The Optical Business and what happened

[Bill West]

A long, long time ago in a time we old folks loved, Optometrist had a private practice and dispensed most of the eyewear. MD's did surgery and refractions and few had dispensarys. Opticians were mostly independent and a lot of them were Guild members. Then the Md's decided if they were generating all those rx's they should sell eyeglasses. Of course they would have "good opticians" to maintain the level of quality eyewear that their refractions required. A few of the better and bigger OD's practices also hired good opticians. The pay level was never what it should have and the Optician could be easily replaced, so why pay more.
Then came the chains. Now the new OD's no longer had to work with and older and stingy OD then pay too much for the business. They could have new equipment and make big bucks so, why not. They sold out.
The Opticians sudenly found a new source of better income. We all work to make money so, they sold out.
They both did not like the longer hours and working Sat and Sunday but when you sell out, you are no longer your own.
Through all of this a few OD's and Opticians remained or became INDEPENDENT. Most of them made a way better than average wage and did their own thing.
So here we are a mumble, grumble bunch of people who have sold out.
There are a few exceptions.

[drk]

Can't you write an ending for your novella?

[LandLord]

Then, the MD decided to give up on refraction, the OD decided to give up on dispensing, and the three little O's took care of their patients and everyone lived happily ever after. The end.

[optical24/7]

Then, the MD decided to give up on refraction, the OD decided to give up on dispensing, and the three little O's took care of their patients and everyone lived happily ever after. The end.

Yes indeed.......In the Mother Goose version.





Unfortunately, the real ending will be by the Borthers Grimm...

[pezfaerie]

That was such a beautiful story....

[Borysko]

Virtually every business model changes over time. Look at my own line of work, developing web applications for the optical industry.
Ten years ago, no one was using web-based apps (SaS), and the coders in demand were the gurus of WFC and (take your pick) Java, C++, etc. The development cycle was years-long, and a good grasp of theory was essential.
Fast-forward to now. We develop so fast, the testing actually holds up the coding, and anything that can be deployed to the web is deployed to the web, efficiency be damned. PHP and a few other odds and ends are stitched together, usually based on someone else's code, and we get an app up and running without ever pausing once to consider theory, performance, or elegant code.
Is that horrible? Only if you're a coder who refuses to change with the times.
In optical, it's true we have McTicians now, and chain stores, etc., but there's still opportunity--not just for money, but opportunity to provide superior care. The fact is, you don't need a lot of training to tighten a screw or decide if a frame looks good on someone. So that means we can provide levels of care, have a salesperson sell and a real optician take care of the rest. I've certainly seen that work in quite a few opticals.
That's just one solution, though. There's plenty. Don't waste time decrying changes that we'll never reverse. Decide how to deliver superior care, profitably, in the environment we're living in. Or code in assembly...

[gemstone]

A long, long time ago in a time we old folks loved, Optometrist had a private practice and dispensed most of the eyewear. MD's did surgery and refractions and few had dispensarys. Opticians were mostly independent and a lot of them were Guild members. Then the Md's decided if they were generating all those rx's they should sell eyeglasses. Of course they would have "good opticians" to maintain the level of quality eyewear that their refractions required. A few of the better and bigger OD's practices also hired good opticians. The pay level was never what it should have and the Optician could be easily replaced, so why pay more.
Then came the chains. Now the new OD's no longer had to work with and older and stingy OD then pay too much for the business. They could have new equipment and make big bucks so, why not. They sold out.
The Opticians sudenly found a new source of better income. We all work to make money so, they sold out.
They both did not like the longer hours and working Sat and Sunday but when you sell out, you are no longer your own.
Through all of this a few OD's and Opticians remained or became INDEPENDENT. Most of them made a way better than average wage and did their own thing.
So here we are a mumble, grumble bunch of people who have sold out.
There are a few exceptions.

Too late. It is now more of a what do we have left and what can we do with it. You forgot to mentoin that the greatest % of labs now are the big E. Those that are left may survive only as long as the present owners choose to work. Many owners are tired of trying to compete (with big E) and ready to sell out. If they do not sell out (to the big E) for retirement their children likely will. Too late folks. The big E has achieved control now. Hows those Vluxes working for ya now?

[FVCCHRIS]

Virtually every business model changes over time. Look at my own line of work, developing web applications for the optical industry.
Ten years ago, no one was using web-based apps (SaS), and the coders in demand were the gurus of WFC and (take your pick) Java, C++, etc. The development cycle was years-long, and a good grasp of theory was essential.
Fast-forward to now. We develop so fast, the testing actually holds up the coding, and anything that can be deployed to the web is deployed to the web, efficiency be damned. PHP and a few other odds and ends are stitched together, usually based on someone else's code, and we get an app up and running without ever pausing once to consider theory, performance, or elegant code.
Is that horrible? Only if you're a coder who refuses to change with the times.
In optical, it's true we have McTicians now, and chain stores, etc., but there's still opportunity--not just for money, but opportunity to provide superior care. The fact is, you don't need a lot of training to tighten a screw or decide if a frame looks good on someone. So that means we can provide levels of care, have a salesperson sell and a real optician take care of the rest. I've certainly seen that work in quite a few opticals.
That's just one solution, though. There's plenty. Don't waste time decrying changes that we'll never reverse. Decide how to deliver superior care, profitably, in the environment we're living in. Or code in assembly...

I used to work with codes but now only if I just have the sniffles.:D

[Globaloptique]

Well...they call it "business evolution"... Look at frames industry: 20 years ago there were 10 frames distributors, frames were made in Europe, demand was robust, there were no big W supercenters, etc. Now, there are at least 100 frame companies, most people have no clue what the heck they are doing and Ws go directly to manufacturers....EVolution