Entrepreneurs Create ‘Amazon for Orthodontics’
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowAn Indianapolis orthodontist has launched what is believed to be the first online marketplace for orthodontists. Dr. Jeff Biggs founded the company after realizing the difficulty in researching and purchasing products online for his practice. Biggs went to Developertown in Indianapolis and met Nick Wangler, saying he wanted to create an “Amazon for orthodontics.”
“I said, ‘That sounds like a horrible idea,'” said Wangler. “I said, ‘That’s going to be a lot of work. Suppliers…who knows if they’ll play ball? Orthodontists are busy.’ But he won me over. I started to talking to suppliers, started talking to orthodontists and both sides have challenges in this process that they wanted to get figured out.”
The pair went on to create Orthodontists Details Marketplace. Orthodontists can go to the website, see transparent pricing and order from different suppliers.
The U.S. has some 10,000 orthodontists who spend between $100,000-$300,000 on equipment each year. On The Innovators with Dr. K, Wangler said the market is great for the company as they continue to work to improve the platform for users.
“To stay in business, we take a commission on any order that’s placed. So it’s really no different then how (suppliers) would handle a salesperson making a commission. For us, we just take a small piece of that transaction and just like a lot of marketplace businesses, it makes it easy for both sides.”
Wangler says the biggest challenge for the company is getting suppliers who might be more “old school” to be more open to a new way of selling their products.