For more complete access to this OD Spotlight's session, please visit our presentation notes page. 

For those of us interested in private practice ownership yet also battling student debts, living expenses, and other investments, can you give some insight into how to initially generate enough capital (and confidence) for a buyout/partnership? How do I pay off my loans while saving up for a house, saving to possibly buy a private practice, starting to save for retirement, all while being happily and enjoying post-grad?

• Don't put your own money into your loan
  • Let the business finances take care of your loans
    • Want good debt
      • Ex: real estate
• Don't save up to buy a private practice
  • It doesn't make sense to save up to buy one
    • The practice should help you save up for other things
• Working on weekends or other extra days can drastically increase your income 
  • Decreases your debt faster
• Income as ODs is your best income generator

How did you get connected with the Apple Wellness Center, Dr. Bui?

• Couldn’t say much about the position due to legal purposes
• Worked in corporate and private practice for a bit
  • Found connections while working
• Apple has their own medical clinic on site
  • Sees patients 8-5 pm 
  • Does research projects
  • Does binocular vision, tele-health, apple health 
  • Been there for 4 years
  • Unique position
  • Gets to access to lots of cool tech
  • Works around the apple campus
• Side note → lots of opportunities in the bay area right now :)

What would you consider a good starting salary in Southern California for new graduates? 

• More saturated 
• At least $400k
  • Anything lower than this = lowball
• $425-450k is great to start out → Aim for this

What are some financial resources that you’d recommend?

• Bogleheads
  • By the same person that created Vanguard 
  • Talks a lot about 
    • Mutual funds
    • Basics of investing 
      • Higher #s are better
  • Blogs
• Aim for $2 million
  • Allows for $80k expenses for year
• Read lots of financial books
  • The Optometrist's Guide to Financial Freedom
  • Books on student loans, etc.
• Loves ODs on Finance → check out their website

What would you suggest doing if you buy a practice and the existing staff/employees are being overpaid?

• 2 options
  • Start fresh
    • That’s hard at the beginning
  • Or look at how staff is performing 
    • Not just seeing patients as associates
      • Also have to observe the staff
    • You might not realize their true worth at the beginning  

What would you say the success rate of a cold start practice is in California?

• Cold start in Los Angeles = hard    
  • But if you’re doing a specialty it might work out well!
• Cold start in more rural areas
  • More likely to work out
• BUT ultimately comes down to how savvy you are as a business owner
• Make the dollars make sense
  • Income > Expenses → Profit :) 

What is a recommended valuation of a practice to purchase at? 

• Should have the groundwork to continue to make money
• Make sure it’s a good deal
• ANALYZE
• Last 3 years are important! 
  • If there’s a big fluctuation in the last 3 years → red flag → look out for it 

What are some red flags and green flags when it comes to hiring contracts?What conditions or terms should I keep an eye out for?

• Things to consider
  • Incentive = big one
  • How many hours are you working?
    • If you’re working for 10 hours vs 6 hours earning $400k 
      • You’d want the 6 hour shift
  • How many patients are you responsible for?
  • Don't want to be stuck doing stuff you don't want to do 
  • Don't want to work for someone that keeps cutting your hours
    • We deserve to work the full day 

If someone gives us a shady offer as a new OD, should I be wary of working for them? Do you think they would keep trying to do that throughout a career with them?

• Run away!! 
• Look for turnover rate
  • Why so high? Ask them?
• They won't change
  • If they have no respect for you → leave
  • Know your value
• But at the same time:
  • Don’t command high pay if you aren’t contributing much to the practice 
• Be rockstar associate to get a rockstar pay → eventually become a rockstar owner 

Would you recommend buying a practice as soon as possible or wait?

• It really depends
• Recommends working a little bit first
  • Work at least 8-12 months at a private practice setting so you know how things are run
    • But know that private practices are run in different ways
      • What works for them might not work for you 
      • Examples: 
        • A doctor might ask for copay before patients come in 
        • Another doctor has no front desk → instead has coffee out front, no paperwork (all done online)

Do you have any regrets in terms of financial decisions you made in the past?

• They both regret not starting soon enough (ex: starting 401k)
• Options trading 
  • Can either work really well or not at all 
  • Doesn’t recommend it because can go downhill fast
• Note: Their biggest financial decision = being an OD

If you have any further questions for Drs. Dat Bui and Aaron Neufeld, their email is: [email protected]