Provide the reader with a bit of your personal background, including your education, training and professional history.

I began in the optical business 35 years ago as an apprentice optician. After finishing the apprenticeship training, I took the NC State Opticians exam, obtaining my NC license in 1978. In 1979 I opened Professional Opticians, and my practice has grown significantly since that time. I am proud to have my daughter Crystal now with me in the practice. She gained her Optician’s License in 2007, and one day when I retire she will take over.

Describe your practice, and the services provided.

Our retail practice provides only the finest in frames and lenses. We carry most upscale frame lines such as Lindberg, Daniel Swarovski, Kazuo Kawasaki, Cazal and others.

Will you please describe your organizational philosophy, including any mission statement, vision, goals, etc.?

The only way to grow in any market is to be the best you can be for your patient.

Only providing the products is just a portion of the job. The needs, desires, fitting and measurements of the patient must be addressed properly. We provide the very latest in technological advancements in frames and lenses, and our philosophy includes making sure we efficiently fill each Rx. In a nutshell, our philosophy centers on the patient. This patient-centered philosophy, with the best available products and services continues to serve us well, and I hope will continue into the future.

Do you have a Strategic Plan for your practice?

Hiring the best people is the foundation for the organization. The people at Professional Opticians want to help each patient. To really be able to provide the best for each patient demands we have the best trained people available, so we emphasize education. Strategically, I feel that my staff is the best tool available to keep our organization sound well into the future. Of course, that includes keeping up with current trends in both fashion and technology, and making certain we provide what our target market wants and needs. We also seek to provide excellent value for our patients.

What do you see as your biggest strengths and weaknesses?

Our employees are our biggest strengths and weakness. They are our biggest strength in that they constantly strive to meet the needs and wants of each patient on a daily basis.

Also, we see our employees as potentially our biggest weakness. To minimize this potential weakness, we attempt to keep them up-to-date on the latest developments in the field and allow them the latitude to meet each patient’s needs. We provide a structure for them, and evaluate their performance regularly, with weaker employees given opportunities to improve.

Are there specific opportunities and threats in your local marketplace? If so, how do you effectively deal with them?

The challenge is to find a place in the market that does not depend on insurance plans.

Insurance is the biggest threat today to our organization. Having to increase prices to be able to accept insurance that is going to pay you even less than you normally charge makes no sense. Unfortunately, third party payers are a part of the industry now, and we do participate in specific programs. We do not take all insurance, however, because there is simply no return.

Where do you see your organization in the next 10 years? The optical industry?

My crystal ball is a little cloudy here, but I will make a stab at answering this question. I think the optical business will be alive and well, with new products that will benefit patients and practices. The main problem is keeping up with the products and the value they will bring to patients. Core products will no longer bring the best vision to the patient or benefit the practice. Our organization is positioned to continue growth and development well into the future. Thanks to loyal patients and an outstanding staff, we are blessed.

Can you describe your competitive advantage? What do you think makes patients come to you, and remain in the practice?

The products we carry and the service we provide. Earlier I addressed providing only the best products and services and an outstanding, well-trained staff to meet their needs. That is what we offer. We have the best-of-the-best and will continue that philosophy into the future.

What, if anything, would you do differently in your career?

I don’t know of anything. I am fortunate and made the right career decision when I entered Opticianry. I look forward to coming to the office each day.

Are there tidbits of advice you might share with the readers that you feel may help them better compete?

Listen to others in business, in all types of business. There is plenty we can learn from others.

Mr. Bullock provides sound advice. He learned a great deal about serving the patients who came into his practice by listening and watching, as well as emulating the good things he saw in other businesses. That is something important to take away from this month’s article.

He has a specific philosophy of using excellent products and services also described as important to Mr. Duff in last month’s article. This runs consistently throughout both of the examples we have seen so far, and so is certainly an example others may want to emulate.

Differences in the particular organizations we have reviewed so far are found in contact lens fitting. Mr. Duff is a specialist in contact lenses, and receives referrals from ophthalmologists in the Lexington area. Mr. Bullock has an optometric practice located next door and they provide the contact lens fittings. Professional Opticians does dispense contact lenses if an Rx comes in, but fittings are done by the ODs. Mr. Duff sees that as his “niche” in the marketplace. Mr. Bullock depends on excellence in serving the patients as his advantage.

Both of these fine men are examples of excellence we can all look to when seeking a benchmark for our own organizations. In the coming months we are going to look at a couple of others, and when we are finished, we will wrap up this series with a summary of things we have learned to help us all gain that Competitive Advantage.