Eyecare business growth cannot be achieved without the adoption and implementation of powerful business strategies. Until optometrists begin to see eyecare delivery as a special purpose-driven business beyond clinical skills, nothing much will change. It’s time the eyecare industry is powerfully disrupted especially in my dear country, Nigeria.
In order to get some free books, I registered early for a certificate program. Early registration for Tekedia Mini-MBA comes with some book bonuses. Amongst them is The Dangote System: Techniques for Building Conglomerates, written by our own inspirational Professor Ndubuisi Ekekwe. Having earlier read an excerpt and planned to enroll for the mini MBA, I didn’t need to waste more time. I have already started consuming the book and becoming transformed.
Five Phases of Building Great Companies is a section of the book that has captured my whole being. I have here realigned it to suit my primary constituency – the optometrists. This short article is a titbit summary of what I have already grabbed. It could also help plan and execute a thriving business strategy for 2021 and beyond. For existing eyecare businesses, this could help you rethink, readapt and realign your strategies. For those intending to establish an eye clinic business, this is a must methodological steps for building a great eye care practice
To drive an eyecare business growth that can truly fix eyecare delivery frictions, these five phases should be embraced. It is absolutely important to come with new thinking for new possibilities. According to Professor Ndubuisi Ekekwe.
The new thinking solves market friction in a new way that reduces costs and improves overall performance.
Here are the five phases:
1.The Essence of Business
Many of us want to start a business because we want to make money. Of course, we need money but is that a sustainable purpose? You want to wear clothes and look good but the primary purpose is to cover yourself.
Why must your business exist? Just like Simon Sinek, in his book – Start With Why, expounded, you must know your why before anything else.
Prof mentioned that one must remember that the market friction is not static. For us, in the eyecare business, this cannot be more true. The rate of change is fast in the healthcare industry and therefore, optometrists must continue to evolve. He also pointed out that we can drive customer behavioral changes, in our case- eye health consumers. In fact, it’s part of our professional calling to influence our patients to do things in different ways for healthier outcomes. This strategy of course will help attract, engage and retain eye health consumers, invariably enhancing eyecare business growth.
2.Accumulation of Capability
You know the market friction you want to fix but do you have the ability to take the issues. Here you just need to bring some expertise to do it. For instance, as an optometrist, I could see the need to close the gap between the rate of blindness from lack of corrective glasses. Seeing this as market friction, I must now ask myself if I have the capabilities to fix the challenge. Being an exceptional practitioner is not enough. There is a need to assemble a diverse team of expertise ranging from managerial to technical, etc.
3.Testing and Validating the Capability
You now have to move to the trenches to see how it works. In fact, an optometrist is required to do an internship before practice. Also in the Nigerian context, you must have some years of experience before you can set up your own. All the same, it’s worth noting that having an excellent clinical experience does not give you the express ability to run a clinic. You might be a fit in an organization where you work under management. To test and validate your capabilities, you must fit into an eyecare business management or bring in external expertise.
4.Executing to Remove the Friction
With a clear purpose and assembled capabilities in addition to practical validation, it is time to execute. Here the eye care business is operational and the key is execution. From my own understanding, this is a pivotal stage for success…
Because while strategy development and communication are about knowing something, strategy execution is about doing something.
HBR Article: Execution Is A People Problem, Not A Strategy Problem
Lack of execution to eliminate the determined industry market friction dismantles all other efforts. And the gap between what you know and what you do is often huge.
5.Extending the Frontier
Without a new and innovative way to disrupt the market, you might not make much impact. This is to go beyond what your customers think they need. It is a wow factor. Companies that embrace the strategy always disrupt the market and excel. It is not enough to focus on the needs of the customers. Doing so gives your business no unique value proposition and therefore renders your organization unsustainable and non-competitive.
Are you joining the bandwagon or are you creating a new way? Why would patients choose your eye clinic practice? What will attract, engage and keep the eye health consumers coming? To build an eyecare business that will disrupt the industry through the creation of unique value, these questions must be answered and strategically leveraged.
Wrapping it up
If you want to build an eyecare business that will thrive sustainably, you must have a vision beyond what is on the ground. Your vision must be matched with an execution strategy for unique value creation. Outlined above are 5 stages to building a business that will perform awesomely.
The 2021 Winning Playbooks – Professor Ndubuisi Ekekwe, is a youtube video that can help you understand more how to apply these strategies. If you want to win this 2021, click here to watch.
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