Lessons from the mountain #4: Problems can make you sore or make you soar.

Welcome to the final installment of my four part series, "Lessons from the Mountain". If this is your first time here, I welcome you to visit my previous posts. I have been highlighting the lessons that were learned through my mountaineering experience that seem to be applicable on the ground in the business world as well. Each week, I have highlighted a simple little truth that hopefully will allow you to maintain a positive perspective; regardless of what you are going through at work! 

Lesson #4: 

All struggles are only problems if you allow them to be. You can view struggles as reasons that you may not be successful or they can be opportunities for personal growth and the catalysts for developing the tools that will guarantee success. I cannot yet quantify all the different areas I developed and how much I grew during the year of training and throughout the actual climb, but I can tell you that I am a different man. I have grown mentally, emotionally, physically and intellectually through the process.

So it is with your struggle at work. All struggles are opportunities for growth. I don't know who said it first, and if you know, tell me so I can give credit where credit is due, but it has been said, "You never find the best version of yourself inside your comfort zone". I can personally attest that I have found the best version of myself, and it was somewhere up on that mountain during the hardest of struggles. 

I encourage each one of you to continue to push forward, embrace the awkwardness of personal growth, and look forward to the better version of yourself that you will find on the other side of whatever struggle you are working through today, this week, this month, and this year. You will like the results; I know I do. 

Keep climbing and check in again next week as I start a new series!

John

About the author:

My name is John Constantine and I am a sales and marketing executive living in suburban Atlanta. Throughout my career, I have been able to drive growth repeatedly in a variety of capacities. As a sales leader, I have built, expanded, and improved high performing teams to promote expansion and profitability. As a marketing executive, I have led teams in the creation and launching of new brands and products. I have managed inbound lead generation campaigns and created online and print branding standards that stand out from the pack and engage employees to take pride in their organization. As an executive of strategic initiatives and a field operations leader, I have implemented programs and processes that have differentiated my organizations and provided predictable revenue forecasting to the C-suite; all the while increasing productivity and accountability of the front-line team members in the organization. 

 To learn more, go to http://www.johnaconstantine.com/

Lessons From the Mountain #2: The Person With the Heavy Pack

Over the next several weeks, I will be highlighting the lessons that I have learned through my mountaineering experience that are applicable on the ground in the business world. Each week, I will highlight a simple little truth that will hopefully help you maintain a positive perspective, regardless of what you are going through at work! 

As I have developed and grown in my career over the years, I have learned that problems come and go, but a positive perspective can always stay consistent. Whether you are developing and building a new sales team, managing a sales team through seasons of decreased spending, building a marketing team, a re-brand or working to improve efficiencies with new processes and initiatives, the struggles change; but the thought processes and perspective used to work through any issues stay the same. 

As many of you know, I recently summited Mt Rainier Washington state with a team of amazing guys, and through that experience, I have come up with suggestions to overcoming problems in the corporate world. 

Lesson #2

It is never too early to prepare. Climbing Mt Rainier was not a two day journey. It was a journey that started over a year in advance. Gear was purchased, physical training plans were developed and implemented, and mental preparedness was enhanced. Each month, we saw ourselves get stronger and more confident. We grew as a team through the training process and we learned how to use the tools that were needed. When I say training, I don't just mean running a few miles or doing some lifting. It was our goal to go above and beyond what we knew we would face. Knowing that we would be carrying up to 50 lbs. of gear up the mountain, Despite the looks from my neighbors, I would hike through my neighborhood for hours with 75 lbs. of rice in my backpack, so as to make the 50 lb. bag feel light. We were going to have two days of intense climbing for close to 14 miles. So over the weekend, I would jog up and down hills for a total of 20+ miles over the two days. It wasn't going to be enough to just train and prepare for the exact weight and distance that we knew was coming; it was essential to be well prepared for even heavier and longer trials.

For you in your pursuits, you can be sure that some obstacles are going to come; a team member that is playing a critical role will leave, a budget item will not be approved that you believe is a necessary component.

There are several ways and circumstances that can and will derail a project. In each of these situations, with proper planning, the most painful part, the unexpected, can be avoided. If it can't be avoided, you will be prepared to work through it. Cross train your team. Hold meetings where staff can talk about their projects amongst each other. Perform activities that gel your group into a team with a common goal. Finally, work with others (staff, peers, mentors) to brainstorm and map out a "Plan B" for all budget items and potential hurdles. By thinking through as many potential outcomes as possible, and training "above and beyond" you will meet trials with more than enough stamina, and be glad that you invested the time to prepare for the unknown.

Keep climbing and check back in next week as we discuss saving some for the way down. 

John

Case Study: Creating the Dream Medical Center from African Dreams

Summary:

Through the process of researching the Rwandan healthcare market, identifying the needs of the population and gaps in current services, and finally, aligning those needs with the expertise of the staff and the resources available to the Dream Medical Center, we were able to increase the forecasted profitability, decrease the projected time to get to a monthly cash flow positive position, and consequently, allocate more funding to other missions programs of Africa New Life such as child sponsorship, feeding centers, and pastoral training.

Background

The country of Rwanda, and its healthcare industry in particular, is uniquely positioned to experience a boom as the emerging middle class starts to consume healthcare similarly to what we see in the United States. Now, with over 20 years between Rwanda today and the 1994 genocide which left an estimated one million people dead and the rest in mourning, the nation has made a remarkable comeback; full of awe-inspiring stories. Now the country stands as a one-of-a-kind lesson in healing and forgiveness.

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs states that if one's basic needs are met, such as water, food, clothing, shelter, and stable employment, only then can a person begin the process of pursuing luxuries that were once viewed as unattainable, or even unnecessary. So it is with the people of Rwanda and adequate healthcare services, especially preventative health services. There is an emerging middle class of Rwandans who have seen, through growing access to global media, the available services and solutions in other parts of the world, and they are now beginning to demand those services in their home country.

Learning the Market

In conducting our market research, we sought to first understand the current state of the population's general health.  Even more, we questioned how that level of health compares with what we see in our own market, the United States. What are the biggest needs, and what can we leverage from a known landscape like our home country? This would expose for us the gap between what exists and what is needed.

Predominately we found that the country of Rwanda has different healthcare concerns than we do at home. Major epidemics in the U.S., such as diabetes and heart disease, aren't issues in Rwanda. In that region of the world, the population is virtually free of many health concerns that we have in the west which often stem from a lifestyle of limited exercise and poor dietary choices. However, in the area of women's & children's healthcare in Rwanda, there is still much room for improvement, and much work to do. Child mortality in Rwanda, while lower than other developing countries, is still very high at 5.2% compared to the current rate of 0.58% in the U.S.  Factors that likely contribute to this elevated child mortality rate include lack of education on sex, family planning, and proper prenatal care. We quickly identified this gap in service as an opportunity for the Dream Medical Center to provide much-needed education to the local population.

Diagnostic services are also in dire need. Because of a lack of laboratory services and the widespread prevalence of inaccurate lab results, people die all too often of treatable illnesses such as malaria. If a patient is correctly diagnosed with malaria, treatment is fairly simple. However, the false negative rate (patients that are actually positive but present as negative) for malaria, while difficult to quantify exactly, has been estimated to be as high as 50%. This leads physicians to treat the symptoms instead of the underlying disease, allowing the malaria to progress to a fatal stage. This is especially an issue in vulnerable persons such as infants and the elderly.

Finally, through conversations with our target market, we discovered that appropriate bedside manner from physicians is virtually non-existent in the country. This is true to the point that in extreme cases, if a patient questions the physician’s treatment plan, or requests additional professional opinions, they can and will be discontinued from the care of that physician; leaving the patient searching for a new treatment provider. In most facilities, two way communication is not practiced, thought it is very much desired by in the country. 

Matching capabilities with the market needs

The Dream Medical Center is fortunate to have an exceptionally talented executive medical director in Dr. Sam Kagali.  The combination of his medical expertise and overwhelmingly positive feedback from patients sets him apart and makes him a tremendous resource to the organization. He is also a devoted Christian and applies his faith openly to his practice which, once again, sets him apart from other physicians in the country. Most physicians tend to operate with a hierarchical mentality that ignores patient feelings, minimizes the desires of the patient, and elevates the physician to "demi-god" status within the facility.

It is anticipated that one of the largest competitive advantages that the Dream Medical Center will have is the compassionate care that they will provide to their patients. With an ear to listen and a willingness to take the time to properly serve those that come to them, they will differentiate themselves from the other hospital networks in the country. By operating with this mentality, the Dream Medical Center can become a facility that is known as the "Hospital that Hugs" and when given a choice, the highly sought-after middle and upper class target market will chose the Dream Medical Center over other available options.  As a service-based organization serving a population with a choice, this became a very large focus of the messaging we developed and the go-to-market strategy.  

Additionally, services such as prenatal 3D ultrasounds and administration of epidural anesthetic during childbirth, which are available throughout the U.S., largely do not exist in Rwanda. By offering these two services as part of their standard of care, the Dream Medical Center will set itself apart and be seen in the region as a technologically advanced facility. This differentiation expands the target market beyond Rwanda to its East African neighbors, including Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, and more.  Through simple market research, interviewing the target demographic of middle class women of child-bearing age, we found that there was a relatively large cash price for each of these services that women were willing to pay at the point of care. This will assist with the cash flow issues within the startup phase of the Dream Medical Center, as well as increase overall revenue. 

It is important to note that while we recognize the need for reliable diagnostic services, as previously stated, these services will initially be limited to include a small laboratory with essential capabilities during Phase One of the Dream Medical Center's launch.  The limited resources of the Dream Medical Center, which is funded by the nonprofit, Africa New Life, have necessitated the decision to focus in on the women’s and children’s division as Phase One.  Once this phase is complete, expanding laboratory services will be a key initiative. 

Results

When the business plan and pro forma forecasts were adjusted to reflect a sharpened focus as a women’s and children’s hospital, and the additional services of epidurals and 3D ultrasounds were included, it became clear how great of an impact these adjustments will make on the future of the facility. First, the addition of cash-based services with collections at the time the services are rendered will assist in overcoming the issue of the time lag associated with getting "into network" with the insurance providers. Similarly to the U.S., third party payers dominate the healthcare landscape in Rwanda and providers must be accepted into a health insurance network in order to be reimbursed as such. Based on the experience of other facilities that we met with, this will take roughly nine months from the time the first patient is seen. This originally led to an anticipated cash flow deficit in which the hospital would spend up to 9 months performing services and receiving zero reimbursement for the work being performed. Through the addition of these two, cash-based services, which do not have a fee schedule attached to them, the Dream Medical Center will reach their break-even point on the facility much quicker.  In fact, the forecasted monthly cash flow positive timeline was decreased from just over 3 years which was initially predicted, to a new timeline of only 13 months.  Additionally, by adding an estimated 13% additional revenue with very minimal start up and reoccurring costs, forecasted EBITDA increased by over 40% once the two services and the hospital are fully operational.

 About the Author:

My name is John Constantine and I am a healthcare executive living in suburban Atlanta. Throughout my career, I have been able to drive growth repeatedly in a variety of capacities. As a sales leader, I have built, expanded, and improved high performing teams to promote expansion and profitability. As a marketing executive, I have led teams in the creation and launching of new brands and products. I have managed inbound lead generation campaigns and created online and print branding standards that stand out from the pack and engage employees to take pride in their organization. As an executive of strategic initiatives and a field operations leader, I have implemented programs and processes that have differentiated my organizations and provided predictable revenue forecasting to the C-suite; all the while increasing productivity and accountability of the front-line team members in the organization. 

 To learn more, go to http://www.johnaconstantine.com/