Elderly health industry

It has never been a hot spot for making money, but a people's livelihood business that requires hard work and hard work. 90% of players who enter the market with the mentality of making quick money have failed. Only practitioners who have devoted themselves to the real needs of the elderly for more than 3 years can reap the deterministic dividends in the next 10 years.

To be honest, I just had afternoon tea with Lao Zhou, who runs a community rehabilitation center in Gongshu District, Hangzhou, last week. He left his job at Alibaba operations two years ago to start a business, and the pitfalls he stepped into can fill an entire storage box. At first, he followed the "trend analysis" on the Internet to develop a high-end elderly physical examination package. The 39,800 package included genetic testing, early tumor screening and year-round private doctor services. However, he only sold 2 packages in three months, and it was because of relatives who bought it. Later, he squatted at the gate of the community and observed for half a month, and found that the most common things the old man and old lady talked about were "the toenails are so long that they hurt in the flesh" and "the blood pressure is high and low, and it is troublesome to go to the hospital." So he changed the project to 19.9 yuan for door-to-door pedicure + free blood pressure and blood sugar test. Now his small site of 20 square meters has a stable monthly revenue of 120,000 yuan, a repurchase rate of 72%, and half of the orders referred by old customers.

There are actually two voices in the industry that are completely at odds, and no one can convince the other. There is a group of old players who have been selling health care products in their early years. They insist that "money for the elderly is easy to make, and you can sell health care products worth tens of yuan for thousands by playing the emotional card." However, supervision has become tighter in the past two years. More than 60% of the pension fraud cases investigated across the country last year were related to health fraud. This group of people have either changed careers or entered the industry. The rest can only hide in the urban-rural fringe to fight guerrilla warfare, and there is basically not much room for survival. The other group is the serious practitioners who have entered the market in the past two years. Most of them have medical and nursing backgrounds. They think "to do what is needed and make slow money". Although the unit price is low, it is very stable - I saw a community bathing point in Jinniu District, Chengdu last year. I can make an appointment in winter. The queues are all 20 days old. Most of them are ordered by children for their disabled and semi-disabled parents. The price is 128 yuan per time. The staff come to the elderly to do skin examination and pressure ulcer care. Many children directly apply for quarterly cards after ordering, and the order lasts for more than half a year.

There is another topic that has been quarreling for several years: Should we be a high-end health care business for high-net-worth elderly people, or should we provide inclusive services for ordinary working-class elderly people? There are successful cases on both sides, and there are also cases where everything was lost. For example, a health care project in Haitang Bay in Sanya is aimed at retired intellectuals and senior executives. The annual membership fee is 150,000, which includes health management, travel, and exclusive entertainment activities. The residents live in small single-family apartments with gardens. It does not worry about the customer base. However, this kind of project is asset-heavy and cannot be obtained without a few hundred million. Most small players cannot afford it. On the contrary, at the entrance of an old community in Nantong, Jiangsu, my hometown, a small physical therapy shop opened by a couple specializes in moxibustion and massage rehabilitation for cervical spondylosis, low back and leg pain. It costs 30 yuan for a single visit, and 200 for 10 card applications. It is full of people from morning to night every day. The couple maintains the shop, making a net profit of 20,000 to 30,000 yuan a month, which is more stable than many owners of high-end health care centers.

I ran nearly a hundred elderly health projects in more than 20 cities across the country, and found that the most common mistake many people make is to put the needs of young people on the elderly. I once met an overseas returnee entrepreneurial team who made a smart health watch that can measure blood oxygen, heart rate, and call for help with one click. It has not many functions. It sold for 399 per unit, but it turned out that it could not be sold in the community. When I asked the old man why, he said, "The characters are too small for me to see clearly, and the buttons are too complicated for me to press correctly. What I want is something that can answer the phone and make loud sounds. I can't use those functions of yours." Some people also have the stereotype that old people are picky and reluctant to spend money. In fact, this is not the case at all. My second uncle usually spends ten minutes with a hawker to cut even 50 cents for groceries. Last year, he suffered a sudden waist pain that made him unable to get out of bed. I heard that there is a medical rehabilitation belt that can relieve symptoms. I scanned the QR code and paid on the spot for more than 2,000 yuan without blinking. He said, "If it doesn't hurt, it's worth it."

It is often said in the industry that "the one who has the aunt wins the world". It is really not a joke. In most families, the decision-making power of the elderly's health consumption is in the hands of the old lady. If you serve the aunt well, she can bring you a whole square dance team of customers. There is also a saying that "Small orders lock in customers, large orders retain customers." Don't offer tens of thousands of dollars of pension stored-value cards to the elderly right away. Start with convenient haircuts for a few dollars, pedicures for more than ten dollars, and physiotherapy for dozens of dollars. When the elderly really trust you, he will take the initiative to ask you if you have longer-term services.

In fact, after all, the elderly health industry does not have so many fancy tricks. To put it bluntly, it is whether you can really think about the problem from the perspective of the elderly and whether you can really solve their pain points. After all, everyone will grow old one day. If you treat the elderly as family members now, you will naturally have a steady stream of business in the future. Oh, by the way, Lao Zhou just signed a contract with the street last week to open two more rehabilitation stations in two nearby communities. He said that what is most needed now are caregivers who are patient and willing to deal with the elderly. If there are willing caregivers, the salary will be higher than when he was working as an operator at Alibaba.