FRUGALITY IS ONE OF those attributes that is generally considered to be an unalloyed good. Philosophers such as Aristotle and the Stoics considered it a moral virtue, similar to temperance and prudence. In religious traditions it is held to be a sign of humility, self-control, and gratitude — the opposite of greed or wastefulness.
In economics and business management it … well, it gets trickier. As the economist Thomas Sowell noted, when it comes to just about any action that involves the allocation of resources, there are only trade-offs. Spend money in one area and you forgo the opportunity to invest in another. Don’t spend money and you similarly forgo a possible opportunity to grow or expand. Every decision you make or don’t make involves giving up something somewhere. Those decisions on spending, risk, and trade-offs are what separate the best business owners from their peers. And one they wish their customers understood better … So, do you want it good, cheap or fast? Pick two!
Over the course of normal economic cycles, the decisions are a little easier to make. When times are good, you can take bigger risks as the market is more forgiving. When times are slow, it’s often best to rein in your outlays. But the current environment is a little weird. While the economy is essentially sound, consumers are nervous and according to our most recent INVISION Big Survey, most ECPs are reporting their sales have flattened over the last 18 months. Uncertainty reigns.
In such environments, the typical human response is to freeze. Being prudent is rarely a bad strategy. Doing nothing or overly aggressive cost-cutting is often less wise. You can’t shrink your way to success.
In the following pages, we suggest ideas collected from readers, our archives, our favorite business writers and industry experts on how to lower expenses by adopting a mindset of resourcefulness, prioritizing experimentation, and avoiding waste while still laying the foundations to boost productivity and growth in times of uncertainty. And, yes, while also keeping an eye on the trade-offs.
Adopt a Growth Mindset
A fundamental question every owner of a mature business must ask is: Are you aiming to be bigger and better or just cheaper? The central belief of a cost-cutter is that profits rise when costs are lowered, says Roy H. Williams, author of the Wizard Of Ads, adding that this viewpoint is often correct, but in a self-defeating way. “A company that doesn’t invest in growing revenue will shrink, allowing the cost-cutter to say, ‘See how smart I am? If I hadn’t reduced expenses, we’d really be in trouble right now.’” It’s better, says Williams, to increase revenues through investments and advertising, than to cut costs. “A cost-cutter buys grapes and makes raisins. An entrepreneur buys grapes and makes wine.”
Make Profit Non-Negotiable
Treat your business like your paycheck: pay profit first — and then operate on what’s left. Force discipline by assigning income into dedicated buckets — such as “Profit,” “Owner Pay,” “Taxes,” and “Operating Costs” – as soon as the cash comes in.
How to start:
- Open separate accounts and automate transfers on payment.
- Start small: allocate 1–5% to “Profit” and raise it gradually.
- Review targets quarterly and track percentage of revenue going to “Profit” and “Owner Pay.”
The result will be clearer cashflow, fewer impulse spends, guaranteed owner pay, and a business that survives and grows without sacrificing margin.
Dig a Moat
Don’t let your focus on reining in costs tempt you to try to compete with lower prices. You don’t have the resources or scale. Instead, aim to create monopoly-like conditions through unique service, product or distribution and tech advantages. Find situations where you can win by building a geographic advantage or moving into segments such as myopia management or a service like bespoke eyewear or a technology like IPL.
Lean Into Irrationality
Most financial advice assumes humans are rational. But countless studies show we aren’t. We use our credit card balances as if it was monopoly money. We’re more likely to travel across town to save a small sum on a stapler than to save the same amount on a 42-inch plasma-screen TV. (The reason has to do with the way we bucket some purchases as “entertainment” and others as “investments.”) The fix starts with awareness — then employing tactics that exploit our biases. The “debt snowball” is an example: regardless of interest rates, start with the smallest balance, then the next, etc. It doesn’t make mathematical sense. But the psychological boost that comes from quickly eliminating a debt, then another, will provide momentum to keep going.
Target Big Leaks
Small savings feel good but don’t move the needle. Start by listing your monthly costs (rent, payroll, COGS, fees, etc.), pick the top two and focus one 90-day initiative on cutting 5–10% there — small percentage cuts there have more impact than slashing minor line items. As a broad rule of thumb, former Wall Street banker Khe Hy recommends this mental trick: The only three digits of your net worth that matter are the left three. If you have $364,855, the $855 is trivial from a big picture view – so you can spend up to $999 without overthinking. “Where your attention goes, your energy goes,” says Hy.
One Goal Beats Many
Min Zhao, a marketing professor at University of Toronto, found that having just one savings goal — like that new radiofrequency machine — works better than multiple targets. “A common mistake is emphasizing numerous reasons to save,” Zhao says. “That prompts people to ruminate about saving without actually doing it.”
Smooth Operator
There’s nothing quite as sweet as a humming, super-efficient business. Get your operations in order in three months:
First 30 days: Run a product/service cost and margin audit, including measuring revenue per labor hour, job time, conversion rate, AR days, no show rates, etc. Map each repair step, time tasks and document standard operating procedures (SOPs).
60 days: Standardize workflows, reduce complexity, outsource noncore tasks. Move to a modern POS system and/or EHR or CMS system that allows you to track inventory and appointments.
90 days: Map the payback period for tools or equipment that boost quality or efficiency, lower outsourcing spend and cut redoes. Track reasons given for those who walk with their scripts and fix root causes with training or small investments.
Take the Discount
Taking advantage of vendor discounts for fast payment has always been a good policy, especially with interest rates coming down it makes even smarter use of your money. “Some attractive terms for early payment can be well worth the outlay, providing thousands of dollars a year in savings,” says the Edge Retail Academy’s Brown.
Reframe Scarcity
Turn a limited budget into an advantage: restrict options, prioritize essentials, and force creative problem solving. Not only will you save a few dollars, but you might come up with your next brilliant service idea. There’s a growing understanding in business circles that creativity thrives on constraint. Consider a good haiku or sonnet, and the answer is obviously yes: it’s precisely the limits of the form that inspire new ways of working inside them. Your budget can do the same. Challenge your team to design a Mother’s Day window using only materials already in-store. Or reimagine your best-seller if it had to retail under $299. The pressure will force inventive workarounds.
Event Smarter
Trunk shows can set sales records … or break your spirit. After the expense of planning and hosting an in-store event — both financial and expended staff time and resources — you really want to make sure you’re getting a return on that investment. Deborah Tellez-Peña of Eye Physicians of Austin in Austin, TX, agrees. “I host trunk shows with high-end frame brands so that I get a better, more successful end result.”
Liquidate Dead Stock
That dusty pair sitting in your board for a year? It’s costing you 20% more than you think in insurance, cleaning, and lost opportunities. “That $200 item now owes you $240,” explains David Brown, president of Edge Retail Academy. Reclaim that money by tightening turns: cut slow-moving SKUs, focus your assortment on best sellers, set strict reorder triggers, and markdown aging frames on a schedule. Consolidate purchases with a few dependable suppliers to earn volume discounts — but only bulk for fast movers so you don’t tie up cash or space. Review turns and adjust orders monthly.
Automate the Boring Stuff
Repetitive admin tasks eat into profitable time, while automations pay back quickly. Automate appointment confirmations, reminders, invoicing, and inventory reorder alerts using low-cost tools or Zapier-style integrations. This lets staff focus on higher-value tasks. It’s a tactic that’s working for Diana Canto Sims, OD, at Buena Vista Optical in Chicago. “We looked at ways that we could automate tedious, repetitive things staff do like confirming appointments, and calls,” she cites as one of the most successful ways to save money and maximize value.
Exploit Technology
Depending on who’s predicting the future, artificial intelligence will either bring about an age of peace, prosperity, health, and leisure — or it will take all the jobs and destroy humanity. The truth will probably end up somewhere in the middle. Regardless of how you feel about AI, you owe it to your business’ future to get familiar with it. “Give it a try,” says business coach Candace D’Agnolo. “This is a huge opportunity. Even small, simple tasks like writing emails, product descriptions or social posts can save time, boost creativity and help you work smarter, not harder.” Because the practice of optometry isn’t already tech-heavy enough, Dr. Susan Elizondo of Bright Spot Optical in Austin, TX turned to AI to help fill knowledge gaps when it came to the technology needed to run her business. “Learned how to do tech things myself with the help of ChatGPT,” she said.
Forget Willpower
Willpower is depletable. The next time you find yourself full of vim and self-discipline, don’t spend it trying to behave virtuously; spend it, instead, altering your environment to reduce your future dependence on willpower. So, rather than heading off to a trade show resolved to be disciplined with your spending, assign someone to guard the checkbook, ban impulse buys (use the two-day rule for purchases), and commit to a strict open to buy. Away from shows, set up standing orders based on sell-through rates, audit your purchasing annually, do what you can do add friction to the purchase process.
Vendor Training = Free Education
Why pay for product knowledge training? “Have each of your vendors come in once a year and train your staff on their product,” suggests sales trainer Shane Decker. Vendors want their products sold properly and will gladly provide free expertise. This replaces expensive external training.
Haggle
There are cost savings just about everywhere — if you are prepared to demand them. Don’t have time to negotiate? Services such as Bill-cutterz.com will do it for you. It haggles utility, Internet, card processing, cellphone and trash bills for no starter fee. You and the site split the savings 50-50. Don’t want to share the savings? Put such contracts up for competitive bids every year. And then still “Negotiate, negotiate, negotiate. If you do not ask, the answer is always no,” reminds Pablo Mercado of Project Optical in Woodstock, GA.
Sugar Bag It
Bringing in your lunch is one way to show staff you are serious about the need to control costs. Although if you really want to show you’re serious, pack that lunch in a used Domino Sugar bag, “with its multiple layers of industrial strength, indestructible paper,” says Jeff Yeager, who bills himself as the ultimate cheapskate. One his readers reports the bag has “served him faithfully, day in and day out, for six long years.” Want an optical equivalent in the same spirit? “Doing more and more things electronically to help conserve paper is one small way we save pennies. We use laminated sheets and slips a lot more” shared Morgan Dimaggio of Taylor Eye Care, Carmi, IL
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Be Brutal With Inventory
“If you’re only selling 12 pieces a year but consistently stocking 30 from that line, you’ve got hundreds of dollars just sitting on your boards all year,” said Denver-based Optical Nomad, Heather Harrington. “Branding alone is not a good enough reason to keep a collection… If it’s not performing, let it go and bring in something new that earns its space.” On the flip side, lean into what works: Track your top three collections and reorder best-sellers often so you’re not missing easy wins. “Consistency beats variety when it comes to sell-through,” she added.
Time Is Money
At Buena Vista Optical, Sims shared, “We close one hour earlier three days a week.” Dr. Jason Klepfisz of Urban Eye Care in Phoenix, AZ, “cut dead hours at the beginning or end of the day.” And at Pacific EyeCare of Port Orchard in Port Orchard, WA, Jill Corey added that they “stagger employee hours to avoid any overtime”. Dr. Ben Thayil of Lifetime Vision and Eye Care in Miami has made sure he is putting his time to best use. “I analyzed my schedule and optimized my clinical schedule to maximize revenue,” he offered. The common thread? Time is money and if you’re wasting one, you’re wasting the other.
Quit Better
The best poker players, like successful biz owners, know when to fold. In her book Quit former pro player Annie Duke notes that in Texas Hold ’em, the pros play fewer than 25% of their hands before other cards hit the table. Amateurs play more than 50%. Similarly, businesses with the fastest inventory turns, those who are quickest to cut their losses on bad buys, and ill-fated new ventures, do the best. How? Duke says we should all fold more. We spend too much time on too many pursuits that are no longer worthwhile to avoid feeling like we have failed. But in business, that’s a good way to go broke. “Success does not lie in sticking to things,” Duke writes. “It lies in picking the right thing to stick to and quitting the rest.”
Maintain Consistent Cash Flow
Another one right out of the Pacific EyeCare of Port Orchard playbook: “To save money throughout the year, I focused on reducing excess inventory and improving cash flow management,” explained Melissa Rasband. “Instead of keeping large amounts of back stock sitting on the shelves, I now use consignment pieces, so the practice doesn’t tie up thousands of dollars in unused frames. This strategy has significantly lowered our frame costs.” Another benefit is better control of the billing cycle. “Previously, we received large invoices every three months, causing sudden spikes in expenses. Now, we get smaller monthly bills, creating a predictable and steady expense pattern. This helps maintain consistent cash flow, reduces financial stress, and ensures our inventory remains efficient, practical, and profitable.”
Go Jugaad
Read enough management literature and you’ll come across the term “jugaad,” a Hindi word to describe a flexible approach to problem-solving that uses limited resources in an innovative way to expedite business plans. The approach underscores the truth that you don’t have to throw money at problems. Frugal substitutes such as local sourcing, secondhand equipment and shared assets and services, will often do fine, say Navi Radjou, Jaideep Prabhu, and Simone Ahuja in Frugal Innovation. Pend Oreille Vision Care in Sandpoint, ID approached this by analyzing shipping costs. “We made a chart of shipping costs for all our frames manufacturers. It has three columns: phone, web, or rep. We’ve found some companies vary their charges wildly between the three methods. Now, when we need a frame for a patient, we consult the chart … do we get free shipping after we add a certain number of frames for restock?”
Splurge Where It Matters
Smart frugality isn’t about being cheap everywhere — it’s knowing where to save and where to spend. “I’ve worked out discounts with my major suppliers and shopped for the best price on lab supplies,” said Robert Lootens of Physicians Optical Service in Jefferson City, MO, “but I do pay more for lab work. I don’t think lens quality is any place to cut corners.”
Start With Lighting
Larry Johnson is partial to a good display; he spent most of his career working as a manager for a showcase manufacturer. But if you have only a few dollars to spend and want to invest in an area that will make an immediate and powerful impact, he recommends targeting your lighting. “Showcases are like your best white shirt. You can always accessorize them, but the truth is they haven’t changed much in the past 40 years. Lighting, however, can make a huge impact and the technology has changed dramatically in the past 25 years, especially LED lighting.” More light on your merchandise and feature displays, and less everywhere else, will create drama in your store. It will attract customers to browse, and boost sales. And not only will a lighting fix directly improve your sales, but it may also very well pay for itself in energy savings over the next four or five years.
End-Of-Year Review
The new year is the perfect time to review recurring expenses, especially services. “You could have a service contract you don’t need or can be reduced. You might have insured your computer equipment years ago when a PC cost $4,000,” Wharton lecturer and small business expert Robert Chalfin told the Wharton Small Business Resource Center. He recommends checking your property insurance policies annually to ensure they represent today’s prices. Another area you could be hemorrhaging money includes duplicate services says the Edge Retail Academy’s Brown. He discovered one store paying for Microsoft 365, Dropbox, and Google — “all services capable of doing the same job.” Rialeigh Yoder at Sea Eye Care in Norfolk, VA, did this by “Consolidating our payment processing platforms,” while Nikki Griffin of Eyestyles Optical and Boutique in Oakdale, MN, accomplished this by consolidating software “so that we aren’t paying for two different systems, only one.”
Ask For a Rate Cut
If you’ve been putting off calling your credit card company for a lower rate, stop procrastinating. A CreditCards.com survey found 78% of customers who asked got what they wanted. «People have way more negotiating power than they think,» says senior analyst Matt Schulz. Take the same approach to your credit card processor. If they say no, keep calling. “I called more than 10 card processing companies until I found the most competitive one. It has been a huge cost saver for us for the last 10 years,” said Dr. Dierdre Fogle of Eyetopia Eyecare in Littleton, CO.
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More money-saving ideas from INVISION’s Big Survey
- Discontinuing four vision plans over 10 years was the best way to raise net income, make our staff happy and spend more time with patients who are loyal.
- Using microfiber cases instead of hard cases has saved me more than $15k per year.
- Instead of hiring another person we are using a fantastic Virtual Assistant for almost everything not patient-facing.
- Using more independent optical suppliers, lenses and frames. They are trying harder, providing quality product at lower prices that the consumer loves.
- Changed the business cards to blank ones with lines to fill out optician names. Throwing out full boxes of cards after employees leave is an exercise in wasting money.
- Frame budget is 8% of sales, instead of 10%.
- Charging for records.
- Every vendor or lab is willing to make concessions on shipping.
- Paying more attention to available rebates/spiffs/discounts from all of our vendors. We have saved thousands just by negotiating better or asking if we qualify for rebates.
Require Optos.
- Signing up for a collaborative shipping account that offers competitive rates from all of the major couriers.
- Being very honest with my team about what mistakes cost, especially in the lab errors.
- During busy times we extend staff lunch breaks from 30 minutes to 45, which helps with energy and flow without adding overtime. Small tweaks like that can go a long way toward balancing labor costs and having a great morale.
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