An interview with Grant Safaryan, founder of the Balance rehabilitation center
Grant Safaryan moved from Yerevan to Dilijan eight years ago. He fell in love with the town — and stayed for good, opening the Balance rehabilitation center, where people come for kinesiotherapy, physiotherapy, and medical massage.
We talked to him about how business works in Dilijan, why he chose rehabilitation over everything else, what anyone hoping to start a business here should know, and what this town means to him.
Why should someone in Yerevan have a choice, and someone in Tavush not?
One day I woke up with an idea: bring quality rehabilitation care here, so people wouldn’t have to travel to Yerevan to get it. I’d thought about starting a business before, but neither restaurants nor hotels interested me — I wanted to help people. That’s how the idea for the rehabilitation center came about: a place that treats not just the body, but the mind too.
It’s not just neighbors anymore — now patients come from all over Armenia
Most of our patients are from Dilijan and the nearby villages. But more people are hearing about the center all the time: now people make the trip here on purpose — from other regions, including Yerevan. Tourists often stop by after hiking, too, for a sports or therapeutic massage to ease sore muscles.
Most people come to us with back and joint pain
Musculoskeletal issues are the most common reason people come in. We also treat joint pain and help with recovery after surgery. And we offer home visits for people with limited mobility — after a stroke, for example.
Finding staff was the biggest challenge at the start
There are almost no specialists in this field in Dilijan, and not everyone from Yerevan is willing to relocate. We still managed to put together a strong team — though it’s made up almost entirely of specialists from Yerevan. Attracting our first clients wasn’t easy either: this kind of care was unfamiliar in Dilijan, and we had to earn people’s trust.
Another rehab center just opened in Dilijan — and I’m glad
It’s called Koli, and it will help improve people’s quality of life here too. We’re not competitors — we’re allies. The more projects like this exist in the city, the better it is for the people who need help.
If you don’t start for the money, the money comes anyway
My advice to anyone starting something similar: understand what people actually need, and make helping them your priority — the money will follow. Don’t chase quick profit; build value and earn trust first.
Dilijan has almost everything you need for a healthy life
With this project, we’re trying to build a new culture here — one where people care about their health and understand why it matters. Dilijan has real potential for that; it just needs to be tapped.
To me, Dilijan means calm, recovery, and the future
What keeps me here is nature — it’s tied to that sense of calm, to the feeling that life can be different. I’m not planning to leave. I want to keep living in Dilijan and keep building what I’m building here.