Dr Ken Tan’s growing business

Ten years ago in Canberra, there was no dedicated ultrasound service for women in obstetrics and gynaecology. That seemed like an oversight to Dr Ken Tan.

Dr Tan is an obstetrician who also holds a Diploma of Diagnostic Ultrasound from the Australian Society for Ultrasound in Medicine. Often obstetricians outsource ultrasound work for their patients, but Dr Tan always saw sonography as a skill that would make him better at his specialty.

‘Despite there being no service, there was a demand here,’ Dr Tan says. ‘I came up with the idea with two of my colleagues, Dr Meiri Robertson and Tegan Ingold, a senior sonographer, to start this practice in the Canberra region.’ This practice would become the Canberra Fetal Assessment Centre.

The practice slowly grew in popularity over the years, but it wasn’t until the pandemic that they saw a real boost in growth from GP referrals. ‘Suddenly, after COVID, we got very popular,’ says Dr Tan.

‘We’re different to others because if there are any abnormal findings in the scans or tests, we can do invasive tests as well or manage the abnormal findings with the public hospital or private obstetricians.’

Apart from the Canberra Fetal Assessment Centre, Dr Tan also ran his own private obstetrics and gynaecology practice in the same building. But there was so much demand from other specialists as well as GPs, he realised they needed another centre. What he didn’t realise at the time, was this was just the beginning of the growth of his business.

A service in demand

Dr Tan first became interested in ultrasound while he was doing his medical training at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, then later while working as a junior trainee in Canberra. ‘I was just especially interested in ultrasound,’ he explains. ‘Even though my specialty was obstetrics and gynaecology, I could see how ultrasound would help me in my practice of that in the future. If I had a patient, I could make decisions for their treatment based on an ultrasound I had done myself. If there are abnormal findings, I can tell patients what those findings mean and how we manage them on the spot,’ he says.

It was during his training that he decided to focus primarily on ultrasound and obstetrics, and that he wanted his own practice. After a brief stint in Adelaide doing IVF training, he headed back to Canberra to start one up. They found a space in the hospital precinct to the southwest of the CBD and set up shop.

‘I wanted to set up a new practice near a hospital,’ he explains. ‘If it’s near the public hospital, and a specialist consultant there needs an ultrasound done, there’s nowhere else nearby they can book it in. So, they can refer to us. And if you have a patient that has got any problems, we can refer the patient back to the public hospital.’

Finding a property that was sufficiently large and close proved challenging, however. After two years of searching, they finally found some rooms in Bruce, on the other side of town not far from North Canberra Hospital. An added bonus of the location was that several obstetricians and gynaecologists who referred to the centre worked in the area.

Building a specialist practice for growth

The new practice in Bruce was set up almost as a reflection of the way Dr Tan ran his own business. ‘I have two practices across two different locations,’ he explains. ‘I have my ultrasound practice, but also my private obstetrics practice.’

‘A few of my colleagues who wanted to start their own private practice approached me, and we had space, so we decided to split the practice at Bruce into halves.’

Finance for the new space came from BOQ Specialist. Dr Tan had been dealing with BOQ Specialist for the past 8 years, so approaching them for finance was a logical step.

‘When I bought my first house, I was dealing with BOQ Specialist,’ he explains. ‘Since then, we’ve just kept investing and using BOQ Specialist. They're very easygoing, supportive, hassle-free, and they communicate well. I think they are a good group of people to deal with.’

Which is a good thing for Dr Tan, because he has found that one extra practice is not enough. Almost as soon as the centre at Bruce was up and running, it was nearing capacity – so they started looking around for another site.

‘We have started to build a new site in Queanbeyan,’ he says. ‘We’re currently applying for the [development application] now. It's also a property that is near a hospital, but for this one we had to change the purpose clause from residential to medical use. We're going to start building hopefully in the next three to four months.’

The new site has four rooms, and his plan is to focus primarily on his ultrasound practice there. ‘Which means we’re going to employ more people, work with more obstetrics and gynaecologists who want to work there and generate more ultrasound reports.’

Beyond that, he already has an eye on the future. ‘There is a demand for these services in Central Western NSW, so maybe that’s where we’ll expand in the future. But that is maybe a 5-to-10-year plan,’ he says.

Backing a vision for expansion

BOQ Specialist has helped Dr Ken Tan many times over the last decade, finding his business acumen just as impressive as his clinical skills.

It shows the myriad of ways BOQ Specialist can work with clients based on their personal interests and plans. Dr Tan had a dream to be able to expand and grow, and we've been able to support him along the way, whether that be with the practices, or the investments he's made.

Planning the next chapter for your business?

Discover how commercial property finance can help eligible professionals purchase and customise their own space.

Commercial property loans