Experimenting with business models

Two independent optometrists walk into a bar and one says to the other, ‘What are we going to do about the NHS?’

Their practices are both on the high street and about half a mile apart (let’s call them practice one and practice two) in a town of about 15,000 people whose income is about the UK average.

They are both determined to offer the very best possible eye care. They’re doing 40-minute examinations and their practices are well-equipped.

The majority of their patients are over 60 and financially comfortable, so they see a lot of NHS eye examinations and dispense very few vouchers.