The key aspiration for the qualified optometrist used to be to one day own and run their own practice. To have their name above the door. To be their own boss. This evidently is no longer the case.

Optoms today are increasingly choosing the locum route over the path of practice ownership. What used to be the ultimate ambition for most, having your own practice, your own name above the door, has steadily declined. The research from the AOP highlights this shift clearly: fewer and fewer optometrists see ownership as part of their future, with the majority opting for the security and predictability of employment or locum work instead. The idea of “being your own boss” no longer carries the same appeal it once did.

I applied to study optometry at UMIST because I thought being an optometrist sounded like a nice enough job. Something I could enjoy, find interesting, feel good about doing, and make a decent living from. That’s it. There was no grand master plan beyond that. Let’s face it, a person studies optometry because they want to be an optometrist, not a business person.

A year in Specsavers with 25 eye tests a day was enough to make it abundantly clear to me that this profession is what you make of it. After that first year I was in two minds whether to go down the clinical hospital based route, or down the business route. But in studying how business works I fell in love with the autonomy and being able to design a business that suits me. And being able to make a bigger difference through my work. Designing a business has an impact on all your clients and your community rather than just the ones you see personally. Building a team and providing a place where they can grow makes a bigger difference. I’ve carried the desire to make a difference over to Optical Success Academy too and I think we are positively influencing our profession by leading a charge towards better service and better businesses for the like-minded optometrists who actually have the stomach and the guts for doing this work. That’s what I get a kick out of.

Is the life of a locum or employed OO or DO easier and less stressful? You bet. But I shudder to think of the monotony of knowing your personal growth has plateaued and now you are just coasting. Give me the next challenge. The next peak to climb. That’s the stuff that will get you out of bed in the morning and keep you up late at night. That’s where the magic is.

Risk is a funny thing. My first business mentor, a guy I studied and got to know in Australia, said “Life’s a risky business. No one gets out of it alive.” Owning and running a practice today is a riskier prospect than many other choices. Employment. Locum work. Being a director of Specsavers or similar. All those are safer choices with very little risk there. But as they say, nothing ventured, nothing gained.
Risk isn’t that risky when you educate yourself. Being here in OSA dramatically stacks the odds in your favour.