Mobile Optometry Clinic Owner Income: $269k Year 1 Estimate
A mobile optometry clinic can show $268,932 in first-year operating profit on $830,040 in modeled revenue, before reserves, debt service, and personal taxes This page separates owner take-home from clinic revenue and from optometrist wages, using the five-year model assumptions for volume, pricing, staffing, eyewear costs, vehicle costs, and fixed overhead
Owner income$268.9kNet margin27.2%Revenue for target pay$830kBusiness difficultyHard
Want the six drivers that move owner income most?
1
Route Use
60%
Year 1 optometrist capacity is 60% and 160 monthly visits, so better route fill pushes more revenue through the same fleet and lifts owner take-home.
2
Visit Price
$120-$350
Year 1 exams are $120 and eyewear sales are $350, so even a small price lift raises gross profit fast and flows to owner take-home.
3
Channel Mix
0-100/mo
The contact lens line starts in Year 3 and reaches 100 monthly treatments by Year 5, so a richer mix improves margin and owner take-home.
4
Staffing Load
$275K
Year 1 payroll is $275,000, so labor discipline matters; every extra FTE has to pay for itself before owner cash grows.
5
Fixed Overhead
$10.7K/mo
Fixed costs run $10,700 a month, so route density has to cover fleet, software, storage, and admin before the owner sees real cash.
6
COGS Control
8%-4%
Eyewear cost starts at 8.0% and contact lens cost at 4.0%, so tighter buying and lab control keep more margin in owner take-home.
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Owner income calculator
Estimate owner take-home and target-pay gap from revenue, margin, costs, reserves, and target pay.
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Planning note: Research-based planning estimate only. It is not guaranteed salary, tax advice, or owner distribution advice.
Planning note: The model uses Year 1 revenue of $830,040 and Year 5 revenue of $616 million, with outputs for monthly revenue, payroll load, fixed overhead, and pre-tax take-home. It’s a planning tool, not a guarantee of earnings.
How many patients per day does a mobile optometry clinic need?
A Mobile Optometry Clinic does not have one fixed patient-per-day target; the model is built on monthly volume and the number of booked route days. In Year 1, 96 completed exam visits per month works out to about 3.2 patients per day on a 30-day spread, while Year 5 reaches 765 visits a month, or about 25.5 per day. Here’s the quick math: more booked routes help by cutting travel gaps, no-shows, setup time, and facility scheduling friction, but exam time still caps capacity.
Year 1 volume
160 optometrist slots per month
60% capacity assumption
96 completed exam visits
About 3.2 patients per day
Year 5 volume
5 optometrists
180 monthly slots each
85% capacity assumption
765 completed exam visits per month
How much revenue does a mobile optometry clinic need to pay the owner?
How do mobile optometry eyewear sales affect owner income?
Eyewear sales can lift owner income in a Mobile Optometry Clinic, but they are not pure profit. In the Year 1 model, 100 monthly eyewear transactions at $350 and 55% capacity produce $19,250 per month, and How Much Does It Cost To Open And Launch Your Mobile Optometry Clinic Business? matters because wholesale eyewear cost is modeled at 80% in Year 1 and 70% in Year 5. Owner take-home improves when capture rises without more remakes, returns, lab fees, or inventory waste.
Income drivers
100 monthly transactions
$350 average eyewear sale
55% capacity in Year 1
$19,250 monthly revenue
Margin risks
80% wholesale cost in Year 1
70% wholesale cost in Year 5
Watch affordability and insurance rules
Manage fulfillment time and ethics
Key Takeaways
More completed exams spread fixed costs and lift margins.
Higher patient tickets raise income only after COGS.
Payer mix and routes improve cash flow predictability.
Payroll and vehicle costs must be covered first.
Compare lean, base, and high owner-income scenarios
Owner income scenarios
Owner income shifts with visit volume, eyewear mix, staffing, and vehicle costs. Later years assume more clinicians and higher capacity, so take-home improves only if demand fills the schedule.
Low, base, and high owner income cases for planning.
Scenario
Low CaseConservative
Base CaseMost likely
High CaseUpside
Launch model
This is the lower earnings path and reflects the first operating year while the clinic is still ramping.
This is the modeled middle path and matches the Year 3 operating setup.
This is the stronger earnings path and reflects the Year 5 scale case.
Typical setup
Year 1 at $830,040 revenue and $268,932 operating profit, with a 32.4% operating margin, 60.0% optometrist capacity, and a $275,000 payroll base.
Year 3 at $318 million revenue and $173 million operating profit, with a 54.4% operating margin, 78.0% optometrist capacity, and a $770,000 payroll base.
Year 5 at $616 million revenue and $390 million operating profit, with a 63.3% operating margin, 85.0% optometrist capacity, and a $1.18 million payroll base.
Cost drivers
1 optometrist
60.0% capacity
$275,000 payroll base
lean first-year team
lower patient volume
2 optometrists
78.0% capacity
$770,000 payroll base
broader eyewear mix
steadier support staff
5 optometrists
85.0% capacity
$1.18M payroll base
stronger contact lens mix
larger support team
Owner income rangeBefore owner reserves
$268,932First-year ramp
$173,000,000Model year 3
$390,000,000Scale-up upside
Best fit
Use this to test first-year cash pressure and slow ramp risk.
Use this as the core case for budgeting, hiring, and lender talks.
Use this to test upside if demand, staffing, and mix all land well.
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Planning note: Scenario ranges are researched planning assumptions, not guaranteed earnings, salary promises, tax advice, or distributions.
Mobile Optometry Clinic Core Six Income Drivers
Patient Volume And Route-Day Utilization
Route-Day Utilization
Patient volume per route day is the main margin lever here. In the model, Year 1 reaches 96 completed exams per month from 160 slots at 600% capacity, then Year 5 climbs to 765 exams per month with 5 optometrists, 180 slots each, and 850% capacity.
More completed exams spread van, insurance, software, storage, admin, and route costs over more revenue, so owner pay improves once fixed overhead is covered. The catch is simple: travel time, no-shows, setup time, clinical duration, and facility scheduling can crush route-day output fast.
Track Fill Rate and Route Loss
Measure scheduled slots, completed exams, and no-show rate by route, not just by month. Here’s the quick math: if route days stay full, volume rises without the same jump in overhead, which lifts gross margin and cash available for owner draw.
Track exams per optometrist each month.
Watch empty slots by facility.
Test routes with less drive time.
Block setup and cleanup time.
Confirm schedules 24 to 48 hours ahead.
Revenue Per Patient
Revenue Per Patient
Revenue per patient is the average ticket from one visit: exam fee, eyewear, contact lens services, and add-ons. In Year 1, the exam price is $120 and eyewear sale price is $350, so a visit that converts to both can reach $470 before costs. Higher ticket size lifts owner income only when the extra sales fit patient need and do not add avoidable refunds or rework.
Year 3 adds contact lens services at $250 with 80 monthly slots and 500% capacity. That can raise gross revenue fast, but the gain has to be net of COGS (cost of goods sold), insurance rules, and ethical clinical recommendations. If lens fills, lab waste, or remakes rise, the added revenue can miss take-home profit.
Lift the average ticket
Track revenue per visit by service line: exam, eyewear, contact lens, and add-ons. Here’s the quick math: visit revenue = exam + product sales + services. Watch conversion rate from exam to eyewear, contact lens attach rate, refund rate, and remake rate. A higher ticket helps only if gross margin stays healthy and cash does not leak into returns or extra lab work.
$120 exam price
$350 eyewear sale price
$250 contact lens service
Track refunds and remakes
Match offers to patient need
Price and staff for fit, not pressure. Use scripting that explains options clearly, then document why each add-on is clinically appropriate. If prescriptions are wrong or products are oversold, refunds and re-dos will eat the margin and delay owner pay. The best gain is a higher average ticket with the same route day and no extra waste.
Vehicle, Equipment, And Fixed Operating Costs
Vehicle and Fixed Overhead
$10,700/month of fixed overhead hits owner income before route volume does, and that includes $1,500 EHR software, $800 billing software, $1,200 liability insurance, $2,500 storage rent, $1,000 professional services, and $3,000 vehicle fleet insurance. Keep startup costs, debt service, and depreciation separate so you do not overstate operating profit.
At 96 completed exams/month, fixed overhead is about $111 per exam before variable vehicle costs. By 765 exams/month, it falls to about $14 per exam. That drop is why owner pay stays thin until routes are full; in Year 1, vehicle operating costs still run at 40% of revenue, versus 30% in Year 5.
Track Cost Per Route Day
Measure fixed overhead per exam and per route day, then compare it with collected revenue by location. If a route cannot cover its share of the $10,700 base plus the 40% Year 1 vehicle cost load, it is draining owner income. The fix is simple: fill more stops, cut dead miles, and drop low-yield route days.
Track miles, service time, cancellations, and vehicle downtime every week. The goal is cleaner route density, not just more bookings. When recurring routes lift utilization, the same overhead buys more completed exams and more cash left for the owner's draw.
Eyewear COGS And Lab Control
Eyewear COGS And Lab Control
Eyewear margin is set by COGS (cost of goods sold), lab fees, and remake waste. In Year 1, eyewear cost is modeled at 80% of sales and contact lens cost at 40%; by Year 5, they improve to 70% and 35%. That lift goes straight to owner take-home if fit stays strong.
Here’s the quick math: at a $350 eyewear sale, 80% COGS leaves $70 before remakes, returns, and warranty credits. At 70%, it leaves $105. Eyewear sales should never be treated as pure profit, because bad measurements, loose ordering, and slow lab delivery can wipe out the gain fast.
Track Remakes And Lab Cost
Measure wholesale cost, lab pricing, remake rate, returns, warranty credits, inventory turns, and delivery time by job. These inputs show the true margin on each pair and each contact lens order, not just the sale price.
Log cost by frame and lens.
Review remake reasons weekly.
Order tighter on prescriptions.
Cut dead stock and rush fees.
If fit quality slips, margin gains disappear. If measurement is tight, the owner keeps more of each sale and can pay themselves more without hurting patient service.
Staffing Model And Clinical Labor
Clinical Labor and Owner Pay
Payroll is one of the biggest limits on owner income in a mobile optometry clinic. In Year 1, total payroll is modeled at $275,000 across the Lead Optometrist, Dispensing Optician, Mobile Clinic Tech, and Patient Coordinator, so profit only rises if route volume grows fast enough to cover each role.
By Year 5, payroll reaches $118 million as staff scale. Owner-operated care can shift income between wages and distributions, while hired optometrists usually cut profit but add capacity. The key test is simple: does each added clinician bring in enough route-day volume to pay for wages, contractor payments, and payroll burden?
Track Labor per Route Day
Measure labor as wages, contractor payments, payroll burden, and owner distributions. Don’t mix them together. That split shows whether growth is improving take-home pay or just raising staff costs.
Track exams per clinician per month.
Track payroll against route volume.
Track owner draw after staff pay.
Test new hires on filled routes first.
If a new optometrist or support role does not fill enough mobile visits, payroll eats cash flow fast. If onboarding is slow or routes stay half empty, profit falls before revenue catches up.
Reimbursement Mix And Channel Mix
Payer Mix Shapes Cash Flow
Your income depends on how much work is paid by cash pay, vision plans, medical billing, and contracts with employers, schools, and assisted living facilities. The model uses price assumptions, not reimbursement guarantees, so the same visit count can produce very different revenue and owner pay.
That timing matters because payroll, vehicle insurance, EHR software, billing software, and storage still come due every month. Recurring routes can reduce marketing and travel gaps, but only if they fill enough slots to keep cash coming in before fixed bills hit.
Measure Routeable Reimbursement
Track revenue by channel, then compare booked visits, completed visits, and days to collect. One clean test is cash collected ÷ services delivered; if that falls, owner draw gets tighter even when volume looks fine.
With $10,700/month of fixed overhead, the goal is predictable collections. Push recurring facility routes that lower dead miles, and price lower-certainty channels so they still cover the monthly cost stack.
