Fieldhill Loans, a small-business funding service in Columbus, IN, explains how optometry practices in Bartholomew County, IN fund exam equipment, optical inventory and a second office. Equipment financing suits exam lanes and diagnostics, inventory financing or a line suits frames and lenses, and a term loan suits a build-out. Each partner weighs the request on its own terms.
Optometrists among Bartholomew County, IN practitioners
Census business counts group optometrists with chiropractors, therapists and other practitioners as offices of other health practitioners (NAICS 6213). Bartholomew County, IN had 52 of these employer establishments in 2023, and 69.2% of them had fewer than five employees (County Business Patterns). Nonemployer Statistics counted 105 practitioner businesses without payroll in 2024. The figures do not separate optometry from the other practitioners, so this post does not estimate how many eye-care practices operate locally.
The exam side: equipment that drives the visit
Exam lanes, phoropters, slit lamps, retinal cameras, OCT units and visual field analyzers are the large purchases. Healthcare equipment financing spreads them over their useful life, with the equipment backing the request. Diagnostic imaging can date quickly, so ask each partner whether a shorter term or a lease would suit it better than a long loan.
Partners reviewing practice equipment read collections and payer mix as much as the quote. The chiropractic, therapy and optometry funding page covers what they typically ask for.
The optical side: frames, lenses and the counter
The optical shop behaves like retail. Frames are bought from vendors on terms, displayed for months, and sold at the counter or through insurance allowances. Stock that does not move ties up cash. Inventory financing or a line of credit can fit this side, because purchases recur and vary in size.
Keep the two sides separate in the figures you share. Partners read an optical counter's sell-through differently from the exam side's insurer collections.
A second office or a larger space
Opening a second location combines a build-out, a full equipment set and a ramp-up period while the new office builds its patient base. A term loan for the build-out, equipment financing for the lanes and a working capital cushion for the first months keep each cost on its own schedule. Check zoning and permits for the new space first; the zoning and permits checklist lists the questions.
Optometry practice loans: a labeled example
Hypothetical figures only, not an offer: a one-doctor practice adds a second exam lane with equipment quoted at $46,000 and an OCT unit at $38,000, and plans to increase its frame inventory by $9,000. Equipment financing for the lane and the OCT, on terms matched to each, plus a modest line of credit for frames, leaves the practice paying for each item roughly as it earns. A partner sets the actual amounts and terms.
Insurance allowances and the optical counter
Vision plans may pay part of a frame or lens purchase through an allowance, with the patient paying the rest at the counter. That splits one sale into two payments arriving at different times: the patient's share on the day, the plan's share weeks later. A busy optical counter can therefore look healthier in sales reports than in the bank account.
When you prepare figures for a partner, show optical sales both ways: what was sold, and what was actually deposited in the month. The difference is the receivable the practice is carrying, and it can be a reason an optical shop looks for a line of credit.
Buying into or buying an optometry practice
Associates buying into a practice, or buying a retiring doctor's practice outright, are making a term-loan request. Partners read the practice's collections history, the patient base, the equipment list valued as used, the optical inventory at cost and the lease. A purchase price based on billed production rather than collections can leave too little margin, so ask for collections figures. The medical and dental practice page covers practice purchases in more detail.
What to prepare
- Twelve months of collections, split by exam services and optical sales.
- Receivables by payer, sorted by how long each has been open.
- Quotes for each piece of equipment.
- Frame and lens inventory at cost, and how fast it turns.
- The lease for any new space.
The Bartholomew County, IN counts live on the Columbus, IN page; related notes are on the Fieldhill blog.
By Fieldhill Loans · Updated
