Never sell yourself short........I sense a real "matriarch" in you.Originally Posted by optilady1
Never sell yourself short........I sense a real "matriarch" in you.
Eyes wide open
Serving ice cream with those cupcakes?
Eyes wide open
Certainly not! Wine for the occasion! It was a roaring success. I can hardly believe it!
Congrats!
Ophthalmic Optician, Society to Advance Opticianry
Congrats! I wish you success .
hey congrats on your opening. i am looking for a location in nyc. i am curious to find out how much i will have to spend on initial frame inventory
congrats on your opening. American market looks very different from France. I m very curious about other countries markets (my english is very poor so excuse me for languages errors). 10 rules of OMD looks good. in addiction : Respect , service, and a lot of working hours (few french people work hard for success, in my street I open before everybody, and i close after everybody, other ones use to open at 9.30 am close at 12, open again at 2pm and close at 7pm), press contacts, premium quality products (in france, retail chains don't use to work with very high quality products, also natural horn bespoke models)...
Since one year and half, i try to have "best" brands but also different products, and the best service (for bespoke models, it takes generally 1H30 with champaign or coffee in order to chose the right shape for the frame and the nose, the right colors ....)
If someone want to "exchange" "knowledges" or experiences of respective "works" you can sand me a message.
Very interesting! Great post! Your English is much better than many of the US patients that I deal with.
My question for you: Since you seem to put in much more time, energy, and resources than your competition, do you think you have been rewarded for your efforts?
Ophthalmic Optician, Society to Advance Opticianry
Hard answer... Yes and No
No or not yet: because the beggining (my place wasn't an optician before) was harder than what i though, few patients, very few people knew we had "creator" frames, our stock was very expensive because of premium quality ....
In france only ophtalmologists can allow new glasses if patients want to have their french insurance ok (we can use a less than 3 years old paper from ophtalmologists) and they don't bring me patients ("old" opticians in the place play golf with some of them or are from same family, or give beautifull gifts for chrismas ...)
Yes because near 1 year after opening a lot of patients are very happy and tell their friends we are "fair play" and we have a good stock (900 sunglasses and 1000 frames). The "chiffre d affaire" (turnover) is more important than generally after 1 year... In france, in 1998 there was about 7000 shops an now 11500... so "old" shops have generally a lot of patients who use to come back everytime without looking other opticians. But I think we know the way to do to success....
Yes, because in next august, we will have a report in a luxury magazine, a full page about us, bespoke models we can do and natural buffalo horn... I hope it will bring me a lot of patients.
We started the "touristic" season (july and august), essentially for sunglasses (eyeglasses only with my eyetest because of a lot of tourist don't have french health insurance). We are very happy because of the shop is at the right place in the right street and we speak english, italian and spanish (next year i ll probably learn russian).
And today is like "4th of july" in france ... All other opticians are closed (incredible!!!)... so we sale a lot of sunglasses.... work work work... patient see it and it's good for the image of my shop...
I wrote for a small community newpaper for 6 months and I put out big banners touting some of my special services. Many communities have retirement homes and centers you can speak at, check out advertising in your local neighborhood letters (community, HOA, Elks, American Legion).
I came, I saw, I left
Any updates from our BRAVE independent optician/owners out there? We hope the best for you.
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We're doing great here. Been open 16 months now and we just keep getting busier. How about everyone else?
Thanks for checking in with us! I am currently plotting and planning my one year anniversary celebration for July 18th. Woohoo! A milestone! Yesterday we participated in the Summerfest parade wearing our eyeball T-shirts that I made (low budget for sure). Every day is a HUGE struggle to get people through the door. We hope that we really got the word out there. Next week we are publishing a full page ad in the local newspaper to advertise our Birthday Open House. But each day I AM getting new customers who "heard" about me.
Great pics!
I hope that 2013 was good to you and for a blessed 2014!
We are independent opticians that just opened 3 months ago. So far, its been challenging I must say. Please advise how we can get the word out about our growing business and getting people through the door.
We've been open 23 months. Direct mail was a waste of money for us. Working with local charities has done us the most good - we support the local animal rescues, help at their events, sponsor their T Shirts, that kind of thing. Local magazines have done okay, local radio has done okay, radio sponsorship of our amazing high school football team has been great. They actually made national news this year (http://msn.foxsports.com/college-foo...-season-122113) Local newspaper was a total waste of money. Also, befriending ophthalmologists has helped. This year we're only doing football and charity for advertising.
The purchase cycle for eyewear has always been ties to the exam, and today it is further tied to VCP logistics.
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What was your marketing plan? If you haven't done one, the marketing plan is the single most important aspect of opening an optical business. What your monthly advertising budget? Who is your target market? How is your practice different? I don't if you did this before you opened, but 12 months before opening day is ideal to answer these questions. If you don't, you are just throwing money to the wind.
Our marketing plan is to target local residents and customers in the area. We are located in a busy intersection, across from a large shopping center. I published on the back page, 3rd, and 4th, page of the Pennysaver in 4 different zones (30$ off purchase of 100$), groupon (50$ for $100), Google Offers (30$ off purchase of 100$), postings on Craigslist, and print flyers to put around businesses near our area and on cars. Surprisingly, the businesses we got were from the Craigslist and flyers (which was free marketing for us!).
But I agree, having a marketing plan is very important and we are continuously spreading the word everywhere we go
Way too vague. What is your demographic in the 5 closest zip codes? Average age? Average income? Gender or ethic ratio? Its all available from the census department. You need to know your neighborhood, identify an unmet need, and direct your marketing toward that need.
What is your competition doing? I bet the same thing. What are they not doing? You will need to set yourself apart from them.
This puts you in competition with Sears, Costco, Stanton Optical and other discount chains. Unless your cheaper than Costco, its a battle you will probably simply lose. There cost basis is simply far lower than yours.
Have you secret shopped your competition? Scoured Yelp reviews for issues and weaknesses? I don't mean to sound harsh, but your plan will simply lead to failure unless you find a micro-market based on need, and simply target that market better than your competition does, and advertise to those people based on those needs.
Why would I shop at your practice? Its a tough question, but what sets you apart? Do you have the best selection of frames? The cheapest prices? Specialized service?
This may sound like harsh advice, but Sharpstick nailed it. Go back to your business plan: what did you include there for specific marketing plans?
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