Optometry practice finances are often the deciding factor between a thriving clinic and one that merely sustains itself. In this Defocus Media conversation, Dr. Darryl Glover welcomes financial planner and podcast host Adam Cmejla to unpack the seven most common financial mistakes optometrists make, especially from the business owner’s lens. The discussion blends owner-specific guidance with advice any associate can apply, focusing on actionable steps that build resilient, profitable practices without getting lost in hype or complexity.

The throughline is simple: plan early, measure what matters, and protect the income engine that powers your life and team. Along the way, the episode challenges assumptions about “top line” worship, tax-driven purchasing, and trendy “passive income” detours reminding owners that consistent execution beats clever strategies almost every time.

The first mistake is waiting too long to build savings habits. Owners often burn their early thirties and beyond buying or launching a practice, which delays consistent saving just as life becomes more complex. The compounding engine needs one finite input, time. Every year you delay forces larger future contributions to catch up, right when personal and business expenses tend to spike.

Takeaway → Start small, start now, and protect compounding time owner or associate.

Owners wear two hats, clinician and shareholder. Many “mask” profitability by underpaying themselves for clinician work, inflating what looks like a healthy bottom line. Ask: What would I pay an outside optometrist for my exact clinical schedule plus benefits such as malpractice, CE, retirement match, paid leave? Book that as a real expense. The remainder is true owner return for taking business risk.

Takeaway → You don’t want to “own a job.” Pay clinician-you fairly and manage owner returns accordingly.

Every owner exits on your terms or someone else’s. A light-touch valuation every two to three years keeps you grounded in the predictability of future cash flows, which ultimately drives sale value. Life happens, injury, disability, or a career shift, so don’t wait to understand what you own.

Takeaway → Treat valuation as a vital sign and check it periodically to guide decisions long before a sale.

The most powerful wealth-building tool isn’t the “perfect ETF” it’s your income. For owners, that’s the combined value of clinical work and equity cash flow. Protect it. Own-occupation disability insurance tailored to optometry and adequate level term life insurance are the baseline. The goal isn’t to carry coverage forever, it’s to stay insured until your balance sheet makes you effectively self-insured.

Takeaway → Insurance isn’t flashy, but a disability or untimely loss can derail decades of planning.

Owners often keep a decent P&L but a messy balance sheet. Debt, owner draws, and basis adjustments if misbooked confuse lenders and buyers and can shrink net proceeds at exit. In asset sales, you sell assets, not liabilities; your debt is still yours on closing day.

Takeaway → Clean balance sheets build buyer confidence and protect your net, not just your gross.

Buying equipment only to reduce this year’s taxes is a classic trap. If it doesn’t move clinical capacity, quality, or pricing power, you’re trading today’s tax relief for tomorrow’s depreciation recapture and extra leverage right before a sale.

Takeaway → Don’t let the tax tail wag the debt dog. Buy for ROI, not for write-offs.

You can only cut to zero, but revenue is uncapped. Many owners spend hours shaving basis points that net less than one percent of revenue while leaving growth levers untouched. These include schedule density, fee architecture, clinical scope such as dry eye or myopia management, capture rate, and second-pair strategy.

Takeaway → Control costs, yes, but prioritize the levers that move the top line and margin.

“Passive income” trends can distract owners from the most passive asset of all: a diversified brokerage account fed by consistent contributions. Real estate can fit, but lead with your why, your time constraints, and portfolio design, not social media momentum or tax angles.

Takeaway → Boring is beautiful. Simple, rules-based investing compounds while you focus on patient care.

Optometry practice finances improve when owners plan, measure, and protect. Start saving now, unmask true profitability, value your practice periodically, insure your income, clean the balance sheet, deploy debt only for ROI, prioritize revenue levers, and keep investments simple. Next best step: build your sounding board, an advisor, mentor, or mastermind who knows your context and helps filter good ideas into great decisions.

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