How does over-the-counter insole competition affect an orthotics business?

Anyone can buy an insole in a drugstore or online, and that is part of the market an orthotics business works in. Test any claim about the effect on custom work against the clinic’s records. What matters is how this particular business wins and keeps its patients. As a buyer, treat it as a set of questions for the seller, not a conclusion you can draw from outside.

Ask how the custom work is different

Ask the seller to explain, in plain words, what a patient gets here that they would not get from a shelf product. It might be assessment time, follow-up visits, fit adjustments or coordination with the patient’s clinician. Ask for examples and for how the business describes it to patients. Then ask whether patients actually say so when they book.

Check where patients come from

Ask for a record of how new patients arrive: referrals from clinicians, insurer or plan directories, word of mouth, online search or walk-in. A business that relies on a small number of referrers sees competition differently from one with a wide base. Ask which sources have grown and which have faded, and what the owner did about it.

Look at how sales have moved

Ask for sales by line over several years and see whether custom devices, shelf products and follow-up work have moved together or apart. Ask the seller what changed and why. Do not accept a general story about the trade as a fact about this business. Your accountant can read the numbers with you.