In the middle of a business or life crisis? Learn from the Masters on how to overcome any challenge you are facing.
I was so excited for this latest HME Voice show, as we were addressing the question of “How do we get out of this?” surrounding everyone dealing with competitive bidding. Our guests provided a ton of great insight into dealing with adversity and facing the facts in difficult situations.
Liz Beaulieu of HME News gave a brief update on a bonanza of stories on competitive bidding to start off the show. The amount of frustration is concerning, especially on the part of the beneficiaries. Everyone, from HME providers to those in desperate need of medical equipment, is still very much fighting competitive bidding. As I said, there is an overwhelming feeling of “How am I going to get through this?” Well, the reality is all of us will face a crisis that will threaten our existence.
Mike Sperduti and Kevin Gaffney conducting interviews for the HME Voice.
Our first guest, Bryan Anderson of Pride Mobility Products, offered up a few philosophies on how to overcome a difficult personal situation and how that relates to business.
Bryan lost both legs and his left arm below the elbow while on a tour of duty in Iraq for the U.S. Army. This man is a hero in every regard, from fighting on the front lines for our country to facing his physical challenges head-on and making the most out of his experience. As our lead-off guest, Bryan spoke to those who are, at this very moment, facing a threat in either their business or personal life.
“The military trained us not to panic in high stress situations, calm down and process everything so that you can think your way through,” Bryan said. “I didn’t want to put any limits on myself. I wasn’t going to be that guy that says, ‘I don’t have any legs, I’m not going to climb a tree.’ I’m not gonna tell myself that until I try to climb a tree.”
Bryan did just that when faced with a losing three of his limbs. “I passed out in the helicopter, woke up 7 days later at Walter Reed. I started looking around and assessing myself,” Bryan said.
He took an active approach to his life, something he could do because he accepted his situation. He snowboards, wakeboards and skateboards, and is planning to go surfing in December. While his situation is unique, Bryan believes he’s no worse off than anyone else.
“A lot of people assume I have it worse than most people and they have no right to complete, but we all have our own issues and handle them in our own way,” he said. “If you believe you can do it, you can do it no matter what your situation is.”
Bryan encouraged everyone to use the tools they have around them to help improve their situation. He also said you have to realize that panicking about the situation you’re in will only make it worse. By calming yourself down and processing the situation in front of you, you can put yourself in a position to make better decisions and come away with an acceptable solution to the problem. Instead of dwelling on your problem, face the facts and act.
Second in our lineup was Regis Farrell a nationally-recognized turn-around artist. Not only is Regis my personal mentor, but he is by far the best at what he does, and really hit the nail on the head as far as what HME providers can do to resuscitate their business.
Regis said that in order to turn things around, a plan for growth needs to be made, the right leadership team needs to be in place, the plan needs to be communicated to everyone and that employees need to be rewarded for success and growth. But all this is easier said than done, right? Well, Regis provided a few details to fill in the blanks.
To create a plan of growth, you need to gain an understanding of the financials from the last three to four years. What has increased, what has decreased? Once you have a solid understanding of your financials, you can identify where you need to grow. However, you also need the team to get you there.
Interview all managers and people in leadership positions about their short and long term goals. You need to make sure your leadership team wants to grow, has the skill sets to do so and are qualified to be there, Regis said.
Once you have your growth plan and leadership team, the leaders need to communicate that plan to everyone – employees, investors, shareholders, lenders and all other stakeholders. This not only helps everyone stay accountable, but also shows investors and lenders “here’s where we are, here’s where we’re going, and this is what we’re doing to get there.”
Finally, you need to boost morale with quarterly bonuses. Yes, we know you may be strapped for cash, but when sales goals are hit and revenues are made, a simple thing like a bonus (based on how that person helped reach the goal, not a hand out) can go a long way toward creating a better working environment.
Regis is the man, so you can take all these suggestions to the bank!
We ended our show with Steve Kitchin, president of Indiana-based ConvertaStep. As another individual who has overcome personal tragedy, Steve is acutely aware of needs in the disabled population and has applied lessons learned from his physical challenges to business practices at ConvertaStep.
Steve talked about his reaction to waking up one morning as a quadriplegic, as a result of an auto accident. “Redefine yourself,” Steve said. “There is no way you could be the person you were in the past, but think about what you can be now.” He went on to tell us how you’ve got to accept what you can’t control and build from your assets to ensure your future.
Steve described a time shortly after his accident when he remembers a Christopher Reeve book just hitting the shelves called “Still Me” and thinking, “No, I’m not. I can’t be the same guy that I was. I’ve got to do things differently because if I still try and be me, I’m going to have nothing but frustration.” This is a perfect example of the mentality Steve applies to his business practices.
Steve said the key is to accept what you can’t control, but find new ways to break through to success. This ties in perfectly with the issues facing HME providers right now with competitive bidding. While we are in no way giving up on an alternative solution to DMEPOS competitive bidding, we do have to accept the new rules for the time being. However, that shouldn’t prevent you from exhausting all other options of finding revenue to keep your company alive.
I want to sincerely thank our guests, Bryan Anderson, Regis Farrell and Steve Kitchin for speaking with us for this show. You guys are rock stars and inspirations for those in the HME/DME business right now looking for a way to get around competitive bidding.
People, I encourage you to take what these guys talked about and apply it to your life. Tough times call for acceptance of the difficulties at hand and the courage to look for change. I hope you all are able to find something that inspires you to take action and know you can overcome ANYTHING after this edition of HME Voice.
