Meet the culmination of creativity and medical know-how serving client aesthetic needs in unique ways: The Skin Clique. Founder Dr. Sarah Allen always had a knack for creativity. While she enjoyed the complicated cases she tackled in internal medicine, she was missing the use of the creative side of her brain. With the encouragement of her husband and Co-founder, she found the happy medium between the two: aesthetic medicine. Starting with a single provider and zero funding, they have created a successful practice founded on the principle of delivering office quality care and products to patients in the comfort of their homes. From the creative way their products and services are delivered to patients, to being on the leading edge of fundamental changes in healthcare delivery, let’s dive into the details of this unique South Carolina-based company.
The Who and Why Behind the Creation of the Company
The Skin Clique was founded by Dr. Sarah Allen in 2018. Sarah says of the beginnings of the business; “I have always loved to be artistic, and have decorated cakes since I was little. When I chose a career in Internal Medicine, I found that I loved complicated patients and procedures. But, I missed exercising the creative part of my brain. I have always been interested in minimally invasive aesthetic medicine, and discovered that was the perfect way to marry my artistic strengths with procedural medicine skills. Further, I taught home visits to post-graduate medical residents.
These were an extension of my practice so I thought what better way to tailor medicine to my patients than bring minimally invasive treatments (botox, dermal fillers and chemical peels) to them in a safe environment with board certified, expertly trained providers.” In the summer of 2019, Dr. Allen brought on Claire O’Bryan, an adult nurse practitioner, as a partner and co-founder. Dr. Allen notes “Claire has elevated our brand in ways I couldn’t imagine.”
How COVID-19 Helped Create An Innovative Offering
Out of the business challenges any clinic would face when seeing patients in person, The Skin Clique was no different. Sarah, Claire and their team had to adapt, but that didn’t mean that their customers had to be without their quality skincare options.
Sarah explained the unique subscription box that combines the quality products her clients need, with the access to their professional insight, without the face-to-face contact:
“COVID-19 has reshaped the way businesses operate, and we had to adapt as well. We were not comfortable offering services during the height of the pandemic, but wanted to continue to connect with our community of patients. The Beauty Knocks BOX was able to bridge that gap! We were able to provide our patients with curated, medical-grade skincare products through a monthly subscription box and patients have 24/7 access to a personal NP, PA or MD to answer questions regarding skincare and provide injectable treatments when ready.”
Starting Out With No Funding and Not Much Business Experience
Physicians are smart and great at their craft, but that doesn’t mean that they need to be business managers on top of great doctors. Sarah was able to adapt and focus on what needed to be done to ensure a smooth transition from provider to business owner, like streamlining operations and being very frugal with initial start up costs. She explains the items she had to focus on as founder:
“As physicians, we had very little to no background in business. Everything has been a learning experience. We have grown exponentially and are grateful for that - but with that, comes challenges. We have constantly focused on streamlining our processes and working in the best interest of our providers and patients without sacrificing safety and the highest quality of care. We started with no funding and were very frugal and resourceful performing every function from design, IT, quality improvement, legal, etc. ourselves. As a founder, you have to be resourceful and tenacious in everything you do.”
What Makes the Product Different From the Usual Aesthetic Clinic:
“We have created a new market that has not existed before. We firmly believe that the healthcare market is changing. At the forefront of this is the medical cosmetic or aesthetic industry. In the next few years, patients will no longer visit a traditional physicians office for minimally invasive cosmetic services. And, healthcare itself is changing. Patients are at the heart of everything we do and convenience matters. We have developed a skincare line to further our mission of bringing affordable, therapeutic grade skincare to our patients. During quarantine, we also developed the first medical grade subscription skincare box that is shipped nationwide and gives patients access to skincare they previously would have had to visit a physician's office to obtain - from the comfort of their own homes.”
How Accountfully Helps:
In the beginning of doing their own management, Dr. Allen soon realized that she was running out time to focus on trying to be her own accountant, so she decided to outsource.
“Our payroll was taking in excess of 4 hours per week. Keels [Dr. Allen’s husband, Co-founder and COO of the Skin Clique] and I were both working full time jobs as physicians and raising four girls and knew that we simply didn't have the time or the knowledge to continue to manage this as the company/practice grew. We knew we needed help!
Accountfully has single handedly streamlined our financial process and has arranged our books and translated them into a way we can understand so that we can make informed decisions about our financial management.”
The Latest Happenings for The Skin Clique
The new fall boxes are here, for those interested in a monthly subscription. The Skin Clique continues to grow at a healthy rate. Sarah says of her growth, “We continue to grow every day and over the past 18 months, have increased from one to over 60 providers.”
The Skin Clique Online and On Social Media
Website: www.theskinclique.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theskinclique/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theskinclique
Twitter: https://twitter.com/theskinclique
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/theskinclique/
Free Consultation: Free 15 minute consult
Blog: The Skin Clique Articles and Blog
Where to Buy Your Beauty Knocks BOX
Find Your BOX: https://www.theskinclique.com/shop
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Does this sound like your business? If you are in need of a flexible solution to help keep the books in order and to help you focus on creating your empire, not trying to be an accountant, let us know. Tell us about your business and we will gladly chat about a good game plan that works best for you.
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