VM REPORTS Dr. Bauman and Associates, PLLC By Staff Monday, July 21, 2014 12:06 AM RELATED CONTENT Unlocking the Secrets of the $Million Practice Northwest Vision Center Livermore Optometry Group Dr. Korthals and Associates The Million Dollar Practice's Keys to Success Dr. Bauman & Associates, PLLC Owner: Robert C. Bauman, OD Location: Stowe, Vermont Annual Gross Revenue of Single Location: $1,826,000 Square footage: 4,500 Years in Business: 8 Number of employees: 12 www.drrobertbauman.com “Total dedication to excellent patient care.” How would you describe your business? A demonstration project for what optometric eye-care delivery can be in the 21st century. How long did it take you to meet or exceed the $1M mark? Five years from a cold start. What sets you apart from your competitors? Constant reinvestment in location and instrumentation, on-going training of support staff and absolute cleanliness of facility. We also employ one of the most successful optometric public relations and marketing agencies. Do you have any previous business experience you were able to apply to this business? I was the founding partner of a large professional group practice in Connecticut. In 1998, this practice was acquired by a publicly traded medical group, at the time practice revenues exceeded $5.2 million. What have been some of the most significant investments you’ve made into your business that have proven successful? Over the years, ongoing marketing and promotion of our unique practice model has paid handsome dividends. We regularly spend about 7 percent of gross revenues on marketing. Best book you’ve read or course you’ve taken as it applies to your business? I learned a lot from a marketing book called “Christ Was an Ad Man” by Robert Pritikin. I’ve attended many practice management seminars; my favorite speakers include Bob Koetting and I currently attend Jay Binkowitz’s seminars. What is the best business decision you ever made? To reinvest into my practice and real estate associated with my practice before investing in the stock market, etc. Invest in what you control directly. What are some of the mistakes you made along the way? Early on, I incorrectly assumed that treating staff members generously and rewarding productivity would guarantee diligence and dedication, but a staff member is either diligent and willing to work hard or they are not. Some just are not willing to apply themselves. Every one of our employees is incentivized monthly, based on a production yardstick that they have control over. The analogy I like to use is we’re all in a submarine, and if one person doesn’t do their job, we’re all in trouble. How do you market your practice? Every single patient gets a personalized Eyefinity report in a bound folder that contains all their photos and fields, plus a written summary that is reviewed with them by the doctor. They don’t get this from others. That’s one of the major keys to our success and makes us stand out from the crowd. It’s important to focus your energies where it’s going to show. We survey every single patient for every single visit. Those surveys come back to me sealed and I review every one of them. Closing Remarks? This is a get rich slow scheme, but it’s a great profession and you can go far.