Supplementary Lesson for Opening a Practice: With Data

Since our clinic is in Seocho-gu, I’ll start with an example based on Seocho-gu statistics.

The median annual revenue of dental clinics in Seocho-gu in 2022 is said to be 491.93 million KRW. On the other hand, the average revenue is said to be 939.88 million KRW, so the gap between the median and the average is quite large. We learned that the average is also called the “expected value,” but in cases like the revenue of medical institutions, where the difference between the median and the average is this large, I think it is more realistic to use the median rather than the average, and more practically, the “mode” rather than the median, as the expected value.

If we show one simulation result, reverse-estimated through chatGPT, of the revenue distribution of 313 dental clinics in Seocho-gu based on these two figures, the median and the average, it looks like this below.

Naturally, the mode will appear in the 300–400 million KRW range rather than around the median in the upper 400 million KRW range. But this graph does not include the revenue of a large high-revenue dental clinic that I know about. Including that revenue amount, I ran the simulation again with the x-axis divided into 100 million KRW intervals.

It peaks in the 200–300 million KRW range and the 300–400 million KRW range. Even if I turn on my wishful thinking and set my expected value in the 300–400 million KRW range, with the maximum there being 400 million KRW, the monthly revenue comes out to the 30 million KRW range. Shall we look at the 2022 percentile statistics for actual revenue of dental clinics in Seocho-gu? I calculated them one by one to find the 5% boundary values. Each x-axis % indicates the minimum revenue for the top x% of revenues in Seocho-gu. For example, the top 80% revenue range is a minimum of 280.05 million KRW to a maximum of 314.75 million KRW.

This is the annual revenue status, haha.

In the 100 million KRW range: 1 interval,

In the 200 million KRW range: 2 intervals,

In the 300 million KRW range: 3 intervals,

In the 400 million KRW range: 3 intervals,

In the 500 million KRW range: 1 interval,

And each of the 600–1,000 million KRW ranges: 1 interval each.

In other words, the population is largest in the 300–400 million KRW annual revenue range. This is very similar to the simulation result I ran earlier with chatGPT. I think once you know the average and the median, you can predict where the mode will appear when you run a simulation. The hierarchy of mode - median - average will probably be the same in most neighborhood statistics, no matter where you look.

Then let’s turn our eyes a little farther. For example, let’s take a look at Jung-gu, Incheon Metropolitan City. The median annual revenue of dental clinics in Jung-gu, Incheon Metropolitan City, in 2022 is 748.50 million KRW. That is already 250 million KRW higher than our Seocho-gu figure.. The average is 840.23 million KRW. The gap between the median and the average is not that large. The median monthly revenue is already 62.38 million KRW, and if someone who can run a profitable operation in Seocho by controlling fixed costs with monthly revenue of 40.99 million KRW were to make 62.38 million KRW a month in Jung-gu, Incheon, I imagine things would get really good for them.. That’s the kind of thought I had.

In Jung-gu, Incheon, 488.13 million KRW is said to put you in the top 75%. In Seocho-gu, 491.93 million KRW is top 50%. Insurance revenue is also in the 30 million KRW range, which is among the upper tier in the Seoul metropolitan area. The book I wrote about opening a practice is indeed meant to be used like this, to “compare” practice locations. Each person will use it differently, of course, but haha, comparison is where the greatest meaning lies.

This is not a book written to tell you stories about Ulleungdo or Gangjin-gun.. I wrote it hoping that you would personally look up the data like this and compare them. I hope you use it creatively.

Dental Clinic Opening: Site Selection

Author Sohyunsoo Publisher Gunja Publishing Release Date 2025.02.05.

Jaejugoodeun Dental Clinic surpassed the median monthly revenue for Seocho-gu in its 6th month of operation. Because aesthetic treatment for the front teeth does not lead to repeat purchases, it has a very significant weakness; however, as referrals have steadily increased, the cost and time spent on marketing have decreased a lot. In February, when I did not post any case studies on Naver Blog at all, the number of new patients actually increased to 95 (monthly average for the previous 3 months: 68, up 40%). Isn’t 95 new patients in the fiercely competitive old downtown area of Seoul pretty good? I’m saying this not to brag, but to provide information about the author of this book.

I originally planned to open my clinic in the countryside, so it would be a lie to say I never regretted coming to such an intense battleground instead of opening in a rural area or a less competitive city. I often think about how things might have been if I had done it somewhere with lower competition. But I also know that if I had, there would have been other worries and regrets there as well. I wouldn’t have been able to run the clinic with the concept I have now here.

I don’t know whether you reading this book are planning a large dental clinic or a small neighborhood clinic, but I think there are more small clinics than large ones. The locations for large clinics are, to a large extent, already determined. A station-area location with no large competitor, or a big city. And the countryside. So neighborhood clinics have to analyze and think more. Large clinics do not see small neighborhood clinics as threatening competitors, but for small clinics, large ones are quite threatening. I wrote this book with an even stronger desire to help those of you planning a small neighborhood clinic.

I sincerely hope you use it well and make a choice you will not regret.