{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Optometrists Building Empires","title":"Run the Numbers Before You Open Location Two","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":2494,"description":"E116 ยท Republish. The full original E028 conversation with Nathan Hayes, director of financial services at IDOC. First aired February 20, 2025. 41:34.\nThe short version\nNathan Hayes works on practice financials with independent optometry owners. He also helps run Books and Benchmarks, a bookkeeping and benchmarking service from IDOC.\nWhen an owner tells him they want a second location, his first question is always \"why?\"\nThis is the full conversation, back in the feed: what multi-location owners do well, who controls each line of the P&L, the cost targets he watches, EBITDA, what buyers pay, and why stepping back can make a practice grow faster.\nIf you are thinking about location two, start here.\nThe named problem\nA second location adds complexity, stress, and risk. Many owners plan the lease and the equipment. Fewer plan who runs the first office when they are not there.\nNathan sees the same gap again and again. The title \"manager\" goes to the most senior person. Nobody writes the job description first.\nThe hidden mechanism\nYour first office has to run without you before you open the second. Your attention moves to the new location. The first office has to manage itself.\nNathan wants three things in place first:\n\nA team that does not depend on the owner for every decision.\nA real manager who can lead and hold people accountable.\nEnough cash flow to take a hit to your income in year one.\nThe convincer\nNathan puts practice money into buckets. One bucket is cost of goods plus non-OD staff. His historical target for that bucket: about 50% of collected revenue. Then he shows how far inflation has pushed that number.\nHe also explains EBITDA in plain words. Then he walks through what an individual doctor pays for a practice, what private equity pays, and why.\nNumbers take the fear out\nMost owners know what their practice needs. The fear shows up when it is time to spend money: the next hire, a bigger space, another doctor.\n\n\"It can take the fear out and the risk out...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/YL2_iApAQKMNenVMuJU6VxjEqr2JuXxMbz-e8njM13g/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS83N2Jh/YWIyNmE5MGNiZTA3/YTRhZDQ2Nzc2OTUw/YzQyOS5qcGc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}