Vision Alliance Partnership – led by
an executive team with more than 70
years of combined optometric industry
experience – says the hybrid model
will keep the doctors in the driver's
seat of the clinical aspects of the
practice, while Vision Alliance, with
its business and retail expertise, will
handle all other operational duties.
“This is designed as a partnership
where each partner does what they are
uniquely qualified to do,” says president
and chief executive officer Ken Barbet,
a four-time CEO who has worked in the
eye care industry for the past decade.
Vision Alliance's plan is to acquire
87 already profitable, independent
optometric and optical practices in
Canada over the next five years.
After each purchase, the former owner
will receive 60 per cent of the practice's
value in cash and reinvest the other
40 per cent into their former practice
to form a partnership with
Vision Alliance.
Each practice can retain its name, focus
on optometry, management system,
staff and choice of frame lines and
laboratory partners.
Vision Alliance will assume adminis-
trative and human resources functions
and offer operational support so
doctors can have more time to focus
on their patients.Those duties include
recruiting, hiring and training staff,
managing payroll, accounting work
and marketing. The optometrist can decide, upon
retirement, to retain 20 per cent of the
practice to use as passive income via
annual distributions.
Vision Alliance says it has the experi-
ence to improve business practices
and enhance earnings by 75 to 100 per
cent per practice within two years. The company's plan is to acquire 10
to 12 practices at first to validate the
business concept and make any
adjustments to the business model
before buying more.
Those increases are achieved because
of operational efficiencies, new growth
strategies, more frame and lens sales,
better communication throughout the
patient cycle, more innovative products
for patients, improved patient
satisfaction, tools to review practice
performance and economies of scale.
As part of the partnership with Vision
Alliance, the value of the 40 per cent
that the optometrists reinvest in their
practice will increase in proportion to
the improved practice performance.
Barbet said the first group of practices
Vision Alliance would like to partner
with have been identified and
discussions have begun.
Barbet said once Vision Alliance has
partnered with 50 practices, half of the
profits will be returned to the share-
holders via dividends while the rest
will be reinvested into the business.
For more information, contact Ken at
[email protected] or 403-971-6512
or Patrick Cunningham, VP
Operations, Partner, at patrick@cun-
ninghammacgregor.com or
519-317-7996.
“As revenue per patient grows, each
doctor receives more in compensation
each month,” Barbet says.
Proudly Supporting
Independent
CANADIAN
EYE CARE
PROFESSIONALS
with buying group benefi ts
since 1988
Ad_1.indd 1
www.theopticalgroup.ca
1.800.263.0010
17-05-31 9:40 AM