A Clever Dentist, Introducing the Publication of 「Dental Opening: Jaupjeom」 and the Excel Materials

Please refer to the link below to purchase the book!

1. Opening Remarks

I would like to thank the senior and junior colleagues, and fellow directors, who purchased, or are interested in, the practical guide for preparing to open a dental clinic, <Dental Opening: Jaupjeom>. I think most of the people who bought the book did so before deciding on a location for opening their clinic. Or perhaps some directors who have already chosen a location and are preparing to open, and even senior directors who are already running enviable dental clinics, have purchased it as well. I am both embarrassed and sincerely grateful.

I wrote this book with the hope that it would be of at least some help in judging a location on your own, without going through an agency. I know there may be various attacks and criticism, but I would like to say that the things I wrote are, at the very least, thoughts I actually had. In other words, I did not invent things that never happened during the opening process, copy what others say, or hide what I know or write information that is different from the facts in an attempt to deceive directors.

Honestly, I do not think you have ever met a so-called "agent" who talks about macro-level opening locations with the depth of insight this book offers. Between the agents who are desperate to get a clinic opened as soon as they see an empty building, and me, who has nothing to gain from directors opening in neighborhoods I happened to mention as good... who is more likely to tell the truth? I placed more importance on facts proven by objective data than on hearsay.

With the help of Director Park Young-min, we were able to hold a grand publication celebration.

2. The Concept of the Book

If you are thinking, "Who are you to write a book about opening a dental clinic? It's only been a year since you opened," then yes, that is fair. I think of myself as a rookie when it comes to opening a dental clinic. But I do think the "direction" in which I thought about opening location was rather special. So I do not dare talk about management, labor issues, or anything like that. I focused only on the positioning and branding concerns involved in determining the initial concept during the preparation period and in the early stage after opening. It is clearly different from the concept of the opening-preparation books that have been published so far. I think that focusing on a specific area lacking in the market in this way and positioning oneself there is, ultimately, a "differentiation strategy."

"Location" is ultimately a "positioning" strategy. Of course, one cannot deny that real estate location is the most important factor among location decisions and has an absolutely decisive impact on survival, but that also ultimately comes down to what kind of position I will take in the market? (that is, what spot will I occupy and sit in?). Just like real estate location, we must choose a position in various fields such as operating strategy and branding, specialized treatments, and fee strategy. Therefore, the practical guide <Dental Opening: Jaupjeom> is not simply a book about real estate location.

Part of the keynote at the publication celebration

I spent so much time thinking while reviewing the data for the opening preparation process that I was able to write this book, and I am now steadily building the "high-ARPU aesthetic dental clinic" I wanted to run. Dental management is extremely difficult and I am not yet at a point where I can boast about results, but I think we are enduring difficult times and growing a little bit at a time in a pretty visible way. As a clinic with half the average number of daily patients of dental clinics in Seocho-gu, achieving revenue above the median for dental clinics in Seocho-gu is, I think, my own weapon for overcoming market conditions and the power of the "positioning" I mentioned earlier. Opening a new, standalone clinic without existing capital in Gangnam, which is said to be the hardest place to run a dental clinic in Korea, is honestly not an easy thing. In that sense, I often, perhaps presumptuously, think that I want to become a clear management model for junior directors. Just as senior directors have shown me.

3. Recommendations

This fantastic book goes beyond simply offering insights into dental clinic opening locations; it is a full-package strategy guide that contains comprehensive strategies and ideas from opening preparation to operation. (truncated)

Recommendation from Director Moon Seok-jun of Seoul BD Dental, Buldang Main Branch

Based on his experience analyzing various data and thinking deeply during the preparation process for opening his practice, the author, Director So Hyeon-su, shares a new perspective that can reduce risks and increase the chances of success in a real-world opening environment. (truncated)

Recommendation from Director Choi Min-uk of Hankuk University of Foreign Studies Able Dental Clinic

This much-needed book carefully walks prospective clinic owners through everything from location analysis methods to differentiation strategies through branding, giving them vivid details of what Director So Hyeon-su of Jaejugo Dental personally thought about and put into practice while preparing to open his clinic. (truncated)

Recommendation from Director Kim Jun-yeop of Apgujeong Kim Jun-yeop Dental Clinic

Director So Hyeon-su's "Dental Opening: Jaupjeom" is undoubtedly an essential book that will help many directors preparing to open their clinics take an important and significant step forward. If I could go back to the time when I opened my clinic, I could not help but admire how the book contains so many things I would have definitely studied closely and thought about more deeply. (truncated)

Recommendation from Director Cho Young-ji of Busan Resin Dental Clinic

Director Moon Seok-jun of Seoul BD Dental, who has become well-known for innovation in dental management through the "patient funnel," was also the first to write a recommendation after reading the manuscript in advance. Director Choi Min-uk of Hankuk University of Foreign Studies Able Dental Clinic, who sent the second recommendation, is the person who showed a practical survival model for neighborhood dental clinics where skilled dentists can provide treatment. Director Kim Jun-yeop of Apgujeong Kim Jun-yeop Dental Clinic is a person who has become a dental management model itself with the concept of "skilled dentist" and "VIP" treatment. Director Cho Young-ji of Busan Resin Dental Clinic is a senior director who has already been creating good precedents with high-end treatment ahead of me. All four of them are role models for me and have helped me endure the difficult early stage after opening.

4. Popularity of the Book Content

The beginning of <Dental Opening: Jaupjeom> was this article I wrote in 2020. After finding the "big data map" provided by HIRA and thinking about how to use it, I extracted the data one by one and organized it into a single Excel file. The starting point was providing the organized file to directors "for free." Those who received the Excel file from me will know that I never asked anything of the directors in the process. On the contrary, I explained everything about where the data came from and how to check it.

As a result, the article written in 2020 has 2,672 views and 130 comments.

The updated article from 2023 has 2,828 views and 234 comments.

All of them are from the interest of dental directors.

5. What Is Included in the Book

Thanks to that, the book begins with a discussion of "rural clinic openings." Opening a clinic in a rural area is a hot topic, but it is also not easy to decide on. That is because there are no reliable tools for analyzing location. When word spreads that a newly opened dental clinic in some mountain village is doing amazingly well, another competing clinic opens right next door based on that rumor alone, and the cycle repeats. I did not want to write at that level. I wanted to analyze, with more objective data, where and how a dental clinic should be opened.

I showed everything without mosaics at the publication celebration, haha.

I personally searched for and organized materials that are usually hard to find. I also ranked them. In particular, the statistics on the number of insurance implant placements are not something you can get for free, and in most cases people do not even know such data exists, let alone know how to obtain it even if they want to. Of course, I organized all of those statistics, and I am planning to share the original Excel file as well so that those who purchase the book can freely rank and analyze the data.

Once you get past the middle of the book, it covers the worries that everyone has at least once after choosing a location, and in the latter half I show, without any filtering, the entire process of "differentiation" and "branding" that I thought through in order to survive in a fiercely competitive area. In this blog's opening diary, I show slightly more refined writing, but in the book I think I was able to be even more honest and unfiltered. I also talk openly about actual fee structures and opening costs, and other money-related matters.

In particular, I tried to discuss various methods that can be tried right away when thinking about differentiation that will actually "work in the market." Not theoretical, textbook-style talk or vague ideas that anyone could ramble on about, but real things you can use immediately. There is a reason the directors who read the manuscript in advance said, "Is it really okay to tell people even this?"

6. Sharing the Excel Files (Quiz for Verified Book Buyers)

I like sharing knowledge. However, I also think there should be some moat. So I would like to provide the materials only to those who have purchased the book at a high price. It is not as if I will become rich by selling books (I really do not make money from book sales), but this is the only way I can express my gratitude to those who purchased it, so I ask for your understanding. I believe the content of the book is clearly worth 80,000 won during the opening process!

Along with the book, please read the opening diary posts I have uploaded to my blog, and if you have time, I hope you will visit our clinic so we can share candid stories as well. In fact, many directors who had never met me in person have visited... haha. You are welcome.

Esthetic Dentistry Society of the Korean International Dental Association, book publication event

Thanks to Director Park Young-min, I had the chance to introduce the book at such a grand event, and I am told that many books were sold at the booth on the day of the event. I am truly grateful🥰 In fact, I saw the physical book for the first time that day as well... haha. I had to edit and print quickly to match the event schedule, and apparently many people saw the book before I did lol.

The list of Excel files provided to book purchasers consists of the 7 files with the blue background below.

I will deliver the 7 files.

Those who purchased the book, please solve the quiz below and I will send you the Excel file set. The quiz will be changed periodically. Thank you.

Q. If you leave the capacity of my sterilization room refrigerator in a private comment, I will send you the Excel file set.

Hint: page 217