How to become a frame rep

**OPTIDONN** · 05-26-2005, 10:11 PM

I have a friend that is very interested in being a frame rep. How should he go about doing it? I could ask one of our reps but none are going to be in for a while. Is it worth him looking into?

**DaveD** · 05-27-2005, 05:55 AM

Originally Posted by OPTIDONN

I have a friend that is very interested in being a frame rep. How should he go about doing it? I could ask one of our reps but none are going to be in for a while. Is it worth him looking into?

As a former frame rep. (8 years, left at the top of my game) I can tell you unless your friend happens to fall into a line (like my old line) that has been worked very well for a number of years, it is not an easy way to make a living.
Most reps are totally self employed and with the price of gas and health insurance alone a rep would have to fall into a $600,000 to $700,000 territory to make a decent living. It's just not as easy as it was 8 years ago. You virtually have the same amount of board space with more and more companies fighting for that same space each year. How many O.D.'s open new practices out of school? In my 8 years I probably saw about 8-9 new practices open from scratch. I have moved over to the lab side of things and I am very happy with that move. Just have your friend talk to some reps before making the move. I love the optical business in general and feel very fortunate to work with all of the great people in this industry.

**NVOJay** · 06-16-2005, 10:16 PM

I believe 20/20 usually has plenty of co.'s looking for reps. I use it for that purpose. Also a cold call to a reputable company can never hurt, it show's initiative and interest. I am always willing to listen to some one interested in becoming a rep for my company.