Postdoctoral Team Targets 200 Million-Person Cervical and Lumbar Care Market with Break-Even in 6–8 Months and Peak Daily Revenue of RMB 67,000 per Store

“Health, a topic we will inevitably address sooner or later. Identifying and addressing needs, directly tackling pain points—that is entrepreneurship.” Ning You posted this message on his Weibo account named “Jing Yi Wei - Dr. Ning You.”

“Mouse hand,” “radiation face,” “overtime eyes,” and “computer spine”—these common ailments among office workers are collectively known as “white-collar diseases.” Office personnel, busy with work all day long like wound-up clockwork mechanisms, rarely have time to rest and often turn a blind eye to the abnormal physical symptoms that frequently arise.

To address cervical spine issues among this population, Ning You left the public sector in February 2015 to establish Jing Yi Wei, a professional institution dedicated to the health and maintenance of the cervical, lumbar, and spinal columns. In October of the same year, the company secured RMB 5 million in angel investment from Qianming Angel Fund.

In the gradually emerging rehabilitation market, what is Jingyiwei’s greatest advantage? How do they leverage their strengths in offline settings? With a series of questions in mind,VCBeat (WeChat: vcbeat)An Exclusive Interview with Ning You, Founder and CEO of Jingyiwei

Ning You, Founder and CEO of Jingyiwei

Ning You, who holds a Ph.D. in Acupuncture and Tuina and completed postdoctoral research on spinal aging, is an expert in cervical spine care with both academic depth and clinical experience.

During his postdoctoral fellowship at Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, he operated a specialized outpatient clinic for acupuncture and tuina. Like many physicians who have left the public healthcare system, he identified market pain points through three years of clinical practice and founded “Jing Yi Wei,” a brand dedicated to the cervical spine care market.

The team providing professional services at Jing Yi Wei Zhong consists exclusively of professionals with medical backgrounds, comprising PhDs, postdoctoral fellows, and physiotherapists from departments such as Tuina (Chinese therapeutic massage), orthopedics, rehabilitation, and sports medicine.

In China’s rehabilitation market, specialized branches are becoming increasingly refined. While institutions focused on cervical and lumbar spine and spinal rehabilitation are of mixed quality, Ning You, with his professional background, has identified a blue ocean opportunity.China has up to 200 million patients with cervical and lumbar spondylosis, with the peak onset age dropping from 55 to 38 years., he is deeply concerned about the trend of cervical spine issues affecting younger populations.

“During my postdoctoral fellowship, I focused on spinal aging and amassed extensive clinical and research data. I also conducted meta-analyses of epidemiological surveys, which revealed two trends: first, the prevalence of cervical spine disorders is rising; second, the affected population is becoming increasingly younger.”

Jing Yiwei’s core customer base is aged between 30 and 50. The pathogenesis of cervical spine disorders differs between younger and older patients. The muscles of the human neck are small muscles, characterized by high flexibility but low tolerance to stress.Prolonged sedentary work, such as looking down at mobile phones and computers, can lead to muscle strength imbalances. This may cause changes in the physiological curvature of the cervical spine, resulting in irritation and compression of nerves, blood vessels, and the spinal cord, which in turn leads to chronic pain.

The core demographic for cervical spine issues, typically aged 30 to 50, often faces specific pain points: managing cervical spine conditions requires long-term care, yet busy work schedules leave little time for systematic treatment at crowded public hospitals. This frequently leads to desperate and indiscriminate seeking of medical help, with individuals flocking to roadside massage parlors or so-called “wellness centers.” Ning You told reporters that massage constitutes a form of manual intervention; applying such interventions without proper assessment can lead to two outcomes:First, symptoms have not been alleviated; second, symptoms have worsened.“There are six types of cervical spondylosis, some of which are not suitable for manual intervention; blind massage will definitely cause danger.”

Addressing the pain point of unquantifiable cervical spine issues, Ning You and his team developed the SOAP assessment system by quantifying indicators such as pain intensity, pain location, cervical range of motion, and physiological curvature, thereby standardizing cervical spine care protocols.

SOAP stands for S (Subjective), O (Objective), A (Assessment), and P (Plan). It involves evaluating whether a patient is suitable for non-surgical treatment upon their visit to the clinic, followed by the formulation of a maintenance plan. “Key parameters indicating significant changes must be identified, the approximate duration of the treatment cycle determined, and focal points requiring manual or device-based intervention/treatment pinpointed, complemented by exercise guidance,” pointed out Ning You. He emphasized that Jingyiwei not only provides therapeutic interventions in clinical maintenance settings but also advocates the concept of “collaborative rehabilitation.” This refers to the aforementioned exercise guidance, where maintenance plans are co-developed with patients to monitor and support their home-based care and rehabilitation.

Assess the customer's cervical spine condition

Drawing on both clinical and research experience, Ning You and his team have adopted an integrated approach combining traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and Western medicine in their therapeutic practices. This aligns with Ning’s academic background in integrative medicine: “Although my doctoral studies focused on acupuncture and tuina massage, my postdoctoral research centered on Western medical perspectives on aging. Therefore, Jingyiwei operates more as an integrative TCM-Western medicine model rather than a purely TCM-based practice. As a result, our service offerings are relatively more comprehensive.”

The therapeutic approaches of Jingyiwei are divided into three parts: manual intervention, device-based intervention, and collaborative rehabilitation.：

Manual intervention, which includes Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) techniques such as rolling, one-finger meditation, acupressure, and plucking, while also incorporating Western manual therapies like osteopathic manipulation and stretching; Instrumental intervention, accounting for approximately 30%–40% of the total treatment, is primarily used to target deep muscles and small muscle groups that are inaccessible to manual therapy; Collaborative rehabilitation, which extends the rehabilitation setting through patients’ active exercises, constitutes 10%–20% of the total treatment, with over 20 types of exercise modalities available.

A cervical spine therapist is performing manual therapy.

Furthermore, Ning You revealed that treatment for patients visiting Jingyiwei generally consists of two phases. The first phase focuses on symptom relief. Individuals with pronounced symptoms requiring alleviation, or those diagnosed by hospitals with cervical or lumbar spine issues, typically require one to two treatment courses to relieve their symptoms. The second phase is the maintenance stage, which transitions patients from the initial treatment phase into a long-term care regimen aimed at preventing cervical spine problems and sustaining optimal health.

Ning You stated, “The cervical and lumbar spine are consumable structures that begin to degenerate at age 30, a process accelerated by modern work and lifestyle habits. Our comprehensive assessment and intervention process is both effective and safe, achieving the goal of maintaining cervical and lumbar health.”

Currently, Jing Yi Wei has opened three branch stores in Shanghai.“A chain-based operational model is crucial for brand building. Unlike dining, healthcare carries a high trial cost, necessitating robust offline support.”Ning You said so.

Jing Yi Wei’s physical store footprint has evolved from small to large, with initial stores measuring approximately 100 m².², later expanded to 300m²The clinic is equipped with FDA-certified American cervical spine diagnostic devices and MAX instruments for activating deep muscles. Similar to most service providers, the clinic’s primary operating cost is labor.

Jing Yi Wei Shanghai Health Intelligence Valley Store

In terms of staffing, each store is equipped with approximately two professional physicians and four to six therapists, bringing the total number of staff, including other service personnel, to around 10–12. This configuration ensures strong patient throughput capacity for a single location; a store of approximately 300 square meters can serve 70–80 customers per day.

Since May 2016, Jingyiwei has served approximately 25,000 patient visits. It is reported that the brand’s single-store daily revenue record once reached RMB 67,000.

Online, Jingyiwei has partnered with multiple platforms, including Dianping, WeChat, and Meinian Onehealth, to establish traffic redirection channels. Offline, Ning You observed that in addition to visiting stores for treatment and maintenance services, customers often inquire about care-related products from doctors. Therefore, Jingyiwei stores also offer peripheral products related to cervical and lumbar spine rehabilitation, such as lumbar supports.

He refers to this model as“Front Store, Back Clinic” Model“Our products are at the forefront, backed by our services. Providing service serves not only as an entry point but also as a ‘trust endorsement’ for our products.” Differentiating services from products opens up another blue ocean for Jingyiwei. “We are willing to help customers make informed choices and leverage data to drive innovative research and development, thereby meeting user needs on the product side.”

Although Jing Yi Wei primarily operates through an offline service model, which entails a relatively asset-heavy investment, in the model designed by Ning You,A single store can achieve break-even in approximately 6 to 8 months.

Strong operational performance is inextricably linked to its reputation for high-quality service. In a market saturated with blind massage parlors and various wellness and maintenance services, the professional background of the Jing Yi Wei team constitutes their greatest advantage. The team includes PhDs and master’s graduates in rehabilitation sciences, as well as specialized professionals in physical therapy. Jing Yi Wei has received exceptionally positive reviews across various rating platforms, which is crucial for any service-oriented organization.

Furthermore, regarding customer acquisition for its physical clinics, Ning You candidly admitted that promotion had initially been a persistent challenge. Since the founding team consisted primarily of professional physicians with technical backgrounds, they lacked marketing expertise and consequently took some detours. “As we previously focused on ‘technical’ aspects and were unfamiliar with promotion, we simply did not engage in it. However, as the saying goes, ‘even good wine fears a deep alley’; neglecting promotion is no longer an option.” He explained that effective promotion required hiring dedicated personnel. Initially, they attempted to recruit a suitable marketing specialist directly, but soon realized this approach was ineffective. “First, we needed to thoroughly understand the market and initiate promotional efforts ourselves; only then could we determine what kind of talent our team truly required.”

Backed by a professional postdoctoral team, Jingyiwei primarily attracts clients through public welfare health lectures and on-site free clinics, which also serve to educate the market, with a promotion frequency of several sessions per week.

According to Ning You, since the second half of 2017, Jingyiwei’s B-end clients have gradually increased, accounting for 10% of its revenue.

This is closely related to Jingyiwei’s store location strategy. Its three stores are situated in locations such as industrial parks like Health Intelligence Valley, ground-floor retail spaces of office buildings, and residential communities. Meanwhile, it collaborates with enterprises that have a high concentration of office workers, including law firms, accounting firms, and companies within industrial parks covered by its stores.

Currently, the corporate clients served by Jingyiwei include Fortune 500 companies such as Siemens’ Shanghai Headquarters, Nike’s Shanghai Headquarters, and Lenovo’s Shanghai Headquarters.

Selected Partner Companies of Jingyiwei

“Starting a business is like fighting monsters to level up.” Ning You’s words captured the inner thoughts of an entrepreneur. “In the beginning, I couldn’t even sleep; unforeseen problems could pop up any day and come knocking at your door without warning.”

Recalling the occasional setbacks encountered on his entrepreneurial journey, he now remains composed: “I have always told my team that entrepreneurship is not defined merely by our choice of track. While selecting a sector with an upward trend is advantageous, indicating that we have chosen a promising path, it does not guarantee success. Many people may lose even with a strong hand, while some with a weak hand may ultimately win. What matters in this process? It lies in how we perceive each step of our entrepreneurial journey and the challenges we encounter, as well as in our cognitive understanding.”

Perhaps it is as DingTalk’s slogan goes, “Entrepreneurship is arduous, but perseverance is cool.” In 2018, Jing Yi Wei adopted a clearer brand-building strategy. In addition to opening physical stores, the company began exploring the development and sales of more high-quality ancillary products. Looking ahead, Ning You aims to establish Jing Yi Wei as the leading brand in the cervical, lumbar, and spinal care market, rather than merely operating as a single retail store.