The Optical Entrepreneur

Why every practice owner needs a life plan before a business plan – and how skipping this step leads to burnout, confusion, and dissatisfaction.Conor announces his new book for independent opticians—sharing the philosophy that's shaped his 20+ years in practice and 10 years in Optical Success Academy.The “Eyewear Opportunity” explained – how mastering this one area can unlock freedom, profitability, and team-driven growth.Business philosophy > random tactics – why principles and clarity matter more than hustle when building a practice that works long term.·     How Conor takes 9 weeks off a year and still grows his £1.4M practice—through intentional design and a clear purpose.

You'll learn: How to get your team fully bought into the vision Why not doing weekly meetings is costing you The one shift that makes your team grow (and your business with it) If you want to travel more, step back a little, or just stop being the bottleneck in your own business—these strategies work.

Here's what Sir Clive and I will cover:The BIG LIE you've been told about what it takes to have a successful practice and the uncomfortable truth you need to hear. (Most optometrists do not want to believe it, but those who embrace this truth will experience the income, freedom, and success others only dream about.)How to grow your revenue by 20% or more this year without spending any more money on marketing or hiring more staff. (Yes, I know it sounds unbelievable, but I have implemented this system and experienced this phenomenon several times in my practice's growth trajectory.)How fixing this one thing can give you a team of superstars who increase your profits without wasting time or money on hiring the wrong people. (The secret is hiding in plain sight, but only the most elite practices know what it is.)How YOU can be a far more effective leader this year – with the personal help and methods of World #1 Coach Sir Clive Woodward. (Whether you're a seasoned leader, trying to step back, or still trying to figure it all out Sir Clive will make you a stronger and far more confident and skilled leader)How to succeed faster in 2025 – Have you been spinning your wheels trying to implement changes in your practice? You'll probably shake your head wondering, "Why didn't I think of that," when you hear this but immediately want to implement what we share with you.)And much, much more.

In this episode, Conor shares insights from the Jones And Co. trip to SILMO. If you're looking to reignite your team's energy and elevate your practice, Conor reveals seven powerful ways that attending industry events can transform your team's passion and commitment. If you're looking to create a more driven and enthusiastic team, you need to listen to this episode.

Explore the idea of living life in four-year chapters and turning setbacks into opportunities. Whether you're in the optical industry or any business, you'll find valuable tips on leadership, teamwork, and continuous learning. Sir Clive's advice on critical thinking and adaptability under pressure will help you make better decisions and achieve your long-term goals.Don't miss out on these practical insights to boost your business and leadership skills! The registration page is now OPEN! The highlight of the Optical Success Academy year (and our member's year!) is the annual conference. And this year is EXTRA special… It's the NEW Eyewear Selling Masterplan including: The "360 Minute Eyewear Selling Formula" - a brand NEW methodology and sales training that will give you new strategies and techniques that will enable everyone in your practice to master selling. If you think “but I've heard everything that Conor has to say about selling eyewear and team building etc” what I want you to know is that 90% of what I am sharing is NEW and has never been discussed before! Bascially, if you are NOT there, you ARE going to miss out. #FOMO! Registration is now open! Book your seats at www.osaevent.co.uk

Conor gives you the secret to make every customer interaction a successful and meaningful one. Learn how the right words, scripts, and stories can make decisions easier for customers and skyrocket your sales.    The registration page is now OPEN! The highlight of the Optical Success Academy year (and our member's year!) is the annual conference. And this year is EXTRA special… It's the NEW Eyewear Selling Masterplan including: The "360 Minute Eyewear Selling Formula" - a brand NEW methodology and sales training that will give you new strategies and techniques that will enable everyone in your practice to master selling. If you think “but I've heard everything that Conor has to say about selling eyewear and team building etc” what I want you to know is that 90% of what I am sharing is NEW and has never been discussed before! Bascially, if you are NOT there, you ARE going to miss out. #FOMO! Registration is now open! Book your seats at www.osaevent.co.uk

You'll get practical tips for overcoming mental barriers, making quick decisions, and staying humble to keep improving your practice. Tune in and take the first step towards making your optical practice a big success. The registration page is now OPEN! The highlight of the Optical Success Academy year (and our member's year!) is the annual conference. And this year is EXTRA special… It's the NEW Eyewear Selling Masterplan including: The "360 Minute Eyewear Selling Formula" - a brand NEW methodology and sales training that will give you new strategies and techniques that will enable everyone in your practice to master selling. If you think “but I've heard everything that Conor has to say about selling eyewear and team building etc” what I want you to know is that 90% of what I am sharing is NEW and has never been discussed before! Bascially, if you are NOT there, you ARE going to miss out. #FOMO! Registration is now open! Book your seats at www.osaevent.co.uk

Get practical strategies like using Facebook's local targeting to maximize your marketing budget. Inspired by Pret's model, Mark and Conor highlight the importance of a strong internal culture and involving your team in marketing efforts for better results Tune in, take notes, and transform your marketing to make a big impact.  Grab this opportunity while you can! The “Marketing System That WORKS!” workshop and mastermind meeting will give you the complete blueprint to attract all the new patients that you need. Properly fixing your marketing SYSTEM is the foundation to all your future business success. Get all the details about how you can attend our next work shop in Chicago at www.osaevent.com

True business success and personal fulfilment only come from consistently stepping out of daily routines, investing in personal development, and being part of a community that supports and challenges you. In this episode, Conor tells you how to achieve growth in personal and professional areas by creating space for clarity and challenging the "too busy" excuse. If you're feeling frazzled or you want to get more done more consistently, you'll love this episode!Grab this opportunity while you can!    The “Marketing System That WORKS!” workshop and mastermind meeting will give you the complete blueprint to attract all the new patients that you need.   Properly fixing your marketing SYSTEM is the foundation to all your future business success.   Get all the details about how you can attend our next work shop in Chicago at www.osaevent.com

Conor covers a ton of content in this episode, here's just some of what he goes over...What's working right now to produce a steady stream of high-quality new patients who pay, stay and refer.The BIG LIE you've been told about what it takes to have a successful practice and the uncomfortable truth you need to hear.The #1 most crucial marketing tool you must get right if you want to get more patients.How fixing this one thing can increase your profits without you spending another penny on marketing. How to double, triple, or even quadruple your optical sales. The strategy I use that turned my staff into superstars who basically run my practice for me. A little-known but highly-effective way to create an environment makes patients excited about spending money And much, much more.Conors got a special offer for listener of the podcast too. Click here to get all the details! Grab this opportunity while you can! The “Marketing System That WORKS!” workshop and mastermind meeting will give you the complete blueprint to attract all the new patients that you need. Properly fixing your marketing SYSTEM is the foundation to all your future business success. Get all the details about how you can attend our next work shop in Chicago at www.osaevent.com

Conor goes deep into mastering marketing strategies that give you the tools to make your practice explode with growth. If you're an optical entrepreneur serious about growth and excellence, this episode is a game-changer.   Grab this opportunity while you can! The “Marketing System That WORKS!” workshop and mastermind meeting will give you the complete blueprint to attract all the new patients that you need. Properly fixing your marketing SYSTEM is the foundation to all your future business success. Get all the details about how you can attend our next work shop in Chicago at www.osaevent.com

This episode is full of ways you can improve your customer experience with simple staff training techniques that will allow you to introduce whatever eyewear you would like to sell and set your average dispense value at will. Meaning you can create the business you want to run.

In this live excerpt from the recent Staff Training Workshop Conor takes you through the most common objections your clients have that result in them taking their prescription away, delaying, thinking about, going elsewhere and ultimately not purchasing eyewear for you.

How To Be The Trusted Eyewear Experts And Go-To Practice In Your Town For Clients Who Want To Buy Premium EyewearWhen your team practices ‘trust-based selling' the rewards are increased conversion rates, increased average dispense values, increased multiple pair sales, increased sunglasses sales, and increased referrals! We'll cover the guiding principles, so your team understand why this makes so much sense and benefits everyone.

This episode is full of tips on how to get inspired by whats around you, how to have the courage to be different and how to use being different to your advantage.

Conor's back with a gold mine of annual planning wisdom just for you. In this episode, he's putting the spotlight on his absolute favourite tool—YOUR CALENDAR. Master its use, and you're on your way to crafting a strategic roadmap for the year. Picture doing more, achieving more, earning more, and enjoying quality time with your family, all while being less stressed and overwhelmed. How is such a feat possible, you ask? Say it with me: "What gets scheduled, gets done." Crank up the volume and soak in these strategies. They just might be the key to making 2024 your most successful year yet. 

Time management is a myth. You cannot manage time. Time, just ticks by. It doesn't care about you, doesn't care what your goals are, it just keeps going. It marches on. You cannot get more time. There is no such thing as more time. There is only 24 hours in a day. There is only seven days in a week. That's all the time there will be this year, next year, the year after.What you can do though is learn how to allocate your time properly, have a clear plan and clear goals.Check out this episode of the podcast to get all the tools to really get you planning properly

If you're a REAL optometry/optical business owner…Specifically, someone who is actively WORKING to grow your business…Then joining us for one of our Annual Planning Workshop is the place for you.Join us in Austun TX - www.osaevent.comJoin us in London - www.osaevent.co.uk  

Turn this one up loud. It's not every day an NBA all-star has reveals his biggest success secrets, you don't want to miss this one!

Later this month we'll make a full announcement about the two amazing Mastermind Meetings we have coming up to kick off 2024. The first day will be about creating your annual plan for 2024 and the second day will be about creating the marketing plan that will deliver the clients and sales you need to hit your profit target and other big goals for the year ahead. If you're interested in finding out more about Conor's Scale Up Mastermind Program and the events send an email to info@opticalsuccessacademy.com for more info.

This episode is all about how amazing you are as an entrepreneur and why you need to back yourself, trust yourself and believe in yourself!Turn this one up loud and get a dose of well-deserved motivation.

Listen to this edition of the podcast to get tons of tips and insight into how supercharge the personal growth that will drive the success and growth of your business!

In this episode of the podcast Conor chats with Orgreen sales director Gregers Fastrup. If you've ever struggled with putting together your stock, your inventory or collections you need to listen to this! You'll hear the secrets of how to do it and do really really well. Gregers also has some great insight on how he scaled up Orgreen and his approach to growth, as well as some tips on organising your people. 

To book your seat for OSA Live: Scale Up for Success go to… www.osalive23.com 

Paul and Sarah are real examples of pushing beyond excuses that would stop most practice owners dead in their tracks.  This is them sharing their story of what they changed in their practice and how they did it.  And how you can to!  Turn in up loud, Paul and Sarah share a ton of great lesson in this one!

In today's episode I'm introducing you to Jamil Qureshi, world-class performance coach and the man who helped six individuals reach number 1 in the world.This is a live Q&A with our members and Jamil and he covers questions on setting goals, dealing with negativity, overcoming hurdles, but the overall topic is, how do you take a goal and how do you actually turn it into achievement? This is a great one to share with you team to get them reenergized.  Turn it up loud and listen to what Jamil has to tell you! 

If you'd had problems having the awkward conversations with your team that are needed to get stuff DONE, this is the perfect episode for. Turn this one up loud and really listen, and make sure you share it with your team. 

In this episode of the podcast Conor will give you the hacks that will see you dramatically and quickly increase conversions, dispense value and multiple pairs in your practice!

Listen in to me on location in Cleveland, sharing a bunch of secrets of how you can find ways to evolve and grow your business by taking time out to focus on the bigger picture.----Join us live for the next OSA Mastermind meeting. Details here: www.osalive23.com

Listen in as we explore how the attitudes and life philosophies of those around us can shape our behaviour, attitudes, and outcomes, emphasizing the importance of being intentional with the company we keep. Turn this episode up loud and learn how surrounding yourself with the right people can make all the difference in achieving what you want in your practice.--- 

Listen to me and a panel of some of the most successful OSA members in conversation, giving you valuable insights on harnessing the power of this community's support, how to effectively delegate without having to micromanage and motivating your team for long-term success.You'll also get some invaluable tips on developing a clear recruitment process and how a personality-driven approach can help you attract and identify the strongest candidates.Don't miss out on this episode packed with valuable information to help grow your practice and become a more successful business owner! 

If you're running a team, Linda has a ton of insight of how to do it effectively for you. If you missed it, make sure to go back and check out part one.

If you've ever had questions about recruitment, interviews or dealing with negative people on your team Linda has got the answers for you.You also get to hear the two things Richard Branson cared about more than anything else!This is two part episode make sure to subscribe to the podcast so you don't miss part two.

These are staff, not owners talking passionately about the successes they have created in the businesses they work for.If you want your staff to improve, to sell more and help grow your business this episode tells you how to get there, and you hear it from the people that have done it.Turn it up and enjoy.

Listen to this episode and get your team to listen to it urgently and start having better conversations with patients and stop giving up when they tell you they can't afford it.

I also reveal the one mistake - that I guarantee is happening in your practice, that is stopping you selling sunglasses. This one mistake could be costing you thousands and you've not even realised it's happening.

In the episode listen to a live snippet of a Q&A from our staff training workshop. Conor and his team take on more awkward conversations with grace and good humour, but always making sure the message is received!This one is all about dress codes, and how you tackle the thorny issue of how you to tell someone they need to step it up in the style department. 

Would you like to know the Ultimate Success Formula? Listen to today's podcast to learn this CRUICAL lesson to creating success in your business.

Would you like your team trained by Conor (AND the Jones And Co. team) live in Manchester this June?I will train your staff for you LIVE! Your staff, my staff and Me. This is for your dispensing team, reception team and optical assistants, and optometrists. Each year we have NEW topics, roundtable discussions and new workshop exercises. And this event is where your team will get to see behind the scenes of Jones And Co. and what makes it work, with a live 'access-all-areas' tour. Here's What We'll Cover With Your Staff:How to dispense highest value frames and lenses and present pricing and options  How to do a styling consultation and eyewear discovery conversation How to select frame stock and work with niche eyewear How to deliver world class customer service that gets more referrals Advanced training from me on daily habits we use to operate the practice and how we achieved record growth in the last 12 months Overcome mental hurdles Learn how to best work with you Panels, workshops, role plays, Q&A and more I will send them back to you with:More excitement for their job! A renewed FOCUS on how they can help your practice grow. A clearer vision for where your practice is going. For more information about the staff training workshop email Carina: info@opticalsuccessacademy.com

This is a special episode of the Optical Entrepreneur, we've refreshed the format so that we can take you even more behind the scenes of Jones And Co. Styling Opticians and give you even more sneak peeks into Optical Success Academy and what we're working on with our members.  Every year in Optical Success Academy we hold an annual conference for our community of independent optometrists, opticians, and practice owners. We go out of our way to make this an amazing event over a couple of days. This episode of a snippet of one of those events. In this episode you will hear a Q&A with one of our keynote speakers, Will Butler-Adams director and CEO of Brompton Bikes, the iconic folding bike. Will is one our favourite ever keynote speakers and you will hear Will and Conor field question that were asked by our members at the event. This special episode is packed full of lessons that are still critically important today, that you'll get a ton of value from. Enjoy!

On this episode Conor and Michael talk about:Why storytelling is the secret to attracting your ideal clients and patientsThe two most important types of stories you should be telling for effectively marketing your practiceHow to build trust, expertise and likeability with the power of storyThe 6 step proven process for story telling that removes the mystery and any fear you may have about not being a good story tellerHow to make sure your staff know how to tell stories that sellAnd much more!

In this episode Conor and Martin talk about:The most important factors in forming a new habitsThe types of habit that are critical for achieving growth in your businessWhy SMART goals are slightly stupid And much more!

Jon and his tips have been featured on The Today Show, CNN, CNBC, The Golf Channel, Fox and Friends and in numerous magazines and newspapers. His clients include The Los Angeles Dodgers, Campbell's Soup, Dell, Publix, Southwest Airlines, Miami Heat, The Los Angeles Rams, Snapchat, Truist Bank, Clemson Football, Northwestern Mutual, West Point Academy and more.Jon is a graduate of Cornell University and holds a Masters in Teaching from Emory University. He and his training/consulting company are passionate about developing positive leaders, organizations and teams.

Sea2see is using business as a force for good. They are a Certified B Corporation and leaders in the global movement for an inclusive, equitable, and regenerative economy. The B stands for “benefit” and refers to benefiting workers, the community and the environment. On this episode Conor and Francois discuss:How any practice can be a force for good – how to find a higher purpose in your workThe importance of staying true to your values and being authenticThe inspiring Sea to See origin story and how it became much more than just an eyewear brandHow any independent practice owner can make a difference in their community, for their staff and clients and the environmenthttps://www.sea2see.org/https://www.sea2seefoundation.org/  

On This Episode Conor and Henry Discuss:What it means to be an hour a day entrepreneurHow to have autonomy and more control over your business and your lifeThe 3 most important areas to invest your timeThe science that you must learn to grow your practiceSpecific strategies and habits that will change your practice and your productivityAnd much more!

In this episode Conor and Brad talk about:How your culture affects your ability to attract and retain fantastic employees – and how to get this important benefit working for youWhy you should stop doing some meetings entirely and save time and what to do insteadHow to free yourself from being the bottleneck in your practice so your team can take many more tasks off your plate saving you time and giving you more freedom from your practice and superior financial resultsPractical exercises that will increase energy and passion and engagement with your teamHow stronger culture creates increases revenue and profitabilityhttps://performancepointllc.comBrad Federman's book Cultivating Culture is available to buy on Amazon

On this episode Conor and Jason discuss:Why the story of your practice matters to your clients and patientsHow to make clients want to spend 1000 USD or GBP on eyewearThe recent changes in the US and UK optical marketsFrame buying tipsHow to get your team passionate about eyewearThe key to live events and great trunk showsAnd more!www.kirkandkirk.comwww.theopticalentrepreneur.comwww.opticalsuccessacademy.co.ukwww.opticalsuccessacademy.com

In this interview Conor and Steve discuss:The link between risk and growth and what your practice can learn from Amazon's approach to riskOne counter-intuitive leadership principle that will help your practice achieve more breakthroughsPractical ways to use the principle of customer obsession like Amazon to increase revenue, referrals and repeat businessHow independent businesses can strategically compete against AmazonAnd more https://thebezosletters.com 

This episode is full of insights and lessons from the hospitality industry, that will help you grow your practice. On This Episode Conor and Selina talk about:How to earn the respect of your team and be a better leaderHow to craft your reputation and become a person of influence in your communityHow to play to your strengths as an independent businessHow to grow through challenges And much more!

On this episode Conor talks to Damian about the unique business philosophy behind his success in the hospitality industry, his approach to team leadership and combating staff burn out. Damian also talks about what gave him the confidence to go high end, and how he's had to constantly re-invent, evolve, and adapt after the pandemic.In this episode Damian offers a ton of advice to help you grow your practice and keep it fresh and exciting. 

There are many lessons out there from successful companies for the small business owner and entrepreneur. Who better than one of the most recognisable and beloved brands in the world to learn from? In this episode, one of the foremost experts on Disney and author of the book ‘Walt Disney's Way' explores the two big reasons why your business should model Disney, how to approach risk taking successfully in your practice, why innovators make more money than inventors, the reason why two out three visitors to Disney theme parks are repeat guests, the mindset required to deliver a premium experience and charge premium prices and more!***This episode is brought to you by Optical Success Academy and Seiko.To receive a Seiko information pack including a special lens offer for podcast listeners, send an email to infouk@seikovision.com ***Stay Up to Date: Consider signing up for Optical Success Academy membership and the Look Over My Shoulder Marketing Program with Conor Heaney. To learn more visit:www.greatopticalmarketing.comwww.opticalsuccessacademy.co.uk ***Follow this show and Conor Heaney at:www.theopticalentrepreneur.com