You gotta listen to the story of Dr. David C. Redd. He’s been a practicing surgeon for the past 30 years. About 18 months ago he decided to start his own retail surgery startup, QuikSurg in Chattanooga, TN. He doesn’t accept health insurance, only cash payments.
You see, like many doctors, he wants to spend more time taking care of his patients and less time on bureaucratic paperwork from insurance companies. He decided to become a first-time entrepreneur in his 60s because he has a vision for offering affordable, accessible and quality healthcare.
A few of the lessons you’ll take away from Dr. Redd’s experience include:
- Be part of the solution, don’t just complain about the problem. Instead of complaining about our current healthcare system, he’s building a new vision for it.
- Listen to the customer. He has built his retail practice by listening to the needs of his patients over the past 30 years.
- Why testimonials are so important. Dr. Redd gets most of his business from referrals. His happiest patients are his best salespeople.
Life Skills That Matter In This Episode
- Reaching out and building a community.
- Self-directed learning.
- Planning.
How Dr. Redd Works and Thinks
- Wake up time: 4am
- Definition of Success: Doing what he loves to do.
- Self-reflection practice: Laying in bed thinking for an hour just after waking up.
- Ideal work environment: Being able to help people immediately.
- Book recommendation: The E-Myth and Start With Why.
- Regains focus by: His wife keeps him focused.
- Unproductive habit: Describes himself as more of a visionary than an academic.
Inspirational Quotes
“It’s hard to change the status quo.”
Coaching Advice
Are you a healthcare professional curious about starting your own direct patient care practice? Dr. Redd suggests taking the following action first:
Meet with other doctors involved with direct patient care. He said when he became curious about the idea he started doing research on doctors who were already doing it. Then he started calling them and said it was his most valuable source of advice and support.
He said when he became curious about the idea he started doing research on doctors who were already doing it. Then he started calling them. He said they were his most valuable source of advice and support (outside of his wife of course!)
Resources + Bonus Materials
Healthsolutions.fitbit.com/blog/