How to plan my business forecast when opening an optometry clinic?
For a new practitioner, opening an optometry clinic cold is the beginning of a great entrepreneurial adventure. As with any project, it is essential to get off to a good start in order to have a solid foundation, and each step is important.
Business Forecast
When establishing an optometry clinic, the preparation of a business forecast is essential.
A key element of the business plan, the business forecast is a financial document whose main purpose is to display the viability of the clinic to financial partners.
The business forecast generally presents the anticipated performance of the clinic over a period of around five years in a realistic manner, and consists of the following three parts:
- The forecasted income statement, which presents the anticipated revenues and expenses of the clinic;
- The projected balance sheet, which presents the clinic's assets (such as cash, inventory, or materials and equipment) and liabilities (such as amounts payable to suppliers and the government, or bank financing);
- The cash flow statement, which summarizes the cash inflows and outflows expected to occur during the year.
How to properly prepare?
In order to properly prepare the business forecast, it is important to gather information on the local industry, including:
- The number of potential clients;
- Average prices charged;
- The cost of materials;
- Rent levels for clinics in similar locations;
- Etc.
This information will feed into the forecast and is therefore essential that it be as realistic as possible. Professional organizations and optometrist communities, such as the OSI Group, are excellent sources of information as they have a vast network of optometrist members and can provide you with relevant information for this purpose.
However, since the preparation of a business forecast also requires technical skills, it is strongly recommended to be assisted by a financial professional. The financial professional will help ensure the relevance and logic of the forecast before its presentation to the financial partners and can often use her experience to raise questions and ideas that you may not have thought of.
Do you need help in planning your business forecast? Vision Entrepreneur program experts of OSI Group can assist you in all the steps involved in the creation of your own optometry clinic. Contact an expert!
David Meslati is a CPA and Chartered Business Valuator at MNP.
