What's the cost to open a C/B lab?

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Smileteeth

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What's the cost to start a C/B lab?
I'm living in an expensive city and planning to start an one man lab. And possibly hire tech when the lab gets busy in the future.
I need to estimate the cost of everything- including construction(installing cabinets),3months inventory,scanner and mill,etc.
Can anyone give me a list and the cost for each area?
 
JMN

JMN

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What's the cost to start a C/B lab?
I'm living in an expensive city and planning to start an one man lab. And possibly hire tech when the lab gets busy in the future.
I need to estimate the cost of everything- including construction(installing cabinets),3months inventory,scanner and mill,etc.
Can anyone give me a list and the cost for each area?
This is what you should be doing as part of your business plan.

What kind of c&b lab? pfm, zirconia start to finish, emax start to finish, emax milling, milling wax and pressing it, implants, full mouth reconstruction titanium bars and crowns...

So much stuff here you haven't addressed. Each area? What areas?

It's called due dilligence for a reason. Sit down with a catalog and start supplier relationships.
 
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Smileteeth

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No PFM. I will start out with zirconia and emax from start to finish.
My “areas” means construction, purchasing machines, inventory, rent, etc.
 
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charles007

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Its like a boat, if you have to ask you can't afford..


Edit: Sorry, just noticed your a new member...Welcome to the digital dental club..
 
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charles007

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After writing a business plan decide on the scanner. Exocad or 3Shape, thousands of posts on this topic to read on DLN.
Personally I would go with Exocad and either buy Identico or DOF.scanners. Your buying support when buying a scanner so choose wisely.
If you plan to buy a mill asap, buy the scanner from the same company you plan to buy the mill , if possible. Naturally you want to buy the scanner first if you have no experience. Buying both at the same time may save dollars.

Edit; If you make it to the Chicago meeting next month you will see and learn everything you need to know on what to buy, and be able to buy at the best prices of the year !
 
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CoolHandLuke

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a long time ago i did a wrietup on this for a friend as a private conversation.

in brief, consider the following:

Rent, legal fees for bookkeeping, and salary are your 3 biggest overhead concerns.

below that you have the cost of manufacturing which is your water, hydro, data storage & management, consumables such as stone and powder investment and refined precious metals.

the lowest costs are the fixed costs or equipment loans. these can be recurring fees but once they are paid they are done. granted nothing lasts forever, but theres plenty of opportunity to pay off a piece of equipment before it blows up.

for a 1-scanner, 1-oven, 1-mill setup, you will spend roughly 80-100k. cut corners and cheap out if you like but a good system is roughly that much. financed over 5 years or lease to own, and youve got a nice low monthly payment.

working up, the recurring cost of manufacturing can be budgeted if you know your sales volume. one box of stone per month means you wont be making a lot of cases, but two boxes affords a lot more work, and some breathing room should the worst happen and remakes are required. this is but one example.

salaries should not surpass 40% of your volume. i.e. if the lab makes 10k per month, your salary and the combined salaries of everyone in your employ should not exceed 4k. so you already see how you will need to either employ nobody, or do in excess of triple that sales figure to employ one person and pay yourself a six figure salary.

top of the board you have your taxes and rent. industrial units can be difficult if they know you want to rent long term, they will strongarm you into 3k-5k rent bills because they know you will be around, and have grounds to sue if you terminate lease agreements early. be careful about it.

so for a 1-mill 1-scanner 1-oven setup you need a 25k per month income to consider opening your own lab and make 55k in salary and be comfortable. but it means you will work every day and lose business if people like myself eventually manage to sell technology solutions to your clients under the guise of saving lab bills.

\\rubs hands maniacally.
 
Jason D

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If you need someone else to do this for you then you are not ready to open a business.
There is no one on earth i would advise to open a 1 man crown and bridge lab. There are far too many obstacles and barriers to entry vs reward for the effort. If it's a hobby then call it a hobby, but if its a business, stop now.
 
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What's the cost to start a C/B lab?
I'm living in an expensive city and planning to start an one man lab. And possibly hire tech when the lab gets busy in the future.
I need to estimate the cost of everything- including construction(installing cabinets),3months inventory,scanner and mill,etc.
Can anyone give me a list and the cost for each area?

I don't know what your time frame is but I will probably have a lot of equipment for sale towards the end of the year. PM me if interested.
 
Jason D

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I don't know what your time frame is but I will probably have a lot of equipment for sale towards the end of the year. PM me if interested.
where are you goin?
 
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grantoz

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are you actually a technician as any techo that has any experience would know at least the equipment cost and what they need to make a crown .sorry smileteeth to quote the Electric light orchestra you" aint ready" from rockaria new world record..
 
CoolHandLuke

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are you actually a technician as any techo that has any experience would know at least the equipment cost and what they need to make a crown .sorry smileteeth to quote the Electric light orchestra you" aint ready" from rockaria new world record..
could be a dentist looking to create a lab.
 
CoolHandLuke

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a small loan of a million bucks ?

list of failed trump businesses: steak, university, us government.
 
doug

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Right now I wish we still had Mark Jackson to educate you on the cost of running a lab. He had it scaled to fit pretty much any situation. Here's my suggestion for what it's worth. Hook-up wit a good dental practice that wants to do better than average work. Keep your autonomy, don't be an employee. Focus on doing their work to the best of your ability. Commit to doing it and not having any money to spend for a long while because you will be dumping it back into the business. There is a great future in being a non-inhouse, next door to the doc lab. I'd just guess that if you could get a $125,000.00 line of credit you could make it work...barely.
 
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Smileteeth

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If you need someone else to do this for you then you are not ready to open a business.
There is no one on earth i would advise to open a 1 man crown and bridge lab. There are far too many obstacles and barriers to entry vs reward for the effort. If it's a hobby then call it a hobby, but if its a business, stop now.
I hand a business plan in hand, but I just need the exact amount of each category.
 
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Smileteeth

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a long time ago i did a wrietup on this for a friend as a private conversation.

in brief, consider the following:

Rent, legal fees for bookkeeping, and salary are your 3 biggest overhead concerns.

below that you have the cost of manufacturing which is your water, hydro, data storage & management, consumables such as stone and powder investment and refined precious metals.

the lowest costs are the fixed costs or equipment loans. these can be recurring fees but once they are paid they are done. granted nothing lasts forever, but theres plenty of opportunity to pay off a piece of equipment before it blows up.

for a 1-scanner, 1-oven, 1-mill setup, you will spend roughly 80-100k. cut corners and cheap out if you like but a good system is roughly that much. financed over 5 years or lease to own, and youve got a nice low monthly payment.

working up, the recurring cost of manufacturing can be budgeted if you know your sales volume. one box of stone per month means you wont be making a lot of cases, but two boxes affords a lot more work, and some breathing room should the worst happen and remakes are required. this is but one example.

salaries should not surpass 40% of your volume. i.e. if the lab makes 10k per month, your salary and the combined salaries of everyone in your employ should not exceed 4k. so you already see how you will need to either employ nobody, or do in excess of triple that sales figure to employ one person and pay yourself a six figure salary.

top of the board you have your taxes and rent. industrial units can be difficult if they know you want to rent long term, they will strongarm you into 3k-5k rent bills because they know you will be around, and have grounds to sue if you terminate lease agreements early. be careful about it.

so for a 1-mill 1-scanner 1-oven setup you need a 25k per month income to consider opening your own lab and make 55k in salary and be comfortable. but it means you will work every day and lose business if people like myself eventually manage to sell technology solutions to your clients under the guise of saving lab bills.

\\rubs hands maniacally.
Let's make an example: I have 10 accounts and each account is sending me 20 cases per month. Total of 200 cases x (average $115per case)=$23,000 gross income per month

Overheads:
Rent $2000-3000
Utilities $400
Bookkeeping $250
200 Milling blocks $5000
Supplies $500
Equipment loans $500
Software and miscellaneous $400
Total $10,000

$23,000-$10,000

Does that make sense? Please correct me if there's anything needs to be added.
 
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