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Advice for Determining Business Feasibility

ModernMale

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Hi guys,

I'm currently looking at starting a business involving medical tourism (mainly plastic surgery) for Australian clients to South Korea.

There is a big medical tourism market in Australia (relative to population), though currently most go to Thailand due to cheaper cost. South Korea has a booming medical tourism market which Australians do not use due to the absence of a medical tourism agency and flight expenses.

However, in 2020 Jet Star (one of Australia's largest domestic carriers) is planning on setting up a cheap direct flight from Gold Coast to Seoul (about $500 Australian return)

I have the networks/contacts to set up the business in both Australia and Korea, but am unsure whether the business will be economically feasible.

While South Korea has some of the best medical facilities in the world (far better than here and in Thailand, our main competitor) I am unsure that will be enough demand - this is because the price for the surgery is comparable to those in Australia.

Any thoughts/suggestions would be extremely helpful.

Thanks in advance.
 
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ModernMale

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Thanks @Rawseed. After doing market research and costs analysis, I found it was going to be tough to make it cost-competitive.

I also realized that the business violates the commandments of control and entry - it will essentially be a specialized travel agency with no room to scale.

I'm already reading unscripted as we speak.

Still looking to find a CENTS business model to execute soon.
 

Kid

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If competing on cost is out of scope then research if you can compete for quality conscious people (read: "ones able to pay more")
 
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MJ DeMarco

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MHP368

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What about "cosmetic" surgeries? , the arbitrage opportunity is usually a lot larger.

Here in the states a lot of retirees and such will go to a specific town right over the border in mexico for dental "los algodones" , its enough of a thing (google the town name) that you have multiple forums for just that and dentists competing for US customers (and from what I hear its actually quite good, hygienic and everything vs the horror stories of botched tummy tucks in tijuana)

If you made a site that was the goto place for information on australians going to south korea for medical tourism you could at the least make a little side money selling ad space.
 

ModernMale

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How does it grade?


Thanks for the link @MJ DeMarco, it helped confirm what I suspected: it doesn't follow the CENTS commandments.

It got a D+ (53 score).

The market size is only 15,000 per year (total). While there are some repeat customers, there aren't many (less than 15%), and I suspect the market will shrink since Australia is on the verge of a recession.

The small market size and the amount of time you need to spend per customer makes scaling extremely difficult as well as making it a very hands-on business.

The biggest problem is that it violates CONTROL. The business is dependent on one flight carrier (Jetstar) which provides the low-cost flights direct from Gold Coast to Seoul.

If Jetstar change their mind you either have to raise your prices by $1500-$2000 or lose out on your margins and thus make no profit.

You are also dependent on the clinics/hospitals and hotels/resorts that you send your customers to as well.

[/QUOTE]
What about "cosmetic" surgeries? , the arbitrage opportunity is usually a lot larger.

Here in the states a lot of retirees and such will go to a specific town right over the border in mexico for dental "los algodones" , its enough of a thing (google the town name) that you have multiple forums for just that and dentists competing for US customers (and from what I hear its actually quite good, hygienic and everything vs the horror stories of botched tummy tucks in tijuana)

If you made a site that was the goto place for information on australians going to south korea for medical tourism you could at the least make a little side money selling ad space.

That was the idea @MHP368. Cosmetic surgeries are huge in South Korea, and the popularity of Kpop has made Asians (mainly Chinese) flock to Korea to look like their favorite stars.

Currently Australians go to Thailand for their cosmetic surgeries (mainly boob jobs) but the horror stories from botched operations make headline news on a yearly basis. The price is $10,000 cheaper than doing it in Australia, so people take that risk and go regardless.

By selling adspace you mean like an online directory?
 
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MHP368

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By selling adspace you mean like an online directory?

Nah like that dental forum I posted. Have people actually share reviews and experiences and all that. Maybe it already exists?

Then once you have traffic you let south korean plastic surgeons buy banner space
 

MJ DeMarco

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It got a D+ (53 score).

Things like this I typically say you should pass on. Business is hard enough. If you're going to go "all in" and work your butt off, you want a bigger payoff with more stability.

This business (at a D+) will be equally as hard (if not harder) as one that rates (B+) ... but the other alternative has bigger upsides in many aspects.

Good luck my friend.
 
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