UP TO ONE in three eyecare professionals considered quitting the business during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the INVISION 2021 Big Survey.
Asked “Did the pandemic every prompt you to think you should get out of the eyecare business or make another “big change” to your professional life?” 17 percent of ECPs said “Yes” and 16 percent said “Yes, but not seriously.”
As one ECP said, “I love what I do, but owning the business became more stressful,” in words that echo the business pressure voiced by many Big Survey respondents, speaking of a year of lockdowns and general retail hesitancy.
Other retailers were blunter. “We’re thinking creatively about how to redesign the business so that we don’t burn out into a flaming puddle of despair,” one said.
Some respondents spoke of “diversification.”
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Said one: “I’m already involved in commercial and residential real estate, as well as farming,” said another: “I used the extra feel time in the evenings working on an art business – at some point I hope to make that my livelihood.”
Rest assured, it is not the end of eyecare as we know it. Nearly 70 percent of Big Survey respondents said they had had no thoughts of quitting, even though some would no doubt agree with the INVISION reader who wrote, “This is all I’ve ever wanted to do … [even if] retirement sounds better every day.”
The 2021 Big Survey was launched in September, and we are still gathering anonymous responses from owners of independent vision businesses across the United States and Canada. There is still time to tell us how your business was affected. If are the owner of a vision business and haven’t taken the survey yet (and have 30 minutes to spare for this worth industry project), please do so HERE.
The full results of the 2021 Big Survey will be published in the upcoming Nov.-Dec. issue of INVISION.
