Word: franchisees
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Americans buy everything from burgers to coffee to karate lessons at franchises. They're convenient, predictable and often cheap. So why not try franchising a service most of us avoid like a trip to the dentist? Actually, it is a trip to the dentist. Meet Vital Dent, purveyors of franchise...
Vital Dent's founder, Ernesto Colman Mena, believes he will get people in the door by emphasizing convenience, reasonable prices and new technology, including the latest in dental implants. "That's what works in Spain," Colman says through a translator. In 2005 Vital Dent was second in Spain only to...
...idea of dental franchises is not entirely new to the U.S. Several chains opened in the 1980s only to founder later, Levin says. They failed because of patient loyalty to the traditional private-office model--and Vital Dent faces its own obstacles. For example, any franchisee who is not a licensed dentist must contract with dentists or dental groups to provide services, a huge cost on top of the franchise fees paid to Vital Dent, which alone can run to $600,000. That's a lot to ask in an industry in which a new practice can easily be established...
...franchisees are Europeans who also own franchises back home, but Colman hopes to expand his U.S. franchise base to 40 offices by the end of 2006. He's betting that Americans' endless appetite for convenience will have them lining up for dentistry that's quick and easy. Painless? He's working...
The Interstates reduced the older highways to ghost roads: "Let's-Stop-Here-Daddy" gave way to "We-Can-Make-Los-Angeles-By-Tomorrow-Morning." The mom-and-pop businesses that squatted just off the blacktops disappeared, replaced by the more impersonal, neon-announced franchise businesses that often sat hundreds...