A business roadmap: planning for future success.

• Position: How-To GUIDE - Company overview

When looking to start your own business, several meaningful objectives need to be outlined and addresses. Not the least of which is a comprehensive study of the current market, trends, analysis of supply and demand. Entrepreneurship requires more than a great idea--it requires dedication and planning.

Looking Back

Opticare of Utah was founded in 1987, as the brainchild of owners Stephen and Dick Schubach, the owners of Standard Optical Company winch was founded in Salt Lake in 1911 by Henry Schubach. The concept of Opticare was to be the first Limited Health Plan for funding vision services and hardware - frames, lenses and contact lenses. At the time, there were no insurance plans covering routine vision care, and the dental plan model had proved that there was, in fact, a market for ancillary insurance products.

Opticare of Utah's first client, and remains a client, is PEHP - Public Employees Health Plan for the State of Utah employees. Not only was this offering widely accepted by state employees, it was launched in several school districts and today covers over 50,000 lives in 26 school districts.

It wasn't until 1999 that the company really took off, under the direction of the fourth generation Schubach, Aaron. From 2000-2009, Opticare of Utah has been listed by Mountain West Venture Capital Group's Utah Top 100 for revenue growth.

Aaron Schubach changed the marketing strategies to focus on selling the plan offerings to the licensed agents and brokers in the community that were already presenting benefits to Utah's major employers. He also expanded the provider panel to over 10,000 Optometrists across the US, and while Utah is still Opticare's number one market, Opticare is a national company. Opticare of Utah is the leader in vision plans, and remains the most affordable option, when compared to other plans.

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Looking Forward

While most employers are still seeing double-digit premium increases, and U.S. health care costs are expected to exceed $4 trillion by 2016, many are...