If you get accustomed to making a comfortable income from a practice with flat growth, you may face a sobering reality when it’s time to sell. This is how to execute a detailed financial plan for continued growth—and to reach your financial retirement goals.

Net cash flow is the lifeblood of an optometric practice. It is the barometer by which the health of the practice is measured. For each size practice–small, medium and large–here is what your cash flow is telling you about the state of your practice.

Managing “by the numbers” is essential to planning, achieving and documenting practice growth. The first number to compute–and the best barometer of the health of a practice–is net cash flow. Here’s how to compute it and why it’s important.