Harnessing the Power of Disruption
This article is sponsored content brought to you by Dental 99.
There is an alternative to gaps in our books, under-utilised associate dentists or astronomical AdWords spends. In the era of disruption, which is descending rapidly upon the dental industry, surely it is better to utilise disruption than to sit back and let it happen to us. A new technology-based dental business may just have the answer.
The notions of modern day disruption can be traced back to the groundbreaking thesis The Innovators Dilemma penned by the recently deceased father of disruption, Clayton Christensen. Clayton closely studied the impact of small, agile players in the US steel industry, and their impact on the behemoth integrated steel companies of the time. From this he developed a theory that has held true in almost every industry since, and been utilised to create some of the largest and most successful businesses on Earth.
The theory
To explain it simplistically, when an industry, product or service can outperform average consumer needs, it is vulnerable to low-end disruption. By creating a better, more expensive product, organisations niche themselves to their most profitable customers, and in doing this, leave behind larger, less lucrative market segments. Through creating a product that is basic but more affordable, a disruptive business can achieve significant scale and market share.
Alternatively, if a business can create a product or service that is completely different to competitors, or opens up an untouched market segment, it creates new-market disruption. This competes against non-consumption and can become wildly successful.
Disruption and dentistry
While technological innovation has provided cutting edge treatment for many patients, this high-end technology comes at a cost that is pricing out patients from receiving dental care. As leaner more basic dental businesses emerge, they not only operate in a market that is ripe for low-end disruption, but in Australia, where almost 35% of people don’t visit the dentist, an opportunity exists to create new-market disruption as well. If we take the old 80/20 rule of thumb into consideration, whereby most dental practices rely on 20% of patients to provide 80% of revenue, during a course of disruption, businesses will instinctively cater to the 20% of patients that provides the most income. This leaves a large number of customers who can and do go elsewhere, often without us even knowing.
Dental 99
From its beginnings in Clayton’s disruption lectures at Harvard Business School, Dental 99 has blazed into the market, utilising basic disruption theory to target the segment of patients who can’t, or don’t, go to the dentist. In a post-pandemic world, this segment will grow rapidly. Carving out a new segment in dentistry, the Dental 99 business model provides basic dental treatments at a fixed price of $99. Having partnered with one of Australia’s largest tech companies, Dental 99 has created a platform that reduces costs and operations in a way not seen in the dental space before.
The app provide patients with a convenient system that allows them to book and pay. It also provides a new level of transparency, giving patients live records, X-rays and photos. The practices remain profitable as the app enables Dental 99 practices to operate without a reception and a much more streamlined working environment.
Partnering with Dental 99
Despite its incredibly low marketing spend, Dental 99 sees over 1500 new patients a month, and it needs like-minded partners to service this demand. Dental 99 offers clinicians and business owners opportunities to start or grow an existing business in an increasingly competitive environment. Franchise partners can be assured to receive the support of the set up, business model, technology, marketing and most importantly patient bookings. Alternatively, practices can be re-invigorated, by allocating time or filling gaps in their books, to see Dental 99 patients.
By answering a few questions and downloading the Dental 99 Pro app, businesses can start almost immediately, and breathe new life into their practice with a new source of patients.
By harnessing the power of disruption, modern dental businesses can thrive in times of uncertainty and increased competition. Like every business, it is the continuing re-evaluation of its business model that enables a dental practice to be successful over the long term. Can disruption afford to be ignored? Those consolidated US steel companies did, and how many are left today?
Source: https://bitemagazine.com.au/harnessing-the-power-of-disruption/