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The entrepreneurs
Optometrist Natalie Sukontasup had always envisioned opening her own eye care practice, but wasn’t quite sure where to start. Then her husband, Kiati Plooksawasdi, used the idea as the basis for an entrepreneurship group project while pursuing his executive MBA degree at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business. Plooksawasdi and his classmates helped navigate the process of starting the business from the ground up. In January 2013, Sukontasup and Plooksawasdi made their dream a reality, opening First Sight Vision Care in Maple Lawn near Columbia.
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The pitch
Sukontasup
“First Sight Vision Care serves the families of Maple Lawn and its surrounding communities in Howard and Montgomery counties. We pride ourselves on providing quality comprehensive vision care in a state-of-the-art facility. Our services range from complete adult and pediatric vision exams, contact lens evaluations, diabetic eye exams, LASIK evaluation, ocular disease co-management, motor vehicle exams and same-day red eye evaluations.
“I worked at several vision care practices, but it is very rare for one to be run like a business. That is one of our priorities here. As a new practice entering a very competitive retail market, we are trying to distinguish ourselves from the competition, without sacrificing quality of our service and products. In today’s current market, competition is intensely felt from large big-box retailers advertising discount pricing, but at the expense of quality service and care.
“At First Sight, we are focused on customer service and creating and maintaining a long-term loyal customer base.”
Plooksawasdi
“What differentiates us is our focus on patients and patient education. We’re trying to change the way people think about vision care. Most times, people are seeking eye care when there is a problem or they need glasses and contacts. We’re trying to help patients seek preventative care. As the saying goes, eyes are the windows to the soul, and they are definitely the windows to your health, too. From a simple eye exam, you can detect early signs to health problems, including diabetes and high cholesterol.
“Our main challenge right now is getting the word out about our offerings. We’re looking to capture new business. We’ve been embedding ourselves in Maple Lawn through community events, including youth sports programs, sponsoring charity events, and vendor booths at fairs. We’re having pretty good penetration in the vicinity around our office, but how do we spread beyond that to surrounding communities? As a young business, we’re on a limited budget. How do we get the word out that we’re here without breaking the bank? Once we get people into the office, their experience helps bring more patients through word-of-mouth referrals. But we just need to get them in the office.”
The advice
Liz Sara, entrepreneur-in-residence, Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship
“When you’re going after a consumer audience, there are many things you can do to build your client base that will cost very little money, but will take a significant amount of time and effort. But that’s what entrepreneurs are all about — building the business with sweat equity.
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