Dr. Catherine Tellier: From employee to رائدة أعمال and from promising entrepreneur to owner of a high- مبيعات revenue company. Founder of Villa Fortuny Clinic Dubai.

Dr. Catherine Tellier talks to us about her road to success.

Dr. Catherine Tillers says, after ten years of growth and opening the doors of her Dubai-based dental and cosmetic surgery clinic:

“ريادة الأعمال أمر صعب، وهو أمر لا يناسب الجميع”.

Her virtual ideas have grown into a series of expansions—she now has her own dental laboratory and in-house training center—and her annual sales have exceeded

$3 million recently.

Success didn’t come easily: self-doubt, the discouraging odds of failure, and a highly competitive environment were major obstacles at the start of

Dr. Tillers’ journey. From overcoming obstacles to reaching milestones and planning further expansion, we spoke with Dr. Tillers, founder of the advanced clinic

Villafortney, on her ten-year journey as a business owner in Dubai.

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What challenges did you face in starting and growing your company, and how did you overcome them?

The obstacles I faced when I first started my clinic stemmed from my own fear of failure—I was always wondering whether patients would come to my new location,

or whether the clinic would struggle during its first few years. Over time, you realize that while having an entrepreneurial spirit, questioning your own abilities is

an important part of your journey to success. In fact, asking tough questions can lead you to important answers.

Another challenge I faced when I was starting out was choosing the right location. For clinics, location matters more than anything else. Ten years

ago, the area we chose wasn’t as busy as it is today. But after conducting some market research, I learned that it had

the ingredients needed for residential and commercial growth. When starting any business, you need foresight and must be willing to invest in the research needed

to develop that foresight.

The market today is much tougher. When expanding Villafortney to include an in-house training center, I had to deal with everything from difficult approval processes

to hidden costs and administrative gaps. It’s important to stay aware of change—what you did ten years ago when you were just starting out may

…to outright failure when you want to grow your business in today’s market.

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What are your annual sales, and how much have they increased over the past five years?

The clinic generates annual revenue of between $3 million and $4 million from dental and cosmetic surgery services, and we are seeing average growth of

12% year over year. The new expansion should also drive accelerated growth—our capital investment is very high, and conservative estimates

project revenue to triple over five years, with break-even within 18 months.

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What are the most recent investments you’ve made to grow your company?

I have made two new investments to grow the company, together totaling more than $1 million. The first is a fully equipped dental laboratory with the latest

3D scanning and CAD/CAM technologies, which serve our own needs as well as those of other clinics in the UAE.

United Arabia. The second is an in-house training center offering continuing medical education courses and lectures. It is equipped to livestream high-definition content from dedicated rooms.

in dentistry and cosmetic surgery. Our internal research shows a current and growing market gap in high-quality education. Both the

dental and medical communities will benefit from this new training center, as will the opportunity to bring in world-renowned speakers, each

a respected expert in their field. The center will also offer master’s degrees through our partnerships with European universities.

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What are your company’s goals, and how do you define business success?

My main business goal is to take pride in a team of highly skilled professional practitioners who can provide a full range of

services using the latest technologies, complemented by technological tools that enhance the value we offer patients. Vilafortuny’s success as a company is based on achieving

Balancing these factors.

يملك كل Entrepreneur dreams for their company—and each Entrepreneur owns the key stages that, for them, define what the company was built on. As long as you manage

these key stages, your company is already successful.

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What are your plans for further expansion?

Are you planning to open more clinics here or elsewhere in the GCC?

Our current expansion plans focus on the clinic’s latest projects—the dental laboratory and in-house training center. We are working to expand the laboratory

into a fully commercial dental laboratory serving clinics across the United Arab Emirates. This vision is driven by necessity, not

For commercial reasons, the quality of laboratory work in the region is inconsistent, affecting both service providers and patients. It also adds more

cost and time, and often unintentionally affects the clinic’s reputation. Having control over the value chain ensures the highest quality and an ideal customer experience

from start to finish.

As for the training center, we aim to provide ongoing education led by internationally recognized experts in the medical field. I have traveled across the United States

and much of Europe, attending numerous courses and lectures, and spent more than US$200,000 learning from these leading professionals,

excluding travel and accommodation costs. Dubai has become a hub for trade, luxury, and real estate—so why not education? I want people to have

A base close to the practitioners, while still giving them the opportunity to learn from the best in the world.

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Do you have many clients coming from neighboring countries for treatment?

The clinic has a visiting clientele from across the GCC, particularly former Dubai residents who return for treatment.

The clinic offers a number of practitioners and highly specialized, unique services that tend to attract patients from further afield.

Laser dental treatments for gum grafting, gum pigmentation, and gum disease are also very popular with visiting patients. As for the cosmetic surgery department,

one of the most popular procedures is eyelid surgery.

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What advice would you give entrepreneurs who are just starting out?

The only thing that truly separates a startup from a successful business is a few years, vision, and perseverance. It may seem like a simple combination,

But this is something many companies lack—and one of the reasons 90% of new companies close within their first year of operation. The

first step is difficult, but keeping a company afloat and ultimately growing it is even harder.

It’s hard to overstate the importance of having a vision for any company. It should emerge from insight into a particular market—but it must also

be positively inspiring. So don’t compromise or set the bar too low: your vision should be simple yet bold if

you want it to lay the foundation for great work by others. It doesn’t have to be something you can systematically plan your way toward—a plan along a

perfectly clear path. In fact, it should feel worth making a genuine effort for. Otherwise, perhaps ironically, it simply won’t attract and motivate great people,

That’s because people thrive on challenges.