Moneo writes: Getting some expert business guidance

A few weeks ago one of my fellow columnists wrote a piece considering the benefits of optometrists receiving coaching. I have reflected upon his comments and would like to expand upon the thoughts expressed in that column.

As optometrists we will all have received in our training much learning about the clinical nature of being an optometrist. The same will no doubt be true for dispensing opticians. The purpose of all that training is to ready us for our work in our chosen field. What that training does not do is prepare us in any way for the task of running a business or managing a practice. There are many, I am sure, who would be put off from running a business just for that very reason. I well remember watching the James Herriot, All Creatures Great and Small, series on TV many years ago. In those days running a veterinary practice meant doing the job of a vet and then collecting the cash paid by the farmers in a beer tankard on the mantelpiece over the fireplace and then divvying up the money occasionally to pay the bills of the business and the wages. Sadly those rather halcyon days are well behind us and it is all a lot more complicated today.