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Why is the Dermacare franchise unique? Why should I consider Dermacare rather than doing this on my own? Who is a good candidate for a Dermacare franchise? What assistance does Dermacare provide initially? How long does it take to open this business once I sign the franchise agreement? What type of business plan is provided to the franchisee? What is the annual gross income range for your established Dermacare centers? What support does Dermacare provide to assist me with external financing? Are the clinics built or can the space be rented? Do you assist me in finding a location? How do I find out what markets are still available? Will you assist me in conducting market research for the market I am considering? What is the typical territory area of a franchise? Is it based on population or geographical size? Will I receive assistance with Marketing? What is the target demographic's annual income? Is the physician required to be present whenever a patient is being treated? What about post-opening support? Do you encourage franchisees to own and operate more than one location? How much is it to purchase a second clinic? Q. Why is the Dermacare franchise unique? A. On a global level: On a specific level: Q. Why should I consider Dermacare rather than doing this on my own? A. The technology, marketing, and management in this industry are complex. There are over 50 manufacturers of hair removal lasers alone --all with compelling stories, great "before and after" photos, and "industry experts" paid to validate equipment. But, the history of technological failure and class action litigation by physicians against manufacturers is substantial. Marketing is complicated, but it's an area in which we excel. Many physicians have had beautiful facilities with the right equipment and staff, only to fail within a year due to lack of marketing expertise and the inability to drive a high volume of patients through the door. Managing a consumer-oriented aesthetic skin care clinic is different than running a medical practice. Our monthly clinic business analysis enables us to statistically identify your areas of weakness and help you correct them before they become costly errors. As a rapidly expanding national franchise, our volume-based buying power provides substantial savings to our franchisees for laser equipment and ancillary products. Q. Who is a good candidate for a Dermacare franchise? A. We are looking for very specific types of individuals to run our franchises?highly-qualified and highly-educated physicians. Initially, we ask applicants to fill out a questionnaire that rates strengths and weaknesses. Once we review your credentials, we will invite you to attend our face-to-face interactive meeting, Discovery Day, where we will finalize your acceptance as a Dermacare franchisee. You can read about all our current Doctors of Dermacare and you can view several or their Video and Written Testimonials. Q. What assistance does Dermacare provide initially? A. We assist you in every key aspect of a clinic opening: After your opening, we provide ongoing analysis and support. Q. How long does it take to open this business once I sign the franchise agreement? A. There are many factors that enter into this. A normal time frame, from signing-on to opening day, is approximately 4 to 6 months. This includes: finding a suitable location, negotiating the lease, remodeling/construction, ordering equipment, as well as the initial training. Q. What type of business plan is provided to the franchisee? A. We provide every franchisee a business plan for market dominance that revolves around advanced technology, training, marketing, and management. Our business plan's success is backed by the incredible success of our franchisees across the U.S. We assume franchisees have never owned a business before, so we cover every aspect of the process from A to Z: pre-opening, technology, financing, real estate, and more. During our 120-day countdown to opening, we provide intensive training for medical, management, and support staff. Unlike our competitors, we also require a full week of medical training on all procedures. Q. What is the annual gross income range for your established Dermacare centers? A. We understand that no one invests in business without understanding the model and its earnings potential. Legally, we cannot make a financial projection for your future clinic. We can say, though, that many Dermacare franchisees have become profitable within six months of operating. The more relevant questions to ask are, "Is this a good industry?" and "Is Dermacare the best model for success?" We believe the answer to both of those questions is a resounding "yes." Let us send you our Uniform Offering Circular (UFOC), which spells out our franchise agreement, as well as high and low amounts for all operating expenses. If you would like to roughly estimate your profit capability, here is a formula we use: Multiply the hours per week you are open (for instance, 50) by the number of laser treatment rooms (for instance, 4). This will allow you to see the number of possible billing hours per week. 50 Hours/Week x 4 Treatment Rooms = 200 Billing Hours Then, determine the average cost per procedure, per hour, in your geographic area (for instance, $400). Multiply this number by your number of billing hours to determine your maximum gross per week. Example: $400/hour Procedure Cost x 200 Billing Hours = $80,000/week * Don't forget to run your numbers at 10% of capacity, 20% of capacity, and so on. Although we don't guarantee success or any particular percentage of capacity, our franchisees are profitable at an abnormally low percentage of capacity (compared to the average business). Q. What support does Dermacare provide to assist me with external financing? A. We start by providing you with the Uniform Offering Circular (UFOC), which contains: The investment cost totals $500,000: That means, for approximately $50,000, a physician can successfully enter this exploding field. Legally, we cannot make profit projections, but the Dermacare franchise is by far your best investment to successfully enter the industry. Q. Are the clinics built or can the space be rented? A. Either will work. Most of our clinics were built from shell space; several of our franchisees have bought shell office condos in medical complexes. In some instances, they have built in-office condos from the ground up. And, in many other instances, we have taken existing space and modified it - changing carpets, moving walls, adding paint - redesigning it to be an acceptable clinic floor plan. The most important factor is that your clinic will be in a demographically perfect location that is easy to find. We will help you with the design of the clinic -how it should flow, number of treatment rooms, management office, employee lounge, check-in and check-out area, product display, etc. Remember, whether you rent or buy is a secondary consideration. Our powerful marketing campaign is what drives clients to you and provides the foundation for a successful clinic. Q. Do you assist me in finding a location? A. We do assist our franchisees in this process. Most individuals joining a franchise system do not have experience in commercial leasing. We have extensive experience and will guide you through the entire process, including site selection and lease negotiations. Q. How do I find out what markets are still available? A. We typically discuss this in our discovery process. As new franchisees join the Dermacare franchise family, market availability continually changes. Q. Will you assist me in conducting market research for the market I am considering? A. Of course! We pay very careful attention to demographic data for both, the size of the territory and the site locations. We want to make sure that every franchisee has more than enough population to meet his/her economic goals. Also, we study the psychographics of an area and the buying patterns, which allows us to pinpoint the ideal Dermacare clientele in every market. A. The territory can vary greatly by city. For instance, five square blocks in New York City can be the equivalent to five square miles in Arizona. When we establish territories, we rely upon demographic information and typographic information. In essence, we will only sell franchises in areas that meet all of our prerequisites for success. In large metropolitan areas, we maximize market penetration by only awarding the appropriate number of franchises; we are very cognisant not to oversaturate any territory. By way of example, Phoenix has 3.6 million people and San Diego has roughly the same. Each area is slated for approximately 10 clinics. In smaller metropolitan areas, we may only award one franchise, but it will have a large enough base to be successful. Remember, we will only award franchises in areas that have the demographic formula for success. Q. Will I receive assistance with Marketing? A. Yes. Marketing is one of our key strengths. Through years of testing, we have developed a marketing strategy that will allow you to compete in any market in the world. We have over 50 proven marketing vehicles that will help you acquire new clients. We develop a specific marketing plan for your market and stay with you every step of the way. We strongly believe that many businesses fail because of their lack of marketing expertise. At Dermacare, we have demonstrated the power of our marketing; just ask our franchisees. Q. What is the target demographic's annual income? A. It varies from market to market, but essentially, Dermacare is a middle-class provider. In some cases, we cater to the lower middle-class, as well as the upper middle-class, but we strive to adhere our services toward the largest market segment...middle-class women (currently 90% of our clients are female). Q. Is the physician required to be present whenever a patient is being treated? A. The answer depends on each state's particular laws and regulations. We will work with you to make sure you know exactly what your state's requirements are. Some state's laws are in flux, but most are getting stricter. Our own internal requirements are much higher than many state guidelines. We do require a physician medical director for each clinic and we also require that a medical professional provide all treatments, regardless of what the state laws are. Q. What about post-opening support? A. Through our simple, yet unique reporting system, we continually analyze the six key aspects of a clinic's post-opening performance. This allows us to identify areas of strengths and weakness, such as call conversion percentages for the receptionist and consult conversion percentages for the sales team. We help you identify areas of weakness, so you can correct them before substantial revenue is lost. Q. Do you encourage franchisees to own and operate more than one location? A. Yes. Several of our franchisees have opened multiple franchise locations. If a physician is highly successful operating one Dermacare, he/she will most likely achieve similar results with multiple locations. We strongly encourage our physicians to consider owning multiple Dermacare Clinics. Q. How much is it to purchase a second clinic? A. There currently is a $10,000 discount for the second clinic and a $20,000 discount for the third clinic purchased. This is not only to reward our franchisees, but it's also due to the fact that training and support costs are lower. Once you have trained with us initially for the opening of your first clinic, you will have already established all of the operational and clinical knowledge you need. A. Yes -and this is a very important question. Most medical practices have little or no resale value, aside from the "meltdown" value of their equipment and a percentage of the receivables. That's because the physician is the business. Most other business will sell for 2.8 to 3.2 times their net income; so, a business that nets one million a year is typically worth three million. A Dermacare franchise is a legacy financial asset that can be sold as a business based on its net income. We would enjoy the chance to discuss this opportunity with you and to address your initial questions. Thank you for your interest in the Dermacare franchise opportunity. For more information about a Dermacare Discovery Day, please call one of our Franchise Development Specialists, at 877.700.0788 (HQ). You may also contact our Founder/CEO, Carl Mudd, on his business cell at 602.451.2100. Our corporate office is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday PST. |
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