Dr. Noufal Mais is an entrepreneur and optometrist who operates two successful eye care franchises in western Canada. He started his first practice, The Eye Centre, in Leduc, Alberta, directly after receiving his D.O. Within a year, he opened another branch, implementing the same business model of providing state-of-the-art eye care in small-town communities. Today, The Eye Centre has four branches, with two more scheduled to open in the coming months.
Dr. Noufal Mais also founded and operates three branches of Alliance Eye Centre in Regina and Saskatoon, SK, offering the same quality of care with a personalized, patient-centric approach. His clinics offer state-of-the-art diagnostic tools such as Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT), Digital Retinal Photography (DRP), and the Optomap, an ultra-widefield retinal imaging tool designed to identify undetected pathologies.
In addition to his clinics, Dr. Mais operates a Mobile Eye Clinic, traveling to rural and remote indigenous towns and work camps in the summer months to handle any eye care needs. He is currently launching a telehealth initiative, Digital Optometric Services, continuing his efforts to expand eye care access to less accessible regions of western Canada.
Dr. Noufal Mais is dedicated to the mission of bridging the vision care gap between urban and rural communities. He’s driven to increase eye-health literacy and expand access to interventions for unaddressed vision issues. His focus is on giving his patients the gift of clear vision through an innovative, caring approach to patient care.
Outside of his business practices, Dr. Mais enjoys an active lifestyle, pursuing hobbies such as fishing, hunting, soccer, basketball, boxing, golf and regular gym workouts. In both his practice and his personal life, Dr. Mais prioritizes the pursuit of optimal health.
What is your typical day, and how do you make it productive?
My day starts out with an executive meeting in the morning, where we discuss marketing and business strategies. We follow that up with a general staff meeting, where we set an agenda for the day. I usually meet with my CFO or the media team to go over any advertising needs. Then, once the business side is taken care of, I begin seeing patients.
How do you bring ideas to life?
I work with my executive team to collaborate on new ideas for the business. When we work through the details of things like bringing new innovations into the business or expanding our business model, these ideas start to take shape and become real. It’s only through the involvement of the whole team that things like this become possible.
What’s one trend that excites you?
I’m a huge fan of technology and incorporating new innovations into our business. The biggest transformations are happening in the field of A.I., which is going to impact all aspects of our business. From A.I.-based software to A.I.-integrated equipment, the field of optometry will soon be revolutionized, particularly in the areas of early diagnosis and detection of disease.
What is one habit that helps you be productive?
I try to practice good time management habits. These habits are essential for being as productive as possible. That goes along with being organized and maintaining a healthy work/life balance. I like to wake up early and get a head start on the day – this always gives me a boost of energy as I start to take on the challenging tasks of running my businesses.
What advice would you give your younger self?
I’d say, don’t let other people define who you are or where you want to be. There are so many optometry businesses out there, and I’ve met and worked with so many other doctors with completely different approaches to running their practice. But I was able to formulate my own set of goals and my own ideas for a business model, and it’s been really satisfying to stick to those and see them come to fruition.
Tell us something you believe almost nobody agrees with you on?
I believe anyone can scale up their business, no matter what the industry or business model. It just takes perseverance and a positive belief. It’s a mindset more than anything else.
What is the one thing you repeatedly do and recommend everyone else do?
I recommend that everyone adopt a fitness regiment. If I didn’t have a regular gym workout, I don’t know how I’d have the energy or focus to be at my best. It’s so worth the time and the money and the effort to establish a workout routine.
When you feel overwhelmed or unfocused, what do you do?
I love going for walks. Even when it’s extremely brisk, which it certainly gets in Alberta, I find it reinvigorates me and helps me clear my mind. I come back with a fresh perspective on whatever it was that was bothering me.
What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business or advance in your career?
I try to remind myself and everyone else on our staff that we’re patient-focused. We’re here to make sure our patients are satisfied, happy and informed about their options for eye care. It’s too easy to get distracted with the business side, or the challenges of the science or the technology. We have to remind ourselves to stay focused on the core mission, which is really to provide excellent customer service.
What is one failure in your career, how did you overcome it, and what lessons did you take away from it?
I’d say, in the first year, I was maybe too focused on expanding, and not focused enough on establishing the foundation at our original location. I think we may have opened the second location too quickly. So the lesson there is, don’t rush it. Learn what you need to learn first, establish your business and your brand, and then you can look into expansion possibilities.
What is one business idea you’re willing to give away to our readers?
Telemedicine will be a big part of the future of eye care, and the methods are evolving rapidly. If you’re an eye doctor with a skill for app development, there’s a big opportunity for you to develop something that could become a standard for the industry. It’s an exciting area of innovation, and there will be lots of new ideas for developing best practices. If you come up with the right model, it could be a goldmine.
What is one piece of software that helps you be productive? How do you use it?
Our meetings wouldn’t be possible without Google Suites and all the different apps that the platform features. So it’s not really software, but these apps like Google Meet and the shared Drive are invaluable for us.
Do you have a favorite book or podcast you’ve gotten a ton of value from and why?
I like the Harvard Business Review’s Ideacast. It’s a weekly podcast with two hosts and different guests from the business world. I love the candidness of their conversations, and I’ve picked up a lot of great ideas about running a successful business.
What’s a movie or series you recently enjoyed and why?
I’m finding that the John Wick movies never get old. I hope they make five more.
Key learnings
- Consider developing a fitness regiment, if you don’t already have one in place; it can help improve energy and focus.
- If you’re feeling overwhelmed and unfocused, consider going for a walk.