How A Plus Physio’s Alphonse Tranne started his medipreneur journey during the pandemic

Starting a business at any point in time is always going to be challenging, but things got even tougher for A Plus Physiotherapy by opening their doors during the pandemic. Turning this crisis into opportunity, Director and Principal Physiotherapist Alphonse Tranne, started A Plus Physio in December 2020.

As there were still COVID-19 restrictions in place, Alphonse shares that this “made things more difficult”, and there was always an uncertainty about whether he would be able to get the business operations up and running on time.

Trying to get things right in the endemic world

The post-pandemic world created unique obstacles for Alphonse in his journey as a medical entrepreneur, or medipreneur as we call it. For starters, even setting up shop became less straightforward. Due to border restrictions in Singapore, renovating and equipping his clinic was prolonged and much more costly. Beyond his role as a physiotherapist, Alphonse had to navigate the challenges in setting up, day to day operations and financing. His clinic adopted the use of OCBC OneCollect, a digital merchant solution that works with PayNow and SGQR to help your business collect payments instantly and securely.

After finally opening the doors to A Plus Physio in December 2020, uncertainties persisted throughout 2021. The government tightened safe management measures as COVID-19 spread into local communities. Gyms were one of the hardest hit businesses, bearing the brunt of stringent safe management measures – which impacted how often Alphonse could conduct gym rehabilitation programs with his patients to use gym equipment for strength and conditioning routines to improve their performance and function.

When gyms were able to re-open, social distancing measures continued to limit capacity at A Plus Physio. Not only that, Alphonse had to implement and monitor measures to ensure the business was in full compliance with current measures – taking precious time away from focusing on his fledgling business.

Counting on his deep experience in treating of sports injuries in Australia, UK, Germany and Singapore for over two decades, Alphonse was undeterred. Instead, he remained focused on his goal to help his clients enjoy a better quality of life and carrying on in their daily functions.

Partnering with OCBC Healthcare Specialists

Smoothening his transition into his medipreneur journey, Alphonse connected with the OCBC Healthcare Specialist team. We ensured to deliver simple and fuss-free financing and businesssolutions for him, so he can focus on what’s most important – running his physio business. Within two weeks, his clinic was ready to operate.

For new medipreneurs without any business or financial track record, like Alphonse Tranne, OCBC has packaged a holistic Healthcare Practice Financing solution, offering up to $300,000 in an upfront Medi Starter loan to get your business off the ground. This in intended to cover your setup costs, such as renovation, general working capital and practice acquisition.

With a deep understanding on what you may require as a medipreneur, our Healthcare Specialist team is your one-stop contact point with the bank, able to provide wide-ranging advice and solutions.

For example, to reduce the impact on your cashflow when you’re just starting out, you can consider securing your location with a rental bond underwritten by Great Eastern General Insurance (which is part of the OCBC Group), instead of several months’ worth of security deposit.

Collecting payments is another avenue that new business owners may require assistance with. OCBC can connect you with diverse modes of accepting payment, such as POS terminals as well as cashless payment options such as OCBC OneCollect.

At OCBC, we are proud that our Healthcare Specialists were able to help Alphonse to get everything up and running and for his business to start operation smoothly. In fact, Alphonse admits that he was sceptical at first, but a personal touch and careful consideration for his needs made him feel confident to work with us.

As testament, since A Plus Physiotherapy’s inception in late 2020, Alphonse has reached out to the OCBC Healthcare Specialists multiple times – whenever he required advice on financing or for transacting.

Gaining confidence to help his patients recover comfortably

Riding out the initial start-up phase and the uncertainties that 2021 brought, Alphonse is now running A Plus Physiotherapy seamlessly. He feels more empowered to help his clients be active in their recovery, whether it’s a smaller issue like poor posture or a more serious injury that needs to be attended to and solved with a careful plan and guided exercises.

Start, run and grow your clinic with ease. Talk to an OCBC Healthcare Specialist today.