As a vision business owner, what did you earn (salary + share of profit) last year?
You’ve heard of the “1%.” Well, a 5% exists among ECPs. That was the share of owners who earned more than $500,000 in 2023. The mid-point among the respondents was more modest at around $150,000, with just under half (46%) of owners earning more than that sum a year. That puts eyecare biz owners comfortably ahead of the average American, who reported an income of $56,316 in 2023.
What is the average retail value of a complete pair (frame and lenses) for your business?
| Less than $200 |
|
3%
|
| Around $300 |
|
16%
|
| Around $400 |
|
14%
|
| Around $500 |
|
21%
|
| Around $600 |
|
13%
|
| Around $700 |
|
10%
|
| Around $800 |
|
10%
|
| Around $900 |
|
7%
|
| $1000 or more |
|
6%
|
As the manager of a vision business, what did you earn (salary + share of profit) last year?
| $0 to less than $30,000 |
|
5%
|
| $30,000-$39,999 |
|
8%
|
| $40,000 -$59,999 |
|
20%
|
| $60,000- $74,999 |
|
21%
|
| $75,000-$99,999 |
|
18%
|
| $100,000 -$149,999 |
|
10%
|
| $150,000- $249,999 |
|
11%
|
| $250,000-$500,000 |
|
7%
|
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What were your total revenues in 2023?
| Less than $100,000 |
|
5%
|
| $100,000-$249,999 |
|
8%
|
| $250,000 to $499,999 |
|
18%
|
| $500,000 to $999,999 |
|
24%
|
| $1 million to $1,499,999 |
|
21%
|
| $1.5 million to $2,999,999 |
|
14%
|
| $3 million to $5 million |
|
6%
|
| More than $5 million |
|
4%
|
Based on the first eight months of this year, how do you expect your total revenues for 2024 to compare with 2023?
| Way down (25% or more) |
|
4%
|
| Down |
|
16%
|
| Same |
|
25%
|
| Up |
|
47%
|
| Way up (25% or more) |
|
8%
|
Looking at the last two years, would you rate either of them as “one of the best” or “one of the worst” ever in terms of your business’s financial performance?
| One of the best |
|
36%
|
| Pretty average |
|
48%
|
| Haven’t been in business long enough to establish a track record. |
|
6%
|
| One of the worst |
|
10%
|
What percentage of your revenue is:
| Fully private/cash pay |
|
42%
|
| Fully managed vision plan covered |
|
32%
|
| A combination of managed vision plan + cash/credit/ FSA pay for any overage |
|
36%
|
What area of your eyecare business’s performance do you want most to improve?
Other responses included “capture rate,” “hiring and retention,” and “ways to get more reach and traction.”
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Over your career owning/managing an eyecare business, what have you found provided the biggest boost to productivity?
The most common “Other” responses involved staff—in particular, hiring the right people, training them properly and ensuring they communicated well with each other. Other notable replies included “New products,” “Increased word of mouth referrals as business matured,” “Moving to a larger location,” and “Rewiring my thinking about how and whom I want to serve.”
Do you have “bad profits”? (Profits that require too much effort, for which the margins are too thin, that are in an uncompetitive segment…) Please tell us about them.
- The most common answer was ‘No’/‘No such thing’, but among those ‘bad profit’ turners that were identified, contact lenses came up the most. A typical response was: “There isn’t enough margin in contacts. We carry and sell them as a service.” Said another: “Medically necessary CL fit and materials: Reimbursements are not enough to cover [them].”
- They were followed by Medicaid, VSP and other managed care plans. One respondent said managed vision care is “overly burdensome. If you don’t have proprietary software that calculates the math on these plans, you stand to miss out on revenue while incurring lab charges.”
- Readers and low-cost lenses and frames was another oft-cited category. “Selling low-cost, generic glasses can generate sales but often yields slim profits. The effort spent on marketing and customer service may outweigh the gains,” said one respondent.
