Tessic Health

LAUNCH COST CALCULATOR

What does it cost to launch a telehealth brand?

The worked example follows a new weight-loss brand on the Tessic Launch program through its first year: every fee, every patient, and the month the clinic pays for itself. Change any number and the tables recalculate.

THE CALCULATOR

Change any number.

The page opens on a worked example. Edit any input and every figure, table and step updates as you type.

Tessic program
Getting patients
Each patient

Worked example

On these numbers a brand on the Launch program needs $27,593 in cash before the clinic pays for itself. It earns more than it spends from month 4 and has all of that cash back by month 10.

Cash needed to launch
$27,593
Lowest cash point, month 3
First month in profit
Month 4
All launch cash back
Month 10
Paid to Tessic, first 12 months
$41,025
Setup, platform fee and visits
Cash in and out, line by line
Month 1First 12 monthsPaid to
Costs
Tessic setup fee, one time$8,000$8,000Tessic
Tessic Launch platform fee$1,000$12,000Tessic
Provider visits, $25 each$1,000$21,025Tessic
Medication at wholesale, 0% markup$5,600$267,680Pharmacy, at cost
Advertising$10,000$120,000Your ad accounts
Card fees, 3%$299$14,283Your card processor
Brand launch: design, photos, copy$5,000$5,000Your vendors
Total costs$30,899$447,988
Money in
Patient payments$9,960$476,088From patients
Net cash-$20,939$28,100
Month by month, first 12 months
MonthNew patientsActive patientsPatient paymentsCostsNetCash position
Month 14040$9,960$30,899-$20,939-$20,939
Month 24074$18,426$23,138-$4,712-$25,651
Month 340103$25,647$27,589-$1,942-$27,593
Month 440128$31,872$31,426$446-$27,147
Month 540149$37,101$34,648$2,453-$24,694
Month 640167$41,583$37,427$4,156-$20,539
Month 740182$45,318$39,740$5,578-$14,960
Month 840195$48,555$41,732$6,823-$8,137
Month 940206$51,294$43,429$7,865-$272
Month 1040215$53,535$44,806$8,729$8,457
Month 1140223$55,527$46,036$9,491$17,948
Month 1240230$57,270$47,118$10,152$28,100

Cash position is the running total from the day the setup fee is paid. The shaded row is the lowest point: the cash needed to launch.

How the numbers work

  1. $10,000 of ads a month at $250 per new patient brings in 40 new patients a month.
  2. 85% of patients stay each month, so the clinic has 167 active patients by month 6 and 230 by month 12.
  3. Each patient pays $249 a month. Medication costs $140.00 at wholesale and card fees take $7.47. Every new patient has a first visit and a returning patient sees a provider every 4 months, at $25 a visit.
  4. Month 1 carries the one-time costs, the $8,000 Tessic setup fee and $5,000 of brand work, so month 1 ends at -$20,939.
  5. The clinic first takes in more than it spends in month 4. The running total bottoms out at -$27,593 in month 3; that is the cash needed to launch.
  6. Across the first 12 months patients pay $476,088 and the clinic spends $447,988, of which $41,025 goes to Tessic.

THE WORKED EXAMPLE

Where each default number comes from

Every input the worked example uses, and the reason for it. Tessic's own fees are published prices; everything else is an estimate to replace with your own.

Tessic program
Launch: $1,000/mo + $8,000 setup
Launch runs the whole clinic: licensed providers in all 50 states, pharmacy at 0% markup, the storefront, patient portal and subscription billing.
Ad budget per month
$10,000
A first paid-social budget for a new brand. Ads are the one cost that grows exactly as fast as the founder chooses to grow.
Ad cost per new patient
$250
An assumption, not a Tessic figure: the ad spend it takes to turn a stranger into a paying patient. Replace it with the real number once ads are running.
Patients who stay each month
85%
85% staying means about 15% leave each month. Grow and Scale add failed-payment recovery (automatic retries and reminders when a card is declined).
Price per patient per month
$249
A monthly weight-loss program that includes medication, billed every month.
Medication cost per patient per month
$140
The wholesale medication cost used in the Tessic article "Why zero markup matters". On Tessic it passes through at 0% markup.
Months between follow-up visits
4 months
Every new patient has a first visit. Stable patients on a subscription see a provider every few months, not every month.
Card processing fees
3%
A standard card-processing rate. The brand owns the billing relationship, so this goes to the brand's own processor.
One-time brand work
$5,000
Logo, packaging design, product photos and launch copy. The storefront and patient portal come with every Tessic program.

NOT COUNTED

What these numbers leave out

  • Salaries for the founder and any staff the brand hires.
  • Inventory. Medication ships from the pharmacy one order at a time, so the brand holds none.
  • Taxes, and interest if the setup fee is financed.
  • Add-ons such as the branded mobile app ($4,999 a year) or Tessic AI+ Business Intelligence ($499 a month).

QUESTIONS

Questions founders ask

What does Tessic charge to launch a brand?
A one-time setup fee and a flat monthly platform fee. Launch is $8,000 to set up and $1,000 a month, Grow is $15,000 to set up and $2,000 a month and Scale is $25,000 to set up and $4,000 a month. Every completed visit is $25 and medication passes through at wholesale with 0% markup. Billing runs month to month after setup, and financing is available on the setup fee.
What is the biggest cost of launching?
In most scenarios, advertising. Tessic's fees are flat, so once the setup fee is paid the line that grows fastest is the money spent finding patients. It is also the line the founder controls month to month.
Does the brand need a medical license?
No. Licensed clinicians own the medical practice through a friendly PC (a professional corporation owned by a physician), and the brand's company owns the business and the brand. The setup fee covers drafting both.
How soon can the clinic take its first patient?
Within days of setup. The providers in all 50 states, the pharmacy and the software already run; setup puts them under the brand's name.
Where do the default numbers come from?
Tessic's fees are its published prices. The medication cost matches the worked example in the Tessic article "Why zero markup matters". Ad cost, retention and price are estimates for a new weight-loss brand, each listed above with its reason. Replace them with your own.

MORE CALCULATORS

Run the other numbers