On this episode of 20/20 Money! My guests on today's show are Drs. Eric Baas and Bob Steinmetz, co-founders of iCare Advisors. iCare Advisors consults with ODs all around the country and their specific area of expertise is helping ODs navigate the decision making matrix and analysis behind opening a cold start practice.

This wide ranging conversation was so deep and so long that I actually wanted to break it up into two episodes. In part 1, Eric and Bob talk about how important it is to "start with why" when considering a cold start and the importance of having a mission and vision statement guide the process of opening your practice. We talk about the importance of having goals, taking the time to grow into your practice, and the importance of involving your spouse in the decision making process as well. We spend the rest of the time talking about one of the most important factors that plays into any cold start: location and occupancy cost.

In part two (next week), we continue the discussion by discussing the runway to profitability and how they think about the return on investment in equipment in a cold start, how you grow into the next "chapter" of the practice's life cycle, why a 2nd location might be better than expansion of your existing location, staffing and scheduling best practices, their outlook on cold starts and private equity's influence on the success of cold starts, and we wrap it up with their insightful answers to the one question I ask every first-time guest of 20/20 Money.

As a reminder, you can get all the information discussed in today's conversation by visiting our website at integratedpwm.com and clicking on the Learning Center. While there, you can also set up a 20-30min Triage conversation to learn a little bit more about how we help ODs around the country reduce their tax bill, manage cash flow, and make proactive money decisions or check out any number of additional free resources like our eBooks and on-demand webinars.

And with that introduction, I hope you enjoy my conversation with Eric Baas and Bob Steinmetz.

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