After 20+ years helping eye surgery clinics grow, I’ve learned this: Every business hits a wall. And it’s always one of two things:
You don’t have enough patients.
You can’t handle the patients you do have.
That’s it. Let’s break it down.
What is demand?
Demand means people want what you sell. In ophthalmology, that means:
People searching for LASIK.
Patients booking lens consultations.
Referrals from optometrists.
Leads filling out your self-test.
If you’re running ads, posting on social, presenting at conferences – you’re building demand. No demand = no business. But too much demand? That’s a different problem.
What is supply?
Supply means your ability to deliver what you sell. In eye surgery, this can mean:
A surgeon with open operating time
A fast consultation process
Enough staff to handle follow-ups
Enough space, seats, lasers, phones
If your team is tired, the diary is packed, and wait times are long, you have a supply problem.
The quick test
Ask yourself this question:
“If I had double the patients tomorrow, could I serve them well?”
If your team would drown → You’re supply-constrained.
If your team would cheer → You’re demand-constrained.
You can only be constrained by one side at a time. But that side can switch – and fast!
Some real examples
A LASIK clinic has 8 open consultation slots a day. But 5 go unfilled.
→ Demand constraint.
A cataract clinic serves a large number of public patients. Can’t fill private days.
→ Demand constraint.
A glaucoma surgeon is booked six months in advance. She’s turning away patients.
→ Supply constraint.
A Dry Eye spa has 1 optometrist and 100 calls a week. She can’t keep up.
→ Supply constraint.
The key is to stop guessing. Ask the question, then face the answer.
Step 1: Find the side that’s stuck
Pick one:
You don’t have enough bookings?
→ Demand is your problem.
You can’t fit people in fast enough?
→ Supply is your problem.
Don’t try to fix both at the same time. Don’t run ads and hire a nurse and buy a new scanner and redo your funnel. Pick the side that’s blocking you now. Ignore the other side.
Step 2: Zoom in on the bottleneck
Now go deeper.
If it’s demand:
Are you getting traffic?
Are they converting?
Are leads booking consults?
Are consults showing up?
Are they saying yes to treatment?
Find the drop-off.
Often it’s one step. One staff member. One bad process.
If it’s supply:
Is the surgeon the bottleneck?
Is it consultation time?
Is it ops room space?
Is it post-op care?
Is it admin?
Where’s the friction? Where’s the delay? Find it. Remove it.
Step 3: Watch it flip
As soon as you fix the bottleneck, things start to move. But then it flips.
You fix your ads → More leads → Now your phones can’t keep up.
You hire a second nurse → You see more patients → But now your funnel’s dry.
This is normal. Equilibrium is perpetually elusive. Supply and demand are like two feet walking. One steps.Then the other.That’s how growth happens.
You’ll never fix it once and for all. But you can learn to spot the shift fast.
Why this matters
I’ve watched clinics spend years building systems to solve the wrong problem.
Hiring more staff when there’s not enough demand
Spending on ads when the ops list is full
Building tech for a team that’s not ready
Blaming the funnel when the surgeon is away at conferences
All wasted effort. You don’t need to fix everything. You need to fix the thing that’s blocking growth right now. That’s the secret.
Final word
Most of your growth will come from:
Knowing which side you’re constrained on.
Fixing the exact spot that’s stuck.
Letting it flow until it flips.
Doing it again.
Simple. Not easy. But it works. So next time you're stuck, ask yourself: “If I had double the patients tomorrow, could I serve them well?”
Then listen carefully to your answer. It’ll tell you exactly what to do next.
