The Dental Industry Landscape in India in The Latest Issue Of “Towards A Healthy India”

Thejour Ney Of Life - Initially, Axiss Dental was a partnership firm with the stakeholders having an equal share in the business. But moving forward it grew to become a private limited firm in 2007, after the whole structure was formalised.During the inception stage, money was infused by the parmers into the business and whatever the company earned was utilised to further expand the venture. Apart from what Axiss Dental earned through its business-to-customer model, it depended upon debts from banks to grow its network and capabilities.Between 2007 and 2012, Axiss Dental collaborated with various hospitals in Delhi-NCR and outsourced its business in totality. The company focussed on learning the tricks of the trade and enhancing its presence. Axiss Dental set up its clinics in the premises of the hospitals it entered into an alliance with, which gave its brand instant visibility and provided patients and infrastrucmre alongside. It also minimised the requirement for creating real estate infrastructure for clinics, unloading the burden of investing money on standalone clinics’creation. When resources were limited, the model worked and helped the company to come up with more stand alone clinics by making the most of the knowledge it gained born partnering with the hospitals. However, till date all the stand alone properties of Axiss are on lease, which are fully maintained and operated by the company.
Spreading Wings:- As the company begun to grow, there emerged the need for funding. In May 2012, Axiss Dental raised money via the private equity route, which it used for spreading its wings in other territories. After successfully establishing its business in Delhi-NCR, Axiss Dental started its operations in Punjab, Tamil Nadu and Madhya Pradesh. In January this year, it took over the existing dental clinics of Narayana Health in Bangalore, adding to its fold 30 more clinics, which substantially took up the number of clinics of Axiss Dental to 65 in 12 cities.

The Road Ahead:- As per Ken Research, in 2013, the unorganised segment of Indian dental care services market contributed a 94.5h» share while dental clinic chains accounted for the rest. In the present circumstances, potential in the segment is huge and Axiss Dental plans to extensively cash in on the opportunity.Going ahead, the company is looking at both organic and inorganic growth. There are plans to grow the number of clinics to over 200 in the next two years and cover whole of India. The company is targeting middle class consumers and beyond, offering services which are value-for-money for high- end dentistry. Work is in progress to make services more affordable and accessible for patients, so that high-end dentistry does not remain the prerogative of only a particular section of the society. In the future, Axiss Dental plans to raise fund as and when there is any such requirement and utilize that for further expansion. Axiss Dental was one of the first who took the step towards shaping India’s dental industry. Though it has come a long way, it still seems as if the journey has just begun...