So here's an interesting tidbit we probably haven't shared before.
We actually started building this company in May of 2016. Dr. Shaik, Bob, and Rachel had talk after talk about how things were going to be done. Doc wanted absolutely impeccable medical protocols. Bob wanted the world's greatest customer service. Rachel was 100% against group rooms and 100% for cozy, well-appointed treatment rooms where you could feel like you were taking a one hour vacation from whatever was troubling you. We didn't even incorporate or have a solid plan for a structure until October of 16. Didn't lease a space until November of 16, and didn't open til March of 17. That's how long we took just to "get the foundation built".
We've been through different offices, logos, nurses, and Lord knows what else.
Over that period of time we've also gotten to know lots of people in other IV centers around the country. Every time we talked to one for the first few years we were scared to death that we weren't doing something we needed to be doing to be great. We did Aftercare cards with a change of bandage and an alcohol wipe, and made sure to note all the meds you got in your IV in case you or a medical provider needed to know, and we weren't sure we weren't way out of line with that. These days you find those at a lot of IV places, because they've seen ours. We've actually sent the file to places in other parts of the country so they can copy them... because it's right for their patients.
We did custom bags when it would've been much easier and more profitable to buy the premixed bags from pharmacies and wholesalers, but we didn't think that was right. What would we have done for the people who had rare allergies?
We sponsored big parties and events, but refused to do IVs at them because you can't give consent to a medical treatment if you're legally drunk, and it's just not a safe environment in which to get a medical procedure. We see people all over the country doing IVs at these things (before they were all cancelled) and they made a killing doing it but I ave no idea how they slept at night.
Well, we tell you all that not to brag, but to let you know that we've learned a LOT along the way. We still aren't perfect, but by God we're trying to be. We've changed a lot of things. You might've been asked to be checked on the Kardia Mobile devices we have because there's only so much you can tell about a heartbeat from a stethescope. We didn't always have those. We didn't get glutathione for two years because there wasn't enough good research, or at least we weren't comfortable with what we'd seen, to convince us that it's completely safe. Now it's the #1 search time used to find us. No kidding.
These days a lot of the stuff we've done from the beginning is showing up in other companies. Maybe some of our ideas were right.
Well, everywhere we are there are "competitors" popping up. Some of them have swanky offices (which we think we do too), some are mobile (just like we are also), and some of them have big big bucks to throw into advertising and marketing goodies (which we don't have). We've stared at the ceiling nights and thought "oh man we're done. So and so is here, and there are two new ones here, and another there, and they're taking away all the events we do and they've got pretty cars and sexy advertising and lots of signs..."
We've even gotten phone calls from some folks posing as patients, asking VERY specific questions about where we buy certain ingredients for our bags, and how much of each vitamin or medicine we use. Yes, we've used reverse lookups and found out we just told somebody who's starting an IV center exactly how to recreate one of our packages and where they can find the meds.
Still though, every month we seem to grow. We've had investors with big bucks call us and ask to partner on two, 3, 4, or more Rapid Recovery locations. We sat and thought about it, but we know they wouldn't be the same. I guess that's where I'm going with this rambling blog post.
We are pretty sure we're going to continue to do well in spite of all the new faces in the IV world in our areas, not because we can buy the coolest signs, or sponsor the biggest events, or turn our cars into rolling ads, but because we really care about helping you feel better faster. That's why it's our slogan. Not that we aren't always concerned, but love our patients, and we hope they love us, whoever else comes along with something shiny.
We don't make anything by giving you a list of your meds or an extra bandaid. We could skip giving everybody a Kind bar and a Vitamin Water. A real live business person would walk in and ask why we wrote an entire paper about how to not get a migraine and how to get rid of one yourself, when we earn a living treating people with migraines. But then we wouldn't be us. When someone leaves us a 5* review and says "my nurse was great and the place was really comfortable. I feel awesome", **BOOM**. That's better than having 10 locations and looking at spreadsheets trying to figure out how to make an extra 99 cents on each patient.
So, we're going to keep doing what we're doing and hoping that what we call in our Policies and Procedures Manual "The Rapid Recovery Experience" makes a difference to you. We hope that knowing the Instagram pic wasn't put up there by an expensive marketing firm, but by Bob or Rachel, matters to you. We hope that talking to us whenever you want, even if it's 9:30 at night, is important. It's the only way we know to do it. That's why you get a text after your appointment from (903) 720-4785 (Bob's actual cell number) and not some weird area code you don't recognize that's the home base of some "text your customers" service.
Call us anytime (though Bob's number goes to vm so leave a message and he'll call you right back - or text him). Email or text us whenever. There is no different widget in the world of IVs. Everyone can (though some go the cheap route) get the exact same products from the exact same places. We get all the best, but anyone else can too. The only difference is the people, the way they treat you, and the way they do business. We will always do the right thing for you, from pricing to safety to impeccable service, putting you and your health first, and we hope that makes the difference to you.
