Searching for Optometrist Partner

This forum made possible through the generous support of
SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
N

needpartner

Full Member
10+ Year Member
Joined
Aug 24, 2012
Messages
12
Reaction score
0
Members don't see this ad.
I am in the Bay Area, CA looking to partner with an Optometrist. I have experience consulting & running an optometry with multiple doctors. Preferably a doctor who is young, fresh out of school, and very motivated. Interested?
 
May I work without any type of remuneration if that helps my chances getting the job? I really want to patner with a successful OD like yourself. Maybe after a year or two, we can work out some sort of compensation agreement?

I would rather work for peanuts at your job than for the evil shills of the corporate masters.
 
I am not an OD, just want to partner with one. What do you think?
 
needpartner said:
I am not an OD, just want to partner with one. What do you think?
Click to expand...
Don't know about CA, but many states don't even allow this type of partnership.

Your best bet would be some type of side by side arrangement. Doc practices next door and you own the optical together. He/She would also hire you to be the office manager of the professsional practice.

There are a ton of scenarios where this kind of set up could go horribly bad, so you'd need a REALLY comprehensive contract.

I personally wouldn't go near this kind of deal with a 10 foot pole.
 
Yes, CA doesn't allow this. I am an optician/sales associate. I don't think doing side by side, doc & frames, is very effective. Instead, I would be an office manager on papers (and I truly would be) with shares. Meaning, I am a co-owner and take responsibility of running the office. I want a more retail feel rather than an office. It can be done. I have seen many of these, as well as worked in some. It is relaxed, trendy, and focused more on frames- which is the most profitable aspect anyway. It will attract a younger, corporate crowd with great insurance 😉 I am looking for the right doc; someone social, kind, and also knows how to assist with sales.
 
Yes, CA doesn't allow this. I am an optician/sales associate. I don't think doing side by side, doc & frames, is very effective. Instead, I would be an office manager on papers (and I truly would be) with shares. Meaning, I am a co-owner and take responsibility of running the office. I want a more retail feel rather than an office. It can be done. I have seen many of these, as well as worked in some. It is relaxed, trendy, and focused more on frames- which is the most profitable aspect anyway. It will attract a younger, corporate crowd with great insurance I am looking for the right doc; someone social, kind, and also knows how to assist with sales.
 
If you are not a troll, you are just wasting your time.

Who would partner with you when they could lease a Lenscrafters or Walmart Vision Center or some other busy corporate practice?

What advantage, if any, do you provide over partnering with Lenscrafters, Walmart, or even EyeStop? http://www.eyestop.net/franchises.html

This entire, preposterous thread should be shut down and removed. Just a troll wasting our time.
 
needpartner said:
Yes, CA doesn't allow this. I am an optician/sales associate. I don't think doing side by side, doc & frames, is very effective. Instead, I would be an office manager on papers (and I truly would be) with shares. Meaning, I am a co-owner and take responsibility of running the office. I want a more retail feel rather than an office. It can be done. I have seen many of these, as well as worked in some. It is relaxed, trendy, and focused more on frames- which is the most profitable aspect anyway. It will attract a younger, corporate crowd with great insurance I am looking for the right doc; someone social, kind, and also knows how to assist with sales.
Click to expand...

Yea, I don't think you're going to get too far with that idea.
 
You must not live in the city. There are plenty of partnerships as described in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Austin, Denver, etc. In fact, they are normally more successful than a practice run solely by an O.D. Think about LASIK centers and how much advertisement you see for them, although they are Ophthalmologists. O.D. is a medical expert, not a salesman or marketing director. If there is an O.D. that dreams to expand their practice and eventually have it run without being there, this is the most efficient way to do so. It's only logical to let a salesman do sales, a manager to manage, a marketing associate to advertise/market. I cannot be an O.D. without the degree; chances are that an O.D. is not an expert in other fields.
 
Also, that would mean working for a corporation NOT owning your own practice. You must not know that these types of partnerships exist all over the states. Ha.
 
So basically the orginal poster wants to be an ODs office manager and presumably 50% partner. Personally I see nothing wrong with this as long he/she is willing to put up the $500,000 - $1 million (50% share) it will take to create the super optical store he envisions. Lot's of MBAs with corporate sponsors have already done it.

I'm afraid he suffers from what many people who spend a little time working in an optical shop suffers. They see the cheap $8 frames being sold for $300 and think any fool in an optical shop can make a fortune as long as they have an OD to write out Rx's all day. They simply don't understand the huge overhead.

As has been noted many times on this and other forums, magazines, journals, tv and radio, selling high-prices eyeglasses is well on the way out. There are 100's of places a person can buy cheap glasses and CLs now. So "the big money" is no longer in selling eyewear.

So chief, you are about 20 years too late with your idea. Good luck though. Prove us wrong. Start the next Lenscrafters or Pearle Vision. That said, if you have a million dollars ready to go, I don't think you'd have too hard a time finding a desperate ODs who will to join you. Just build your dream place and you will have plenty of willing ODs to work there. I guarantee you that.

I'm not sure a student doctor forum is the best place for finding a partner though.
 
Last edited:
Tippytoe, I whole heartedly agree. Why take the most/all the risk with a cold start with an inexperienced 'partner'? Now if 'needpartner' is some sort of investor and is ponying up half or more of the necessary working capital and start up money, maybe 'needpartner' is legit. But why would any one buy their own equipment and ask you to purchase crappy frames?

Here is a PM that I received today from 'needpartner'.

You are clearly not a professional and never will be. One word of advice, make sure you know the industry before you argue or comment. I've worked in the field for years and know that WalMart and Lenscrafters pay pennies. There is no chance to grow to advance in any way. There ARE doctors who want their own practice and willing to put up the cost of the equipment for the freedom and authority that comes with the ownership. Enjoy college, little boy.


Again, why would anyone want to partner with you? What are you providing that I cannot provide for myself or have provided for me by Walmart, Lenscrafters, EyeStop, some other optical franchise.
 
I am only looking to open 1 office; maybe 2 in the future. There is a market for people who want to buy cheap glasses and a market for those who want better quality or brand name. If I am indeed 20 years late, I guess Gucci, Oliver Peoples, Chrome Hearts are also wasting resources now? There is a market for all types of buyers. Location, location, location. C'mon people. Obviously, there are those who spend $. I am not looking to be high-end... just provide quality eyewear. Of course, overhead is huge. If there is a need, it will succeed.

P.S. Experience has shown me that doctors who are fresh out of school are the ones usually looking to join an existing practice/partnership because they are flooded with student loans and cannot put up the cash for their own practice.
 
Exactly, it comes down to money. That is all you can provide to a new grad. Without money, you are the weakest link, goodbye.

If you provide some new graduate a turn-key opportunity, maybe you will find some one to 'partner', similar to a commercial lease.

But if you are not paying the build-out, the rent, hiring the staff, and purchasing the equipment, etc... you will not find any grad willing to partner with you. At least, not for another decade. Maybe in the future, when super over saturation destroys the landscape, you will have some success finding a 'partner'.

Until then, good luck without providing the $$$ money yourself.


So, like Jerry Maguire, before you get too ahead of your self, "Show me the money".
 
Yup, you finally got it. That is what I want to do... rent, hiring, purchasing, manage staff + orders.
 
If that is what you want, then go nuts. You get the business operation up and running, THEN come back and look for a partner.

ODs want a turn-key operation. As of now, I understand that you have nothing... no staff, no equipment, no office space, no materials, etc...

Since you have none of the above, please go away. Your proposition is an amateurish idea, nothing more. Until fruition, why would any one bother contacting you?
 
Ha, I don't think you understand that OD is needed for business to be running. It's not logical to take the risk and start operations without a partner.

You don't have to be on this thread if you think it's a waste. Please go be a nuisance somewhere else.
 
I can't imagine YOU would sign a lease, buy thousands of dollars of equipment and inventory, hire staff, sign contracts with vendors WITHOUT a sure partner. If you would, then please do everyone a favor and take a business course.
 
needpartner said:
Ha, I don't think you understand that OD is needed for business to be running. It's not logical to take the risk and start operations without a partner.
Click to expand...

How much will it cost to build this dream practice? What percentage are you putting in?
 
I think that this scenario is unworkable on so many levels but for the sake of the discussion, I would ask the OP what he views the partnership as looking like?

How would the partnership be split? 50/50? something else?
How is compensation of the partners determined?
What happens if one partner wants out?
 
KHE said:
I think that this scenario is unworkable on so many levels but for the sake of the discussion, I would ask the OP what he views the partnership as looking like?

How would the partnership be split? 50/50? something else?
How is compensation of the partners determined?
What happens if one partner wants out?
Click to expand...

Have to agree..

No experienced OD will benefit from this arrangement.

A recent grad would do better somewhere else.
 
My question is, why are you even bothering looking for a partner? If you've got the capital for that kind of endeavor, why not just open shop and hire an optom as an employee? Seems like the logical way to do it. . .partnerships are notoriously messy.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

D
Alternative careers for an optometrist?
Replies
1
Views
2K
ophthalmologeyes
O
S
What do you wish you knew before becoming an optometrist?
Replies
0
Views
873
soul-love
S
B
Indian Optometrist Seeking Advice on Practicing in Canada: Navigating FORAC and Waterloo's Bridging Program
Replies
3
Views
2K
Optogal
Optogal
E
Optometrist Opportunities - Canada
Replies
0
Views
3K
Eejay
E
G
How do most optometrists find jobs?
Replies
2
Views
5K
Kakyuubi
K
Top