EyeCare Plus in 2024: The Business of Being Independent

It takes emotional courage and strength to own your own space in life and succeed, to navigate the tough times and bounce back, and to put aside feelings of weariness or negativity in favour of always presenting your “sparkle” to staff and customers.

But as keynote speaker Julie Cross told an eager Eyecare Plus audience in the conference opening session, when we lift our own energy, “we lift others around us as well. The energy we bring into a room is the energy we leave behind”. In practice, your energy impacts the energy levels of your staff and patients.

Stepping out in a sequined jacket, and with the ocean sparkling through the windows of the Manly Pacific Hotel function rooms behind her, it was hard not to be caught up in Ms Cross’s enthusiasm and passion for life. She urged the room to “go on a journey of continued professional development” and to make opportunities for yourself.

“While life on the other side always looks greener, if the grass isn’t green enough on your side you’ve got to water the grass. Don’t wait for the right job to start making a difference, make a difference to the job you already have.”

She said when you try to fit in with the crowd, you lose your uniqueness, and as an independent optometry practice, uniqueness is what it’s all about.

Kerry van Beuge, the creative director of Through the Looking Glass Retail Window Stylists, provided some practical tips for those looking to create unique and engaging window displays.

“Window dressing is the ultimate form of storytelling, it conveys who you are and what you do,” she said. Practices should create a schedule of displays for the year ahead, planned around significant celebrations and seasons, and to support community events. It’s important to change out your displays every four to six weeks and to keep things simple. Decide on a brand, and make sure that’s the story you tell. Take inspiration from the brand’s merchandising; use simple streamlined furniture that won’t distract to lift elements of your display, and don’t forget to use the lower portion of your window, especially in shopping centres where the lighting is good.

You can also use internal spaces to showcase your brands, services, and products – but if you’re creating a display on a countertop, make sure people can see through it to the frames beyond.

Kerry Carucci – a Master of Advanced Professional Styling – delved into the art of personal styling and creating “an elevated experience” by offering patients styling tips. To do this, you need to understand the patient’s lifestyle, personal preferences, and personal value proposition. The easiest way to do this is to be curious: engage with them and ask questions. What colours do they like to wear? What brands do they like? What is the style of their workplace” What’s their ‘go to’ outfit, and what accessories do they like? Match this with an assessment of their hair colour, eye colour, and skin tone to determine the frame that will highlight their best features and fill them with confidence. Antoinette Zinoviev from EssilorLuxottica complemented this presentation with one on Transitions eyewear, advising the audience that “more and more customers are interested in personal expression through style”. She said Transitions, which now offers eight lens colours that are true to tone through darkening and fading back to clear, have particularly resonated with younger customers in the Australia/New Zealand region.

Ms Zinoviev spoke about three ways to marry frame and lens colour:

• Tone on tone: choose a frame and lens with the same colour hue, yet varying in tone,
• Colour blending: choose a frame and lens combination from one side of the colour wheel, and
• Colour contrast: Choose a frame and lens from opposite sides of the colour wheel.

Buying and Selling

For those interesting in buying or selling their practice, Paul McKinley from Optometry Finance Australia had some wise words to share about preparation. As Mr McKinley pointed out, optometrists are good “on the tools” but if you’re looking to buy, lenders also want to know you can run a business, that you have a business plan, that you have a good credit history and will be able to manage your debt.

If you’re selling, you’ll need to have your past three years of financials up to date. Also consider your practice history, the culture, the remaining commercial lease length, and the anticipated handover period – a fast handover leads to erosion of your patient base and goodwill so be prepared to stick around. Mr McKinley spoke about the complex components of setting the sale price and the ‘X-factors’ for a successful sale: having a large well-maintained database; strong financial performance; finances up to date (tax, loans etc.); a well-established reputation; longer vendor handover period, extended commercial lease, existing referral relationships, competitive advantage in niche market(s), positive culture and team stability, and a modern fit out and features. A proactive accountant and financial advisor is essential, and Mr McKinley said whether or not you’re planning to engage his company, he is happy to have a helpful conversation.

Difficult Conversations

No one enjoys managing difficult employee situations or having the difficult conversations, but as Kayley Riddle from People Engine told the audience, it’s rare that employees intend to perform poorly or do the wrong thing by your practice. It’s more likely that they are unaware of expectations, they have simply forgotten, or there are barriers (tools /equipment/time/skills, etc.) in the way.

Employees need to know their employer’s expectations; they need a current job description, and they need regular feedback and performance development discussions. Difficult conversations need to be had in a timely way and rather than telling off, it’s important to provide coaching. Explain what you saw/heard/read in concrete terms. Reassure that “we’re all in this together”, use open questions, listen, support; allow the person to come up with a solution where possible as they’ll be more likely to get onboard.

Nick Hansen from Eye Care Plus complemented Ms Riddle’s presentation, sharing details on a performance review process initiated by Eyecare Plus Orange. He said proactive staff reviews should be regular (every three to six months), expected, and non-judgemental. A “two-way process” will engage, motivate, and help staff improve performance. Reviews can provide useful feedback for setting realistic practice goals and uncover any office tensions as well as opportunities for staff development and growth that you may not be aware of.

The Story of Budgy Smugglers

Out of the box came a presentation by Adam Linforth, the owner and “chief smuggler” of the iconic Australian swimwear label, Budgy Smuggler.

Mr Linforth, who trained as an accountant, didn’t come up with the concept for Budgy Smuggler – he helped his friends get the business off the ground and was later offered the opportunity to buy it.

Proving that success doesn’t happen overnight, Mr Linforth maintained a paid job for eight years while building the business from his bedroom in a Manly apartment. Today he employs over 40 people and has a global market. Mr Linforth spoke about the creativity he applied to overcome hurdles as well as some “dumb luck”. His key messages were to build a business by thinking outside the square and looking after your customers: “do something remarkable that people will remark about and add the personal touch to show you care”.

A lesson he learnt from his grandfather was that the most important customers are the ones you already have. Do something to surprise and delight them seven days / 30 days after purchase, and at Christmas; and do something that shows you care for the community.

Myopia and More

Eyecare Plus optometrist Soojin Nam presented an overview from the recent International Myopia Congress (IMC), which attracted 1,000 delegates, 44 of whom were from Australia. She also ran through a case study she had presented at the IMC, on her use of HOYA MiyoSmart lenses to treat a patient with congenital stationary night blindness.

Ms Nam reported that eight-year data from the Hong Kong Polytechnic showed DIMS (the technology used for MiyoSmart lenses) continued to provide myopia control after eight years. “So don’t stop early, even after eight years they will continue to get benefits.” Ms Nam also said DIMS’ efficacy remained the same in the second year as in first year.

She said MiyoSmart should be part of every good clinician’s comprehensive tool kit for myopia management.

Simon Hanna, National Professional Services Manager with Bausch and Lomb, spoke about the patient profiles most suited for Ultra One Day multifocal contact lenses, highlighting the three-zone progressive design and how it has been received by patients.

Melissa Butcher and Shannon Morrow updated the audience on CooperVision’s plastic neutrality initiative, which aims to offset the plastic used in the production and packaging of its full range of contact lenses. By partnering with the organisation Plastic Bank, which collects plastics from the oceans and coast, CooperVision has now prevented over 390 million plastic bottles from entering the world’s oceans. Eyecare Plus participation has led to the retrieval of 142,678 bottles.

Also, in partnership with Plastic Bank, CooperVision recently introduced a vision care program – providing free vision screening, eye examinations, and spectacles – to Plastic Bank collection members in Bali. “It’s about giving them a hand up rather than a handout,” Ms Morrow said.

Celebrating Success

The conference concluded with a 70s themed awards gala dinner during which high achievers were recognised. On Sunday, the Performance Plus Member Workshop was designed to help practice owners identify incremental improvements to the profitability of their practices and to seek practical proven advice about implementation strategies.

The next Eyecare Plus National Conference will take place in 2026.