If you are looking to open a dermatology practice, you may hear commercial real estate brokers ask — Where are you looking? How many square feet do you need? But as a broker, I push my clients to consider the big picture before I ever get to those questions. Here are three powerful questions to help clarify your vision when deciding where to open a dermatology practice:
- What kind of practice do you want to have and who is your competition?
The first thing you need to consider is what services you want to offer and what kind of patients you are targeting. There are a variety of factors here. First you should consider geography – for example, do you want to be in Illinois to target farmers who may spend a lot of time in the sun? You should also think about age range – do you want to be in an area with growing families to help children with breakouts and skin problems? Lastly, consider the income range of the area and if your potential patients can afford your procedures, especially if you want to offer expensive medical spa options. You should also consider if you want to offer more than just services and you would like to include a retail storefront as well.
In addition, you should consider what kind of location you want to have. There are medical, office and retail options available to dermatologists, and the space needs to fit your practice. For example, if you want to sell products, being on the fifth floor of an office building would not be the best fit for you. Instead, you should look for retail space with good visibility.
Once you determine what services you want to offer, and to whom, you need to understand who else is offering these services and targeting your potential patients. For example, if you are looking to open a med spa in a densely populated, high-demand area like Miami, you should look for areas that have a ratio of about one dermatologist for every 5,000 people. However, for more rural or suburban areas, this can go up to one for every 15,000. Your real estate agent can help you run demographic reports on both your potential patients and competition.
These may seem like daunting decisions and if you do not have the perfect answers, that’s okay! Reach out to friends and contacts in your field and discuss with them how they approached these questions. Still don’t know? There are consultants who specialize in helping you answer these questions.
- What is your lifestyle now and what will it be in the future?
It is not only patients’ lifestyles you have to consider, but your own! Consider not only what your lifestyle looks like now – where do you live? do you own or rent? how far are you willing to commute? – but also what you expect it will look like for years to come. Commutes that can seem reasonable now can lead to burnout, especially if you plan lifestyle changes, such as having children. A good rule of thumb would be to begin to look for offices closer to where you live, or plan to live, and work outwards. Also, think about how your lifestyle can give you a competitive advantage. If you grew up in an area or have hometown connections, this can help you grow your business.
- Who is your team?
To have the greatest change at success in opening your practice, you need to surround yourself with a strong team. Your team can include your real estate agent, your contractor, your architect, your consultant, your bank, your equipment supplier and many other support people. Opening a medical office is a specialized field, and you need to have experts on your side to set you up for success.
For example, a real estate agent who does not specialize in medical offices may not understand how long build out takes. Regular retail stores can open within 90 days, but medical offices may take 90 days to simply secure permits. You need an agent who can secure you favorable lease terms, such as 120 to 150 days free rent, so you are not paying out rent without even being open to patients. In summary, it’s much easier (and more fun!) to drive around and try to find beautiful office space than it is to put pen to paper and draft a vision and business plan. However, it’s the planning – in particular the vision building described in point one – that’s going to set you up for future success. From there, a consultant and medical real estate agent can take your vision and help you make it a reality.
