

20/20 MONEY: The Business of Optometry
Adam Cmejla
20/20 Money is the top podcast for optometrists, private practice owners, and ODs who want to master optometry practice management, financial planning, and long-term business strategy. Hosted by Adam Cmejla, CFP®, the show delivers practical guidance on everything that affects the profitability, growth, and value of your optometry practice.
Episodes cover:
• Optometry practice management & operations
• Financial planning for optometrists
• Practice growth strategies & profitability tips
• Selling your practice & OD exit planning
• Private equity deals in optometry
• Hiring, leadership, and team development
• Tax planning, cash flow, and retirement readiness
• Student loan strategies for ODs
• Cold starts, acquisitions, and multi-location scaling
With expert interviews, case studies, and step-by-step breakdowns, you'll learn how to make smarter business decisions, build personal wealth, and create a thriving career inside and outside the exam room.
If you're an OD serious about elevating your practice and improving your financial future, 20/20 Money is your competitive advantage.
For more information on the show and on Adam, please visit https://www.integratedpwm.com/
Episodes cover:
• Optometry practice management & operations
• Financial planning for optometrists
• Practice growth strategies & profitability tips
• Selling your practice & OD exit planning
• Private equity deals in optometry
• Hiring, leadership, and team development
• Tax planning, cash flow, and retirement readiness
• Student loan strategies for ODs
• Cold starts, acquisitions, and multi-location scaling
With expert interviews, case studies, and step-by-step breakdowns, you'll learn how to make smarter business decisions, build personal wealth, and create a thriving career inside and outside the exam room.
If you're an OD serious about elevating your practice and improving your financial future, 20/20 Money is your competitive advantage.
For more information on the show and on Adam, please visit https://www.integratedpwm.com/
Episodes
Mentioned books

Nov 4, 2024 • 58min
Rethinking your mindset around your team & delegation with Dr. Mike Neal, OD
Welcome to this episode of 20/20 Money! My guest on today's show is Mike Neal, OD. Mike joins me on the show to talk about something that we've indirectly talked about on various episodes in the past: delegation. Specifically, we talk about the mindset shift that happened for Mike when he started looking at his team as an investment in the business and the opportunity cost of him hanging onto so many trivial and administrative tasks in the practice…and what happened to him and his business when he let go of those items and focused his time on the best and highest impact activities in the 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, be sure to subscribe to our monthly "planning life on purpose" newsletter that's filled with tips and ideas to help you plan your best life, on purpose. You can also set up a 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 ultimately help them live their best life on purpose. Lastly, if you're interested in learning more about the 20/20 Money Membership, a platform that we created to help ODs become "brilliant at the financial basics," please check out the link in the show notes of this episode to learn more. And with that introduction, I hope you enjoy my conversation with Dr. Mike Neal, OD. Resources: 20/20 Money Membership Information Atomic Habits Email us your best delegation task Bonus structures that work for non-OD team members w/ Dr. Michael Neal, OD

Oct 28, 2024 • 60min
Five ways optometry practice owners could be myopic in their ownership journey with Erich Mattei from Akrinos
Welcome to this episode of 20/20 Money! My guest on today's show is Erich Mattei, founder of Akrinos. In this conversation, Erich and I discuss five specific concepts and ways that optometrists can make prudent business decisions in their practice and reduce the chances of making a strategic wrong decision. 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 monthly "planning life on purpose" newsletter that's filled with tips and ideas to help you plan your best life, on purpose. You can also set up a 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 ultimately help them live their best life on purpose. Lastly, if you're interested in learning more about the 20/20 Money Membership, a platform that we created to help ODs become "brilliant at the financial basics," please check out the link in the show notes of this episode to learn more. And with that introduction, I hope you enjoy my conversation with Erich Mattei. Resources: 20/20 Money Membership Information Akrinos ————————————————————————————— Please rate and subscribe to 20/20 Money on these platforms Apple Podcasts Spotify Google Podcasts Stitcher ————————————————————————————— For past episodes of 20/20 Money with full companion show notes, please check out our episode archive here!

Oct 21, 2024 • 1h 5min
"Things that make you go 'What?!?" as a practice consultant w/ Jennifer Stewart
Welcome to this episode of 20/20 Money! My guest on today's show is Dr. Jennifer Stewart, founder of the private practice Look New Canaan and OD Perspectives. In this episode, we talk about two major themes that she's observed over the years as she has consulted with both friends and colleagues. Whether it be an OD launching a cold start or trying to make decisions inside of an established practice, there are two reoccurring themes that she's observed ODs doing that is causing them to make mistakes with some unfortunate financial and quality-of-life implications. 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 monthly "planning life on purpose" newsletter that's filled with tips and ideas to help you plan your best life, on purpose. You can also set up a 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 ultimately help them live their best life on purpose. Lastly, if you're interested in learning more about the 20/20 Money Membership, a platform that we created to help ODs become "brilliant at the financial basics," please check out the link in the show notes of this episode to learn more. And with that introduction, I hope you enjoy my conversation with Dr. Jennifer Stewart. Resources: 20/20 Money Membership Information Episode on Accountability Partners The Hedgehog Concept Extreme Ownership Who Not How The Impact Filter™

Oct 14, 2024 • 59min
Creating a StoryBrand framework for an optometry practice with Daniel Palmer
Welcome to this episode of 20/20 Money! My guest on today's show is Daniel Palmer, founder of Morether Creative, a Fractional CMO for optometrists nationwide. In this conversation, we talk through and explain the Story Brand process and the SB7 framework. We talk about the common marketing mistakes that biz owners (not just ODs) make when it comes to marketing their brand, how to think of the SB7 framework through the patient experience, and some of the Next Best Steps that ODs can take based on our conversation. Daniel also shares a really impactful framework called the one-line story brand and how ODs can use this simple, 3-part framework to explain each part of the patient's journey through the practice which ultimately demonstrates the value of the practice to the patient. 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 monthly "planning life on purpose" newsletter that's filled with tips and ideas to help you plan your best life, on purpose. You can also set up a 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 ultimately help them live their best life on purpose. Lastly, if you're interested in learning more about the 20/20 Money Membership, a platform that we created to help ODs become "brilliant at the financial basics," please check out the link in the show notes of this episode to learn more. And with that introduction, I hope you enjoy my conversation with Daniel Palmer. Resources: 20/20 Money Membership Information My StoryBrand Building a Story Brand (book) ————————————————————————————— Please rate and subscribe to 20/20 Money on these platforms Apple Podcasts Spotify Google Podcasts Stitcher ————————————————————————————— For past episodes of 20/20 Money with full companion show notes, please check out our episode archive here!

Oct 7, 2024 • 1h 9min
How leadership impacts practice success (and ways to improve your leadership skills) with Bethany Fishbein
Welcome to this episode of 20/20 Money! My guest on today's show is Dr. Bethany Fishbein, OD, Consultant & Executive Coach with Leaders of Vision. Bethany and I talk about a topic that an OD might not think about directly correlating to the financials of a practice: leadership skills. However, I believe that we quickly illustrate in our conversation how the things that negatively impact a practice's profitability—staff turnover, patients not returning, and an overworked/overwhelmed owner just to name a few—are usually the symptoms of an underlying "disease:" an owner that has neglected to focus on improving their leadership skills and emotional intelligence. Throughout this conversation, Bethany shares practical ways for owners to take action and, at the end, shares a very easy Next Best Step that an owner/leader can take to make progress. 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 monthly "planning life on purpose" newsletter that's filled with tips and ideas to help you plan your best life, on purpose. You can also set up a 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 ultimately help them live their best life on purpose. Lastly, if you're interested in learning more about the 20/20 Money Membership, a platform that we created to help ODs become "brilliant at the financial basics," please check out the link in the show notes of this episode to learn more. And with that introduction, I hope you enjoy my conversation with Dr. Bethany Fishbein, OD. Resources: 20/20 Money Membership Information https://www.leadersofvision.com/leadershipEQ Parenting with Love and Logic Podcast ————————————————————————————— Please rate and subscribe to 20/20 Money on these platforms Apple Podcasts Spotify Google Podcasts Stitcher ————————————————————————————— For past episodes of 20/20 Money with full companion show notes, please check out our episode archive here!

Sep 30, 2024 • 1h 2min
Bonus structures that work for non-OD team members w/ Dr. Michael Neal, OD
Welcome to this episode of 20/20 Money! My guest on today's show is Dr. Michael Neal, OD. Michael joins me back on the show to discuss bonus structures that work for non-producing members of your team, and how they can be put together in a way that is advantageous to both the team member and the overall growth of the 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, be sure to subscribe to our monthly "planning life on purpose" newsletter that's filled with tips and ideas to help you plan your best life, on purpose. You can also set up a 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 ultimately 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. Michael Neal, OD. Resources: 20/20 Money Community Information Flights And Insights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHEtC0iyNMg How utilizing a streamlined hiring service can help save time and money by ensuring the right people are on the bus with Dr. Mike Neal, OD How a hyper-effective, right-fit team can increase your profitability: a follow up convo with Dr. Mike Neal, OD ————————————————————————————— Please rate and subscribe to 20/20 Money on these platforms Apple Podcasts Spotify Google Podcasts Stitcher ————————————————————————————— For past episodes of 20/20 Money with full companion show notes, please check out our episode archive here!

Sep 23, 2024 • 40min
What an interest rate cut means for optometry practices (and strategies for practices in changing economic times)
In this episode, we break down why the Federal Reserve decided to cut interest rates by 0.5% (50 basis points) and what it signals about the economy. More importantly, we dive into actionable steps that optometry practice owners can take to benefit from these lower rates while preparing for potential economic shifts. Resources: 20/20 Money Community Information CS Eye Optometric Billing Consultants ————————————————————————————— Please rate and subscribe to 20/20 Money on these platforms Apple Podcasts Spotify Google Podcasts Stitcher ————————————————————————————— For past episodes of 20/20 Money with full companion show notes, please check out our episode archive here!

Sep 16, 2024 • 56min
20/20 REWIND: A pay structure that works for optometry partnerships with Kurt Steele, OD
Welcome to this episode of 20/20 Money! My guest on today's show is Dr. Kurt Steele, OD. Kurt joins me back on the show to talk in further detail how he and his partners have structured their compensation structure in a way that works for everyone in the practice while also ensuring that there is parity in comp based on the amount of revenue that each of them collect for the work they do clinically in the practice. He shares the details and formula he uses and we run a couple of hypothetical examples to show how the numbers work out for each partner. He also shares how he uses operational margins as an incentive bonus structure for his non-OD staff and which line items of the P/L are used to determine whether they've accomplished their margin goals and when those bonuses are paid out. 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 monthly "planning life on purpose" newsletter that's filled with tips and ideas to help you plan your best life, on purpose. You can also set up a 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 ultimately 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 Kurt Steele, OD. Resources: 20/20 Money Community Information https://www.legitvisionpllc.com/ ————————————————————————————— Please rate and subscribe to 20/20 Money on these platforms Apple Podcasts Spotify Google Podcasts Stitcher ————————————————————————————— For past episodes of 20/20 Money with full companion show notes, please check out our episode archive here!

Sep 9, 2024 • 60min
Why focusing on "profit" in your optometry practice might not be the most effective owner metric to measure (and which ones you SHOULD focus on) with Nathan Hayes of Books & Benchmarks
Welcome to this episode of 20/20 Money! My guest on today's show is Nathan Hayes from Books & Benchmarks. Nathan joins me back on the show to talk all things business financials and how owners should be thinking about actual profit in a business—and where to look in your business financials to learn how much money the practice has actually provided to you on the personal side. Nathan & I have a great back-and-forth discussion, trading stories and experiences we've both had in our respective roles advising practice owners—and how that information can help you as a practice owner feel clearer and confident about the financial health and performance of your business. I also wrote a complementary article for Review of Optometric Business, which is linked here in the show notes, that can help practice owners focus on the right financial metrics in their 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, be sure to subscribe to our monthly "planning life on purpose" newsletter that's filled with tips and ideas to help you plan your best life, on purpose. You can also set up a 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 ultimately help them live their best life on purpose. Lastly, if you're interested in learning more about the 20/20 Money Membership, a platform that we created to help ODs become "brilliant at the financial basics," please check out the link in the show notes of this episode to learn more. And with that introduction, I hope you enjoy my conversation with Nathan Hayes. Resources: 20/20 Money Membership Information Review of Optometric Business – 3 Metrics that Reveal the True Financial Health of Your Practice ———————————————————————————— Please rate and subscribe to 20/20 Money on these platforms Apple Podcasts Spotify For past episodes of 20/20 Money with full companion show notes, please check out our episode archive here!

Sep 2, 2024 • 57min
How to lead Millennials, the importance of asking good questions, and building relationships with your team: a conversation with Chris Tuff
Welcome to this episode of 20/20 Money! My guest on today's show is Chris Tuff. Chris is the author of the book The Millennial Whisperer and in this conversation we talk about all things related to leading a team. As one might expect, a lot of the conversation that we had is applicable to leading all team members—not just Millennials. We talk about the importance of understanding your employees' purpose and what they want out of their career…not just their purpose in your organization. Chris shares a simple way to build better connections with your team and the impact that has on your organization. Overall this was a very enjoyable conversation, highlighting the responsibility that we as leaders have to the team we employ, while also sharing practical solutions to implement these concepts. 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 monthly "planning life on purpose" newsletter that's filled with tips and ideas to help you plan your best life, on purpose. You can also set up a 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 ultimately help them live their best life on purpose. Lastly, if you're interested in learning more about the 20/20 Money Membership, a platform that we created to help ODs become "brilliant at the financial basics," please check out the link in the show notes of this episode to learn more. And with that introduction, I hope you enjoy my conversation with Chris Tuff. Resources: 20/20 Money Membership Information Culture Index Save Your Asks by Chris Tuff ———————————————————————————— Please rate and subscribe to 20/20 Money on these platforms Apple Podcasts Spotify For past episodes of 20/20 Money with full companion show notes, please check out our episode archive here!


