Doctorto, a startup to facilitate appointments with doctors

The ever-increasing growth of medical services confronts the world with new changes every day. Technology has given us different and creative solutions to provide new services to improve the medical system according to the problems of each country. Doctorto is one of the startups active in the field of e-health in Iran, which started its activity 3 years ago with the aim of using technology facilities in the field of health. Doctorto’s goal is to create facilities in the medical environment of the country so that expert and committed doctors can be with the citizens in an environment full of respect and trust. Every user can find the right doctor in the shortest time with the help of Dr.to website and easily make an appointment. Next, we spoke with Behrad Azadi, the co-founder of this startup, to tell us about the path Dr. Teto has taken and the future prospects.

First, introduce yourself.

I am Behrad Azadi, born in 1359, a master in civil engineering from Tehran University and an MBA from the Industrial Management Organization. I am the founder of Doktorto and the founder and chairman of the board of directors of Eastavin Industrial Group, a manufacturer of aluminum and UPVC doors and windows.

Give us a brief introduction of your doctor.

Doctorto is a website and application in the field of health of the country, which is now on Online appointment of doctors It is focused. Doctors have a dedicated page on the Doctorto website where, in addition to online appointments, they post office information, records, videos, articles, and honors on this page in order to create a better relationship with patients. On the other hand, citizens have the possibility to search for the doctor they want on the website based on city, specialty, insurance, and office time. It should be mentioned that Doctorto has plans to launch new services.

How did you come up with the idea of ​​your doctor?!

Ideas Doctorto was created according to the real needs of citizens. We all know that treatment is one of the essential and basic needs of human societies, and the quality and ease of its process is one of the demands of all citizens. When we look for an idea to launch Startup After studying and examining the needs of the community around us, we came to the conclusion that people, both urban and rural, have problems accessing qualified doctors and always struggle with the problem of easy access to doctors. In fact, paying attention to this issue led to the emergence of Dr. Tu and we do our best to establish effective communication between the patient and the doctor. The point that I must point out is that in the early days of this idea, all the problems and troubles of this particular field came to our mind. Even some people kept telling us that you will not succeed. But we agreed that we do not have the right to be tired for one year and after one year we will decide on the continuation of the journey.

Do you have competitors in the market? What, if any, is your competitive advantage over your competitors?

Yes, fortunately. There are a number of similar websites. Of course, we have two main competitors and we believe that all of them contribute to the growth of culture Online appointment they help

Our competitive advantage is the number of member doctors with active online appointments on our website and of course the quality of our services.

Is there a successful foreign example for your doctor? And are they likely to enter your market?

Yes, there are successful Indian, American and French examples that have grown well in recent years. But due to the complexity of this type of work in Iran, the probability of their entry into this market is very low.

Explain about the formation process of your doctor’s team.

Currently, DoctorTo has a team of 30 people consisting of programmers, digital marketing specialists, content producers, marketers and supporters. This team was formed over time and according to the needs of your doctor. Of course, this team was formed with a lot of effort and we have fully realized today that our good human resources are our best assets.

How long did it take you to get to the initial version of the product?

4 months.

Have you had a fundraising and acceleration process? Do you intend to attract capital?

We did not have an acceleration process. The capital required for two years was provided by the founders and in the third year a stage Fundraising we had. We are currently preparing to attract capital because we have good growth and development plans.

How did you enter the market?

We chose the city of Shiraz as a pilot and after the preparation of the Doctorto site, we started working with the doctors of this city. We knew that if we succeed in this city by using our experiences in the path of growth and solving challenges, the probability of our success in other cities will be higher. It happened like that. After working in Shiraz for a year and a half and settling in well, we decided to expand in other cities. Now doctors in Shiraz, Tehran, Karaj, Isfahan, Bandar Abbas, Bushehr and Ahvaz Your doctor’s site are active

In terms of marketing, we spent 70% of our energy in digital marketing. We also tried to support doctors and citizens well so that satisfied users recommend us to others.

What challenges did you face in developing your business?

The main challenge is the non-cooperation of the doctors’ reception staff. We know that change is often hard and comes with resistance. Of course, we went in this direction with all our strength and gained very good experiences. Today, there are many doctors who offer about half of their appointments online through the Doktorto website. We are sure that the future of health will change a lot and anyone who does not adapt to electronic tools will be left behind. We believe that online scheduling is the first step towards e-health.

Have you found yourself in a situation where you think about closing your business?

Fortunately, we never thought of this and we were working with energy. From the beginning, we had a complete study and review in the field of health and we believe in the impact of our work in the future of electronic health.

Did you receive important feedback from your users that led to the improvement of your product?

Yes, we have always given importance to the feedback of our users, both citizens and doctors, and we believe that a good product is a product that meets the real needs of users. Therefore, we monitor the user experience.

If you had to go this route again, what would you not do?

The initial product that we prepared included very good and professional features that we thought should have been welcomed by doctors, but in reality it was not. So we understood that the product MVP How important it is and we should have produced a smaller product or MVP first.

And the last word?

The suggestions that come to my mind for other entrepreneurs are as follows:

• Study the market carefully. Meaning, what is the real need of the people and how are you going to meet it. I emphasize “real need”.
• The idea is important, but it is 10% of the whole story, 90% of the success is guaranteed by the execution and implementation with the program.
• Think about the income and financial plan and know the amount of financial resources you need.
• Continuous study and preparation for learning is very important. Strengthen the spirit of learning in yourself.
• Don’t forget to constantly consult with people who have already gone this route at least once.
• The presence of two people in the group of founders is an advantage: 1- Someone who is a programming expert. 2- A person who has already started a successful business and knows its principles.
• Try not to get bored.