Measure
Payback Period
How long it takes a new patient to repay what you spent acquiring them — the number that governs cash flow.
Live in demo
What it is
If a patient costs R1,200 to acquire and contributes R800 of margin per visit, they pay you back on the second visit. Payback period is measured in visits or months, not rands, and it answers a different question from lifetime value: not whether the patient is profitable, but when.
Why it matters to your bottom line
- A practice can be profitable on paper and still run out of cash, because the profit arrives eleven months after the advertising invoice does.
- It sets your safe growth rate. A short payback period means you can reinvest quickly and scale; a long one means every new patient is a loan you are funding.
- It is the honest test of whether an introductory offer works. Discounted first visits usually push payback past the point where most patients have already disappeared.
How it works here
Use margin, not revenue
What the visit leaves behind after product, consumables and the clinician's time. Revenue-based payback is always flattering and always wrong.
Count in visits
Acquisition cost divided by margin per visit gives you how many visits to break even. Then apply your repeat rate to see what share of patients actually get that far.
Test it against fixed costs
The calculator holds your fixed costs constant and shows what one extra patient a week does to the payback picture. That comparison is the whole argument in one screen.
See it working
This is live on the demo practice — use it rather than take our word for it.
Questions owners ask
- What is an acceptable payback period?
- For a practice funding growth from its own cash flow, inside three months is comfortable and inside one visit is exceptional. Beyond six months you are effectively lending money to your own marketing.
- Where can I see this for my practice?
- The profit calculator works it through with your own figures. Nothing you type leaves your browser.
Related
Want this working in your practice?
A short Discovery conversation is enough to know whether it belongs there — and what it would cost to keep doing without it.