Starting a clinic is akin to starting one’s own business and for a doctor, which would mean a lot of financial decisions to be made on his part. Starting a whole new clinic means paying the rent for the premises, hiring staff to run the clinic, buy all the latest equipments needed for check up and also keep some amount aside to tide over unforeseen expenses that can happen with the setting up of a new clinic. For a new doctor just starting his clinic, it is not possible to shoulder such huge financial responsibility by oneself and applying for a doctor loan is the best option. It is the easiest way to acquire funding for a clinic start- up.
●For any other kind of business, it might seem like a good idea to go for other forms of financing like applying for a credit card loan or try out crowd- funding by approaching people one knows. However, for doctors with a specific purpose of starting a new clinic, it would be far better idea to approach a bank or an NBFC like Bajaj Finserv. They have specific doctor loans in place just for situations like these and it is possible to opt for customized loan options like flexi- loans for doctors. Moreover, the process is a lot more straightforward and transparent one because it involves the submission of KYC documents.
●Since the doctor would apply for the loan to set up his own clinic, it would most likely qualify as a business loan for doctors and NBFCs like Bajaj Finserv has very good options for this kind of situation. And there is no need to have any prior working relationship with the lender either. Just in case there is, the doctor could also make use of some of the pre- approved offers that come with such working relationships. The processing is very quick and the loan can be approved in as less as 48 hours with the maximum loan amount being Rs 35 lakhs for unsecured loans. In case the doctor is willing to mortgage a property and decides to take a doctor loan against property, this amount can go up to Rs 2 crore.
●It is not always possible to gauge the exact expenses at the very beginning while trying an undertaking like setting up one’s clinic. An approximate amount is usually calculated, as near to the actual amount as possible, but the entire amount might not be needed at once. NBFCs like Bajaj Finserv have flexi- loan options just for situations like these. One can make part withdrawals from one’s loan account as and when required and then one has to pay interest on that amount only. One could also make part- prepayments on flexi- loans at no extra cost. Credit card loans do not offer such advantages and they have a low maximum limit as well.
●The doctor can choose a flexible repayment tenor as well which mostly ranges from 12 months to 96 months. This is because, a clinic might not become immediately successful as soon as it is set up. It would take time to make a profit and during that time the doctor could make interest only payments. Moreover, the interest rate for doctor loan is mostly between 14% and 16% and although some credit card companies often try to lure their clients with lower interests there are often hidden charges to contend with which can pose financial problems later on.
●A doctor loan also comes with a range of facilities like insurance for the loan and a loan top up if one needs additional financing. NBFCs like Bajaj Finserv also gives the option of loan transfer after 12 consecutive EMI payments to the former lender and this also helps the doctor save a significant amount of money in the long run.
