Yesterday’s announcement by BUPA that they intend to open an extra 50 private practices in locations where white collar workers are located (and with late opening hours) is yet another indication of:
1. the growth in private market share predicted by Laing and Buisson and used as evidence for regulation by the OFT and
2. the further interest of “big business” in the sector
You are now in competition with:
- Tesco (joint-venture with IDH)
- Sainsbury (Centre for Dentistry – in which BKH has an interest)
- Boots (NHS)
- BUPA
- House of Fraser (now opening in more locations)
- Harvey Nichols
and, of course, the major/midi/minor corporates that are either well established and funded or growing as new starts.
You are even going to be in competition with BKH Partner practices going forward – independents who have partnered with us to get access to our ‘special sauce’ of funding, people, systems and clinical mentoring.
Are you really in competition?
Only if you so choose.
When Boots invested millions in marketing back in the early 2000s, all of my independent clients saw an upturn in business.
Patients came in and said “I saw this in a Boots advert/promotion – do you do it?”
The towns with the highest concentration of dental practices are the ones where the most dentistry gets done.
Competition stimulates demand.
Big business knows this. They are not worried about competition – they encourage it.
I encourage you to compete on your own terms:
1. quality of your team
2. quality of your premises
3. quality of your patient journey experience
4. quality of your product mix
5. quality of your dentistry
in that order.
These are the best of days…
