In May of last year, I started thinking about setting up a dental clinic for my wife. At that time, I approached the planning from several key aspects: interior layout, equipment procurement, staffing, and the overall budget. Finding a location alone was initially a huge headache. It took nearly two months just to settle on a spot, during which I had to constantly communicate and coordinate with my wife.
We set our search radius to within 5 kilometers of our home. This area is a newly developed district; it's surrounded by high-rises and numerous office buildings, and features highly convenient transportation: it's about a 30-kilometer drive from Xi'an Xianyang International Airport, just 700 meters from Metro Line 3, and 900 meters from Metro Line 14.
Precisely because it is a new area, the commercial facilities are still quite lacking, making it feel a bit desolate. I roughly estimated the occupancy rate of the surrounding residential communities and found it to be under 60%. In the eyes of my friends, this was not an ideal location. However, in my opinion, this current "desolation" presented the perfect opportunity for early strategic placement. There were two main reasons: first, the rent was cheap, with many shops sitting empty; second, as the occupancy rate rises in the future, the clinics that open first will build an early-mover advantage in word-of-mouth.
After repeated site visits and carefully comparing rents and locations, we finally leased a 130-square-meter, south-facing shop along a rather narrow road. The only drawback of this property is an L-shaped load-bearing wall that cannot be demolished, taking up one-third of the total indoor length. Fortunately, the shop is located on the ground floor of a high-rise residential building, offering excellent natural light. What we are most satisfied with is the rent, which is relatively low for the surrounding area. Once we secured the place, the renovation company was remarkably fast in providing the design layout.
Afterwards, we specifically consulted a Feng Shui master and followed some of his advice—though in reality, this was mostly just to give ourselves peace of mind and eliminate any psychological concerns.
Next came the interior design, construction, and simultaneous equipment procurement. We established a clear division of labor: I was responsible for communicating with dealers or manufacturers to purchase large equipment, while my wife took charge of buying small equipment, instruments, and consumables. Our overall budget was 700,000 RMB, allocated as follows:
- Renovation: Capped at 250,000 RMB
- Large Equipment: 300,000 RMB
- Other Expenses: 100,000 RMB (for small equipment, consumables, and initial operational costs)
- Reserve Funds: 50,000 RMB (for salaries and daily expenses during the first few months after opening)
However, keeping the budget under control did not go as smoothly as expected, and our actual expenses eventually exceeded the original plan.
Fortunately, the entire renovation process went largely according to our vision, without needing too many repetitive adjustments. In my next article, I will share in detail the reasons behind the budget overrun, as well as our clinic's low-cost whole-house water purification design. Its brilliance lies in the fact that we achieved comprehensive coverage of 5-stage filtered purified water for everything—from daily drinking water to the mouthwash used by patients in the dental chairs. Stay tuned!