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Dr. Steve Vargo | 2/12/2019
ONE THING SUCCESSFUL PRACTICE OWNERS DO DIFFERENTLY

I recently recorded a podcast titled “5 Things Successful Practice Owners Do Differently.” I won’t go into all five here, but for this article I will focus on one of the key differentiators – Execution.

Most practice owners have given thought to business strategies and how these strategies can help their practice grow. Perhaps these owners have observed other practices that have implemented these strategies. They have talked with colleagues, followed social media commentary, met with vendors, and signed up for practice management lectures focused on ideas to grow their practice. They have weighed the risks and considered the rewards. They have spent long hours contemplating if these strategies will have a positive ROI in their practice. The key word here is contemplation.

Studies have found that one of the top challenges for large organizations is executing on strategies, so it may come as no surprise to hear that many optometric practices with far fewer resources struggle in this area as well. Strategies are just ideas bouncing around in your head that add little to no value to your practice until you decide to execute on these ideas.

Each situation is different and I don’t want to overgeneralize this, but a clear trend I’ve observed that differentiates high-performing practices from low-performing practices is the practice owner’s willingness to move past contemplation and take action on their ideas. They execute! These ODs are not necessarily better at business. Most of us come out of optometry school with very little business training. While we sometimes look at successful business owners and ponder, “How did they do it?”, sometimes it’s as simple as this: While their competition was contemplating, they were doing.

I’m not dismissing the value of planning, but at some point you have to take action if you want to turn ideas into results. Is change risky? Sure, it can be. However; a lot of practices make the decision to play it safe by not taking risks, but playing it safe is the riskiest thing you can do if it prevents you from reaching your goals.

What are you going to DO to grow your practice? Let us know how we can help.

Dr. Steve Vargo
Practice Management Consultant
Steve Vargo, OD, MBA is a 1998 graduate of Illinois College of Optometry. After working in a clinical optometric practice for several years, Dr. Vargo pursued his passion for practice management by earning his Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from the University of Phoenix in 2008. A published author and speaker with 15 years of clinical experience, he serves as IDOC’s Optometric Practice Management Consultant and advises members in all areas of practice management and optometric office operations. Steve and his wife Melanie have two sons, Lucas and Ryan. In his spare time, he enjoys running, cycling, sports and music. A native Chicagoan, he is an avid fan of the Cubs, live music and deep-dish pizza.
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