Each day we make decisions about where our money goes – how we spend, how much we spend, and more. By doing so, everyone invests in something, even if not directly. By paying for a gym membership and routinely working out you’d be investing in your personal health and wellness. The primary question must answer when considering an investment of any kind is as follows: “How will I receive a valuable return on this investment?”
Going off of our gym membership idea, your return on the money you spend is demonstrated by your improved physical fitness and health. In the business sector, by investing money directly into a company, you are banking on the fact that the value of your shares will one day be worth well more than your original investment.
For our venture, my partner Jack and I have done enough research to learn as much about the industry as we can. Our business model requires little to no outside help, besides that of counselors to work directly with applicants. Outside of variable costs for things like early legal fees, basic website upkeep and marketing campaigns, our costs are lower than that of the average business; no rent for a brick and mortar space, no cost of good sold, etc. Further, with my partner and I handling close to all of the work, no employees on payroll/salaries to manage.
Jack and I found we’d need about one month or so of running marketing campaigns to breakeven in the initial phase, given we extend a contract to our counselors. Our goal for the second phase would be to work with 100 out of the approximately 11,000 prospective dental students in America. Due to the success we’ve seen thus far reaching out to just one institution, we’re hopeful that the positive feedback we have received from our peers and other outside sources will continue as we contact more potential counselors, clients and partnering institutions in the future. We also have access to helpful marketing modules like the Student Doctor Network, specifically the designated sub-group for dental students. Tools such as this not only help us understand our competition within the market, but also aid in our understanding of our target customer base.
One specific facet of our future that Jack and I have discussed is our ability to secure our admissions counselors; If we were able to contract 3 experienced counselors, we believe the potential value of our company would grow significantly. Understanding the varying successes coming from our preceding labor, the opportunity we have to market and reach more students, our potential financial freedom, and the value that adding full-time counselors would bring, I would feel confident investing in our venture.
