Dr. Walt West

Optometry: A Career Worth Eyeing Closely

As a practitioner you can have that rare balance of work and life Optometry is still a popular career choice Optometry remains a top career path in the United States and should continue to experience strong growth over the next decade, according to th... Read >

A New Optometry Practice can be Overwhelming

Finding a mentor, making good decisions, and managing risk are keys to handling the feeling of being overwhelmed When I sat down to create my Pulse Points for the Million-Dollar Practice program, one of my top priorities was serving as a mentor who wou... Read >

Assumptions Will Stifle Your Practice’s Growth

Challenge three statements that kill progress I’m amazed by how many practitioners I’ve heard make one or all of these three statements: • If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it • If it works, do more of it • If doesn’t work, stop doing it All three o... Read >

Embrace Risks to Grow Your Practice

You can turn your setbacks into breakthroughs I’ve never met a person who wanted to be a failure, but some of the greatest people I’ve ever met have learned to embrace failure. How is this seeming contradiction possible? It’s all a matter of how you view... Read >

Some Customer-Centric Ideas to Boost Your Practice

Consider these tips to increase the loyalty of your customers Do you genuinely want to build a successful practice? Then listen to your customers Successful practices of today operate the way customers wanted them to operate, and the successful prac... Read >

10 Pulse Points for Million Dollar Practice Management

Early in my career, I realized I had been trained well for examining, treating, and prescribing for my patients. I also realized that being trained as an optometrist is completely different than being trained to practice optometry or manage a practice. I ... Read >

Mentors Just Don’t Fall From the Sky

Shorten your learning curve by finding and approaching a great mentor for your practice In my travels across the country, I often hear people talking about how they want to get a mentor. But I don’t hear a lot of people saying they’ve asked people to b... Read >

Healthy Support Networks Lead to Healthy Practices

Support: Your greatest asset to growing your practice Your practice will grow only as well as you nurture it. You could have two practices in the same community, but one is more successful because the practitioner is a go-getter who’s eager to network ... Read >

Avoiding Conflict Can Hurt Your Practice

The right approach to handling conflict can breed creativity, innovation, teamwork Most of us recognize that conflict is inevitable in any workplace, but I’m amazed by how many people choose to avoid addressing conflict in their practices. They think t... Read >

Embrace Risks to Grow Your Practice

You can turn your setbacks into breakthroughs I’ve never met a person who wanted to be a failure, but some of the greatest people I’ve ever met have learned to embrace failure. How is this seeming contradiction possible? It’s all a matter of how you vi... Read >

Improving the way you measure productivity

Last month, businesses across the country closed their books on 2007. Those businesses that had not constantly monitored their profitability during the year were left to compare the productivity of 2007 to that of 2006, or even 2005. Naturally, they hoped... Read >

Your Saving Grace: Time Away from the Office

OK, the year is off to a good start, you're feeling good about the potential for your business in this new year. Now's the time to plan some time out of the office! That's right, now that everything is busy and you could work straight through the year a... Read >

Attention Wanna-bes: Exploring the Drive to Succeed

It's no secret that as business people we want our businesses to be more than what they currently are. We want our businesses to be larger, we want more clients, we want to provide a higher level of service, and we want utilize the newest technology and ... Read >

Who Should Run My Office?

Human resource management, dealing with employees, is something many managers wish they didn't have to do. Do your employees ever wonder, Why am I in charge? Human resource management can come from many sources, typically it's a responsibility assumed... Read >

Managing Employees: Getting Your Priorities Straight

I recently conducted a workshop on Human Resources and Organizational Behavior for a group of business owners and employees interested in learning more about the dynamics of managing and motivating employees. I began the presentation by providing informat... Read >