online scheduling now plays an integral role in her recall process (including the strategic placement of her “Schedule Now” button based off the Z-pattern of how website visitors consume content). 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, you can also set up a 20-30min Discovery conversation to learn a little bit more about what it means to work with our firm, how we serve ODs around the country, or check out any number of additional free resources like our eBooks and on-demand webinars. And with that introduction, I hope you enjoy my conversation with Dr. Gina Wesley. Start with Why by Simon Sinek Don Miller Story Brand Complete Eye Care of Medina ————————————————————————————— Please rate and subscribe to 20/20 Money on these platforms Apple Podcasts Spotify Google Play Stitcher  ————————————————————————————— For past episodes of 20/20 Money with full companion show notes, please check out our episode archive here!

Welcome to another episode of 20/20 Money. My guest on today’s show is Matt Howard. Matt is a CPA and CVA, which is a Certified Valuations Analyst, with Blue and Co here in Indianapolis. I’ve known Matt for a number of years and have always appreciated and valued his opinion. Today’s conversation is a bit unorthodox as there really wasn’t a whole lot of planning behind the content. What started out as a simple question on the phone between two friends and colleagues turned into I feel a very timely episode: how should buyers and sellers of practices be thinking about valuations in the midst of COVID-19? In our conversation, we talk about what sellers should be focused on in their financials even more as practices look to come out and reopen. We talk about the timeline of transactions, the impact of a practice’s financials in 2020 on overall valuations, and how 2020 financials could be factored into transactions that are closed in 2021 and beyond. We wrap up the conversation by again emphasizing how important it is that optometrists have a plan for how they’re going to exit their practice and ensuring that they know what their personal financial plan “needs” from their practice in order to live their best life, on purpose. 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, you can also set up a 20-30min Discovery conversation to learn a little bit more about what it means to work with our firm, how we serve ODs around the country, or check out any number of additional free resources like our eBooks and on-demand webinars. And with that introduction, I hope you enjoy my conversation with Matt Howard. Matt’s LinkedIn profile Blue & Co Transaction Advisory Services ————————————————————————————— Please rate and subscribe to 20/20 Money on these platforms Apple Podcasts Spotify Google Play Stitcher  ————————————————————————————— For past episodes of 20/20 Money with full companion show notes, please check out our episode archive here!

Hello, and welcome to this episode of 20/20 Money! My guests on today’s show are Drs. Jeremy Ciano and Jennifer Stewart. Longtime listeners of the show will recognize those names as I’ve had them both on a number of times in both 1-1 interviews as well as a three-way discussion. I respect both of their opinions and perspective as they both run highly successful practices, and that success does not come by accident. Jennifer and Jeremy join me in today’s conversation to discuss accountability as a business owner. As practice owners, it can be sometimes be hard to set and maintain goals that we set for ourselves. Because there’s no one other than ourselves truly holding us accountable to our goals, it can be easy to slip into a sense of complacency or lose focus on where one needs to “move the needle” in their practice. Jennifer and Jeremy talk about where to find an accountability partner and how to make accountability work for everyone involved, some of the areas of their practice that they hold each other accountable, the frequency with which they check in and how they tie their frequent accountability check-ins to their long-term goals. I’m a firm believer in having an accountability partner and I hope you enjoy this episode and that it empowers you to find someone or a small group to collective help everyone achieve more. Progress, growth, and thus profitability happen when you stay focused on your KPIs in your practice. 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, you can also set up a 20-30min Discovery conversation to learn a little bit more about what it means to work with our firm, how we serve ODs around the country, or check out any number of additional free resources like our eBooks and on-demand webinars. And with that introduction, I hope you enjoy my conversation with Jeremy Ciano and Jennifer Stewart. ————————————————————————————— Please rate and subscribe to 20/20 Money on these platforms Apple Podcasts Spotify Google Play Stitcher  ————————————————————————————— For past episodes of 20/20 Money with full companion show notes, please check out our episode archive here!

Hello, and welcome to this episode of 20/20 Money! My guest on today’s show is Dave Goetsch. Dave is the Executive Producer and writer for the hit TV show “The Big Bang Theory” and he joins me to talk about his journey not as a TV writer but as an investor. He shares his journey as an investor, lessons he’s learned along the way (one of them almost being a really expensive lesson), the investment philosophy he’s implemented and how he’s been able to go from feeling anxious and nervous to calm and resilient as an investor. We also talk about why having an advisor is so important for him, even though his portfolio is already “constructed” and he’s not necessarily taking any explicit action on his investments. We also discuss why it’s so important to have your financial plan complementing your investment portfolio and we wrap up the conversation with Dave sharing with us which Big Bang Theory character he’d want to have as his financial advisor. 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, you can also set up a 20-30min Discovery conversation to learn a little bit more about how we serve ODs around the country & what it means to work with our firm or check out any number of additional free resources like our eBooks and on-demand webinars. And with that introduction, I hope you enjoy my conversation with Dave Goetsch. Dave Goetsch Dimensional Fund Advisors The Evolution of Indexing A Transformed Investor’s View on Market Volatility ————————————————————————————— Please rate and subscribe to 20/20 Money on these platforms Apple Podcasts Spotify Google Play Stitcher  ————————————————————————————— For past episodes of 20/20 Money with full companion show notes, please check out our episode archive here!

On today’s episode, I start out with an update on the Paycheck Protection Program and what we’ve learned through the first round of applications as well as an update (as of now) as to what the next round of stimulus funding might look like and when that might come to fruition. I then share details on another aspect of the CARES Act that hasn’t been as talked about but can still be an important planning consideration and that’s the Employee Retention Credit. I share the details on how the ERC works and an example of a practice where the ERC may actually be more advantageous than the PPP, which is partially dependent on the timing of the PPP loan as well as the number of employees the practice has when the office reopens. I wrap up the show talking about a couple of other planning strategies to consider along with a message to encourage you to “think about what you think about.” How CARES Impacts Optometrists ————————————————————————————— Please rate and subscribe to 20/20 Money on these platforms Apple Podcasts Spotify Google Play Stitcher  ————————————————————————————— For past episodes of 20/20 Money with full companion show notes, please check out our episode archive here!

Hello, and welcome to this episode of 20/20 Money! My guest on today’s show is Dr. Matt Geller. Matt joins me back on the show today to talk about a variety of topics as it relates to staffing an office in the wake of the COVID-19. We talk about areas that practice owners should be focusing on now as well as some of the top items (personally and professionally, financially and otherwise) that ODs should be maximizing in this time of uncertainty. We emphasize the importance of cash, what someone looking for an associate position should do to stand out from the crowd, especially given the influx of talent that the marketplace is going to experience in the wake of all the temporary practice shutdowns. We also discuss the opportunity that telehealth will present to ODs in the future, even after we get back to a “new normal” after the temporary shutdowns. We wrap up the conversation talking about how to opportunistically look at this time as being a good time to “cautiously proceed” with either a cold open or purchase of a practice and also sharing more details on the upcoming virtual career fair that Matt and the rest of the team at Covalent Careers are holding in April.   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, you can also set up a 20-30min Discovery conversation to learn a little bit more about what it means to work with our firm or check out any number of additional free resources like our eBooks and on-demand webinars.   And with that introduction, I hope you enjoy my conversation with Dr. Matt Geller. Covalent Career Fair ————————————————————————————— Please rate and subscribe to 20/20 Money on these platforms Apple Podcasts Spotify Google Play Stitcher  ————————————————————————————— For past episodes of 20/20 Money with full companion show notes, please check out our episode archive here!