My Thoughts

The last few hours of 2012 and then Tuesday, January 1, were the most hectic days I can ever recall. “Is the country falling off a cliff?” “Will the United States remain solvent in 2013 or will we go broke?” “Can we pay the national debt, can we raise taxes, etc, etc.?” So much shouting, passing the buck, and our Congressmen forgetting they have to support every one of their citizens.

Over the holidays, I read the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the Orlando Sentinel, and the Florida Today. Publications with four different dogmas and it certainly made for fascinating reading.  As I read each point of view, I found they all were correct. That is how I saw them! After carefully studying each “opinion” I came to the following conclusion:  We, all of us, the rank and file voters are at fault!

It appears that we never expressed to our elected politicians the fact that they represent every American citizen, whether they voted for or against their election. 

I look back to the many years that I have been involved with our industry.  I think of the many conferences I attended where I heard program proposals that were so different and unusual. After discussions and sharing of ideas a conclusion was usually reached. I always found the goal was to the benefit of everyone.

I always look forward to the Medtrade Exhibitions. I try to sit in on as many discussions, as many meetings and as many lectures that I can attend. I listen to all the diverse ideas and points of view. I am impressed when I hear so many different opinions.

Yes, that is a key benefit to attending Medtrade.  

Proud to be an American!

Yesterday (Monday 1/21/13) I sat in front of my TV from about 9:30 AM until it was time to go to bed.  I was never bored, not even for a minute! It was absolutely thrilling!

My first “inauguration” was way back in 1940 when I supported Wendell Willkie to beat FDR. He and I both lost. But even as a young man I realized how important the installation of the President of the United States (POTUS) can be. It re-unites all of the citizens.

In those days we did not have TV, radio was not very dominant, but the newspapers were. I read all that the "adults" did and we learned! On the radio, Fox Movietown News, and the many news publications, the inauguration of the President of the United States was covered so well.  With today's television, however, I feel like I am actually IN the crowd cheering, rather than just looking on as an outsider.

We all can participate in the pomp and circumstance today, which is more enjoyable than much of what is broadcast. The marching bands, the celebrities, the millions of people following the processions and being thrilled when the Chief Justice swears in the President. This is really what democracy and the United States means, regardless of who you selected on your ballot.

The beautiful thing about the inauguration is that it does not matter if the candidate you supported was elected. What is important is that the Nation made a decision. Now we must all work with the President to get the results we would like to see.

I will sum this up with the song we sing every week at my Rotary Club: “God Bless America!”

Walk On!

Preparation will turn your hopes into success. During the holidays, on PBS TV in December, there was a program about Oscar Hammerstein II. He delivered a very simple message with his music and I know it is true: “Walk on, walk on, with hope in your heart; and you’ll never walk alone; you’ll never walk alone.”  

Your DME/HME company is a team. You are the captain and your employees are members of the squad. By working together, you and your operation will grow and expand. New sales and better profits will be developed which is a direct result of turning hope into action.

But there is a second step. Your company also has to be a dues paying member of both state DME and national associations. Remember you should never walk alone. These each have to be partners with you and contributors to satisfy your hopes and accomplish your ambitions.

Running a company on “hope” is OK, if you only use that as a guide. Our industry faces many challenges in 2013. But together with the associations they will provide you with the ability to make things happen.  Equally important is that you will be giving them the necessary funds to help keep you in business.  It is a win-win situation.

I know that I have repeated this message over and over for many years. In my defense I will state that I never ceased to support the state and national organizations! Even though I am no longer an entrepreneur, I am very aware that without the support they provided when I had my companies, I have no idea what I would be doing today.  You must never walk alone!

Opportunities

Everything you do, as you successfully operate your company, happens because when you saw opportunities you made them happen.

Sir Francis Bacon is quoted as saying: “A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds.”  He was a Renaissance author, courtier, and father of inductive reasoning. I learned about him in Boy’s High School, Brooklyn, in the early 1940’s. This quote has always remained deep in my mind.

Think about what he said and recognize you each have the ability uncover opportunities daily. The starting point is found in your new business plan for 2013.  Place more emphasis on working to expand your most successful programs from last year. Then see how you can make those that did not meet your expectations into winners. 

The best tools available will be found in Las Vegas at the Spring Medrade Exhibition. Do your pre-show research and list those exhibitors you wish to visit. Seeing which other companies featuring related products will be another positive step.

Study the list of speakers and lecturers who will be presenting at Medtrade. I have spoken with many DME/HME dealers and they say it is very difficult to schedule all the applicable ones.  What several entrepreneurs have done is bring key personnel to attend with them. The additional cost of room and transportation for them is an investment. You will get a fine ROI when you do this.

Plan NOW so your company can participate the Spring Medtrade in Las Vegas and make it into the best opportunity for 2013.

How-to

I am always pleased when I hear from one of our readers. It is difficult to describe the comfortable feeling it gives me when you ask me for information and share ideas (321-25-3885 or shelly.prial@att.net) So many good programs and projects that were successful have been described and the results were all positive.

In the previous blog I suggested that you offer to write and submit articles to your local newspaper. The editor will always listen because this is a local publication and you are a local businessman. The editor realizes many of their readers will know you. This is why I say to be sure you are very careful not to write things which might appear as an advertisement. However you should also run an advertisement regularly in the local newspaper. I have done that and the ROI was very good.

Request that your ad be placed in an upper corner of the obituary page. Schedule your ad to run for a 13-week period and for only one product. When I did this one of the ads we ran was for a ride stair unit. The manufacturer provided the ad and we had a nice success.

The articles we submitted were prepared with a great deal of co-operation from my vendors. They all understand and they will help you structure your article as a way to improve the safety and comfort at home.

The message I want to deliver is that a means of growing and expanding your business is accomplished by earning recognition. Let your community know that you are very concerned about them. Be active, join Rotary or join Kiwanis, become a partner in your community and show your face. 

Mandalay Bay Convention Center

Yes, Medtrade Spring this year will be held at the largest convention center in Las Vegas, 1.7 million square feet. It has never been as important as it is today for DME/HME dealers and providers to take advantage of the changing economy and where better to do that then at Medtrade!

This year the exhibition is scheduled March 19-21. I am sitting at my desk reviewing all of the new and exciting things that will be found in Las Vegas this spring.  Wow!! I lost track of just how many vendors will be displaying their wares, but at this moment it appears that there will be more than 500 booths for dealers to visit.

What I find even more exciting is that they will all be showing new and improved products and more OTC cash sale opportunities. The vendors will be making themselves and their sales people available to work with you both on the showroom floor and when you return home. The manufacturer reps and their local salespeople will provide the extra service from which to build. As they say: “ ask and you will receive.” It is a win-win situation.

It has never been more imperative as it is today to work and develop new OTC cash sales, as well as protect what you currently have. 2013 will be a fantastic year for DME/HME dealers and providers. The number of senior citizens is growing faster than any other segment of our market. What makes them even more important for DME/HME providers is that a great percentage of the senior citizens have the necessary disposable funds to locate and purchase the comfort items they want.

I am sure that in your community there is a local newspaper. I suggest you speak to the editor and offer to write a column with ideas those senior citizens and their family caregivers would appreciate. This has to be done with great deal of care so as not to appear as an advertisement. I have seen this done in many different locations and the good will this develops will result in good recognition for your company.

So make your reservation now to be at the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Convention Center in Las Vegas for Medtrade Spring! 

EMERGENCY MESSAGE

EMERGENCY MESSAGE

Please respond to this message ASAP.

We failed in our efforts to bring a new bill to Congress, which would have been the replacement legislation to the “Competitive Bid” we work under daily.

There was a new Congress sworn in last week (1/3/13) and the chairmen of the various committees may be changed so we must get new legislation on the floor offered STAT. To protect our business and our customers, please start at once to contact every Representative, new or re-elected, particularly those who indicated their support to MPP.  Ask them to re-introduce HR6490.

Please contact your Representative if he or she had agreed to support MPP. Ask them to restart their efforts behalf of your clientele and of course, you. The sooner you speak up, the more promptly the needed new legislation will come.  Ask your state and national association for the literature they have prepared and use it to help bring this legislation back

PLEASE DO THIS AT ONCE.  The industry came very close to getting HR6490 out of committee, but the holidays came and all our good work came to naught. Need I say more?

If you can provide any information about any harm or damage resulting from the “Competitive Bid” in your community, please send that to me or to your state and national association. I read, see and hear the same difficulties the beneficiaries have suffered. However when I receive the local problems you and your customers have experienced, these can used to our advantage.

Visit the Action Center at AA Homecare today!

Ring in the New Year Part 2

As I mentioned in my previous blog you have to prepare your plans for 2013. Today, my thoughts are for my country, the United States of America. 

I am satisfied that DME/HME providers and dealers will enter this year, 2013 filled with excitement and anticipation for a great twelve months.  It will happen and I am aware that your effort will achieve that accomplishment!

The problem I see is that we have allowed our country to divide into two factions, each of whom feel that only they know what to do! This is wrong! How fantastic it would be if the legislators could sit down and work for all of us, not just only for their supporters? Senators and congressmen represent everyone, all their electorate.

They can do the same thing that I always ask for DME/HME providers within our industry to do. I recommend that we all join our state and national associations and work together to develop one strong voice ASAP. So must our country.

Surely our politicians are intelligent enough to recognize how much they would accomplish if they sat down together and cherry-picked the best from one another. 

Let them all abide by the Pledge of Allegiance which should be the guide: “I pledge Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for all.” The last two words of the pledge are the key: “for all”! Let us never forget that!

So God bless America and God bless us all! Working together, republicans, democrats, all citizens, and the United States of America will continue to lead the world.