Miles of Smiles Bringing on-site dental care to casino employees was this entrepreneur's jackpot idea.
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
What: On-site, mobile dental services for casinoemployees
Who: Chris Davenport of Casino Direct Health Services
Where: Las Vegas
When: Started in April 2000
Dental hygienist and budding entrepreneur Chris Davenport wantedto make visiting the dentist convenient for busy casino workers.After partnering with a dentist (hygienists can't own healthpractices under Nevada law), Davenport, 35, started Casino DirectHealth Services and developed a 40-foot dental office on wheels for$350,000. He saw his first patients at the Primadonna Resorts, nowowned by MGM Grand.
Davenport's private mobile dentistry practice soon partneredwith Las Vegas casino operators to become part of thecompanies' benefits programs. Davenport and his staff travel tocasinos six days a week, providing complete on-site care foremployees during breaks or after their shifts.
Patient referrals have been integral in getting Davenport'sbusiness up and running. "All our prospective patients tend towork together, so when they come into our mobile facilities, theyhave to have a pretty amazing experience [to ensurereferrals]," Davenport says. He keeps the patients happy withthe latest technology: Not only are the three private offices inthe mobile unit decked out with flat-screen TVs and memory-foamchairs, but he also uses a paperless record-keeping system.
In 2005, this combination of on-site care and high-tech gadgetryearned Casino Direct $2 million. With a new brick-and-mortar officenow open in Las Vegas, Davenport expects to bring in at least $3.6million in 2006.
Currently, Davenport is looking to add one mobile unit to hisfleet in Nevada and is also working on a deal with Harrah'sEntertainment to roll his service to casinos in Tunica,Mississippi. He hopes to have these new mobile units in action byyear-end.
Davenport believes on-site dental care is a natural choice forlarge companies with health-care coverage. "If their employeesare smiling," he says, "that's obviously going toaffect their bottom line."
