Man Steals Dozens Of Eyeglasses Worth $10k WTAE Pittsburgh Surveillance video from the Eyetique eyeglass store in Shadyside shows a man grabbing several frames from the shelves. The store was packed and employees .. Thieves set their sights on high-end eyewear - The Washington Post … [Read more...]
Jobs Proposal and Deficit Reduction Plan
October 29, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Proposed to Congress on September 12, 2011, the jobs proposal and deficit reduction plan aims to cut the federal deficit by $3.2 trillion over the next 10 years and includes nearly $1.5 trillion in revenue provisions. Some of these provisions could potentially affect your optical business. On October 11, the Senate failed to pass the jobs … [Read more...]
Spend Tax Savings Wisely Plan Ahead
October 16, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Bigger Section 179 Deduction: Your optical business may be able to take advantage of the temporarily increased Section 179 deduction. Under the Section 179 deduction privilege, an eligible business can often claim first-year depreciation write-offs for the entire cost of new and used equipment and software additions. For tax years beginning in … [Read more...]
$25 Winners – Tip of the Day: Eyecare Vendors
October 2, 2011 by 1 Comment
Thank you to all our readers who took the time to respond to our blog "Tip of the Day - Synergize with Vendors". This post was about our view that most eyecare offices don’t take advantage of what their eyecare vendors offer. We asked our readers to tells us their best tips for synergizing with eyecare vendors. Here the $25 winning … [Read more...]
Thrifty Thursday- Save Money- Make Money
August 10, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Well lot going on with our optical vendors: Deals of the Week are eye-bounding for eyecare professionals. Lots of opportunities to upgrade equipment and save some money AIT Industries (Free passes to Vision Expo West) If you are looking to upgrade your equipment, now is the time to trade in that old edger or tracer / blocker toward a new … [Read more...]
Thrifty Thursday- Save Your Change
July 27, 2011 by Leave a Comment
I know this doesn't have anything to do with optics, it about saving money. I have a friend who throws away pennies, thinking they are worthless. It about kills me, with so many people that need pennies to live! One of the things I started to do about 10 years ago, was to save change to use as mad money. I also made my boyfriend use it for his … [Read more...]
B2B ‘Groupon’ For Eyecare Professionals
May 18, 2011 by Leave a Comment
I think I am the only one of my friends that has not used Groupon. It is interesting to read comments from Eyecare Professionals as they wonder if Groupon is the way to go. Concerns over profitability and not discounting their services seems to be the top issues. On the other side of the coin I bet most eyecare professionals will be using a new … [Read more...]
Should You Employ Your Spouse?
March 22, 2011 by Leave a Comment
This is definitely a loaded question but today we are just going to look at it from a tax point of view because 'tis the tax season and an optical practice is an ideal business for husband and wife e.g. optician and optometrist, office manager or book-keeper and optometrist or any combination of ECP's and optical staff. Many sole proprietors … [Read more...]
Optical Equipment Tax Break Reminder from Briot
September 26, 2010 by 4 Comments
We probably don't need to remind you Optical Equipment buyers that you can get a $250,000 tax deduction on qualifying optical equipment bought this year, 2010. Our friends at Briot pointed this out on their Facebook page earlier this year and we thought now was a good reminder as some ECP's will be looking at Optical equipment at Vision Expo West … [Read more...]
Optical Retailers – We Want Your Success Stories Win $50
September 6, 2010 by 7 Comments
We recently asked our subscribers what they most wanted to hear about on our optical blog and there were several requests for success stories from independent optical retailers. Therefore, we would love to hear from you and what you have found works for you or your customers. For example: How do you compete with the optical chains, … [Read more...]
Deducting Optical Business Bad Debts
July 27, 2010 by 1 Comment
If debt collection is a problem for your optical business, deducting uncollectible (bad) debts from your tax bill may somewhat lessen the sting of simply writing them off. Here is some basic information on deducting business bad debts. First, the debt must be legitimate. A bona fide debt arises from a debtor-creditor relationship and is based on … [Read more...]
Reality: Optical Consumers are Cutting Back on Expenses.
June 27, 2010 by 1 Comment
Reality: Consumers are cutting back on expenses by Preston Jickling of Jonathan Paul Eyewear: In every industry in this economy, consumers are cutting back on spending. The optical industry is no exception. A certain percentage of consumers are holding back on purchasing new optical frames. They will bring in their old frames to get new … [Read more...]
Optical Employers Staying Compliant with Health-care Reform
June 27, 2010 by Leave a Comment
We are following as best we can, the new health-care reform so we can help our readers who have optical employees with staying compliant. Key changes affecting section 125 FSAs (Flexible Spending Accounts) include: The costs for over-the-counter drugs not prescribed by a doctor will be excluded from being reimbursable through an HRA or health … [Read more...]
How To Make A Million Before You Graduate
May 20, 2010 by Leave a Comment
Forbes has an interesting story about this young kid (21), Jamie Murray Wells who parlayed his 2,000 (Euro) student loan into an online eyewear company glassesdirect.com, a London based retailer that does about $5 million in sales. The Forbes Story goes on to write about 9 other mini mogul millionaires and how they did it. The youngest was 15 … [Read more...]
Breaking Even-Optical Retail Strategies
May 12, 2010 by 1 Comment
I did an ABO class on Retail Math at Monterey Symposium last year. Although 'math' may seem boring to most people, it is crucial to the success in an eyecare practice. I was surprised that none of the attendees except one person (from Wal-Mart) knew anything about retail math and the importance to overall optical profitability and good optical … [Read more...]
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