6 New Opportunities For Growing Your Company And Increasing Your Value
Carter Schelling takes a look at Paul's recent interview with Aaron Kraai to find some unique strategies for growing your business, and ultimately increasing your value to potential acquirers. Tune in to discover new ideas about staffing shortfalls, competition with health systems, and more.
Full transcript
Generated from the episode audio and lightly edited for readability.
Welcome to studio 3655. I'm Carter Schelling, director of business development for Martin Healthcare Advisors. I also have my own consulting firm, 3655 Incorporated, where for the last 43 years, I've been helping my business owner clients build extraordinary businesses in ordinary industries. For the last several years, I've helped Paul create his wonderful series of video presentations and interviews, some of which have been shot right here in this studio. And now today I'm doing opportunities for action following Paul's interview with Aaron Kraai, CEO of Doctors of Physical Therapy last week.
It was a great interview and there are several wonderful opportunities for action. Let's take a look at what we got. What was the context of the interview? Who is this guy? Aaron Kraai is one of the new breed of acquirers. He's rapidly grown to 80 clinics. And although he works with primarily smaller companies, he's a big thinker. Well, how should we interpret his tone? You know, his tone more than other interviewees was quite aggressive. He is attacking the problems in front of him and wants to come up with solutions, perhaps brand new solutions to problems that would hold others back.
He's an aggressive thinker. Number three, the two most important elements of the new normal come up in this interview. Let's take a look at what the opportunities for action about each are. Number one, everybody has a hard time getting people. Everybody has a hard time attracting new people, in particular new graduates. Part of his attractiveness is based on the fact that when he hires a new graduate, he assigns them to an experienced clinician who mentors that graduate during their most important first year of work in the real world.
This has a tremendous influence on their ability to grow quickly and successfully to achieve their potential for themselves and for us. It's a great attractor and he promotes it. If you are doing mentoring of any of that type, you want to pitch that in your social media or printed presence so that candidates know what they can get from you as opposed to your competition. Number two, he spoke of the fact that these young graduates have unrealistic expectations for pay and time off etc in the real world.
One way you can influence that in your marketplace is think of your alma mater or think of the schools in your marketplace. How could you volunteer to give a seminar presentation, a guest lecture on not what your expectations should be, but how to have a great first year in business. In addition to those in-person opportunities, literally if you put your name and email in down below or call us or email us, we could do an interview with you about this subject. We'd be happy to do it at no cost because we'd like to see their expectations change as well.
And then you can send that interview to whomever you want as social media content for them to share with their students. Number three, Aaron said, "Look, we're buying your people, not just you. You have to start developing the people who will follow in your footsteps as clinicians. Who will be your successors on the clinical side?" People don't really talk about that on the management side. On the clinical side, Aaron has to know what's your legacy and how will he build an organization around them when it's time for you to go to the next phase of your career.
You want to start that now. Four, he brought up a very interesting point that the other acquirers have not focused on, and that is that health systems provide the same thing we provide or less for up to twice as much money. You know, you need to raise your voice with whatever association represents you, APA or whomever, and demand that they speak for you in Washington about this unlevel playing field. You deserve to be paid fairly for what you provide. And the hospitals are setting a standard you can't match, not only for payment to their system, but also payment to their clinicians.
It's not fair and you need to raise your voice. Number five, on that health system issue, they have an opportunity to make more money than you do. They need to make more money right now because CO has really hurt them, but they're not experts at this opportunity. We have done literally hundreds of deals between private operators and health systems that allow the operators to share their expertise and make the health system more money and make themselves more money in a splendid and powerful partnership. You deserve that in your marketplace with whatever health system is right now looking to expand by increasing the work they do in outpatient rehab.
We'd love to help you with that opportunity. By the way, health systems are also setting up satellite operations in your neighborhood. Perfect opportunity for you to provide PT services in those satellite operations under their name but sharing the money. Finally, serving local businesses. Aaron brought up something very interesting. Local businesses around you are trying to manage their health care costs. Outpatient rehab is a key factor in managing your health care costs. You need to reach out to owners in the local community and offer your services to work in a partnership, sharing both the risk and the reward to give you another vital source of income and opportunity to pay your people the market wages they deserve.
Really look at this. It's not conventional, but I think it's important to recognize the future is not going to reward conventional. The future will reward the innovator and you can be that company in your marketplace. Put your name and email in down below. Let's start a conversation about how we can help you do it. Thanks for your time today. Look forward to seeing you next week.
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