INVISION’s 2024 Big Survey attempts to shed some clarity on the unique traits, remarkable attributes, and common themes of the most successful ECPs. Many of our readers are thriving, with 38% saying that financially the last two years have been “some of the best” for their businesses and that they expect their total revenues for 2024 to be Up (45%) or Way Up (8%) compared to 2023. And that prosperity isn’t just financial — 55% of the respondents, all owners or managers, said they are feeling good about all aspects of their life. In the 2024 Big Survey, we wanted to explore that age old question of what determines who thrives and who struggles. The results reveal a mix of the to-be expected — despite the profession of optometry skewing more and more female as a whole, male optometrists were still more likely to own their own practices and/or be more highly compensated — as well as the surprising: 43% of you are already using some sort of AI-powered tool in your businesses, and while that figure doesn’t reveal a huge gender difference (55% male vs. 45% female), the majority of that figure (72%) is under the age of 49. All in all, the majority of ECPs seem to report doing pretty well while recognizing the challenges they face and acknowledging there is room for improvement but it’s hard to escape the conclusion that for most when business is going well, the rest of life tends to go well, too. WHAT’S INSIDE Performance Buying & Selling You, The ECP Management Technology Midwestern eyecare businesses were the top earners in our survey, with 55% of them reporting annual business revenue of over $1 million in 2023, compared to 36% in the Southeast. Nearly 12% of businesses in the Southeast reported revenue of less than $100,000 compared to only about 2% in the Midwest. In 2024, 46% of respondents reported that dry eye was the issue patients/customers most regularly asked about, up from 37% in 2023. 70% of Owner/ODs make salaries of $100K or more, while that figure is almost exactly flipped for Owner/non-ODs, 71% of whom make less than $100K. Managers in the Northeast were the best paid, with about 55% making more than $75,000 a year, while their peers in the Southwest brought up the rear with only about 29% in this category and nearly half making less than $60,000 a year. When it comes to making money, 50% of businesses in the West reported an average retail price for a complete pair of $600 or more, versus 31% in the Southeast, the lowest proportion among the regions. The Southeast was also far and away the most pessimistic about the current year, with 10% expecting total income to be “way down” over 2023, double the runner-up in this category, the Northeast. Owner/ODs are more likely to be male (55% vs. 44%), while more women (57%) identified as Owner/non-ODs than men (43%). Among businesses reporting improvements in productivity, improved processes continued to be cited as the main reason this year (38%), but the share of respondents attributing the improvement to technology upgrades climbed significantly from 15% last year to 24% this year. Owner/non-ODs ranked themselves highest in nearly all categories (versus Owner/OD, Manager/OD, and Manager/non-OD) in areas like Passion, Creativity, Problem-Solving, and, perhaps unsurprisingly, Confidence. 66% of respondents purchased a major piece of equipment for their business in the last two years and 32% of them have already recouped their investment in the item, while 60% are confident they eventually will. Responding businesses’ most recent revenue figures were very consistent from last year’s survey, with $500,000-$999,999 being the most common category (24%) and none of the categories moving up or down by more than 4%. Hopes of change are high for 2024, though: 8% of respondents expect their business’ total revenue to be “way up” this year, double the 4% who were in the most optimistic category last year. ABOUT THE SURVEY: The 2024 Big survey was conducted in October via an online service, SurveyMonkey. With more than 580 responses, it is the biggest analysis of the lives and business habits of American ECPs that INVISION conducts. Thanks to everyone who took the time to fill in the survey. If you would like to participate in more INVISION surveys, sign up for the Brain Squad at invisionmag.com/brainsquad.
