Do you want to become jaw droppingly wealthy and never work again a day in your life? And even better, do you want to become wealthy, fix a massive problem, and genuinely help people in the process? Well, it's not too good to be true, the problem is right here before your very eyes... Let's take a look at a HUGE market with the best characteristic known to man: hungry customers, where amazingly absolutely no one is addressing their needs. Recently I had a hospital stay. It was, as usual, awful. They treated me like a piece of moldy ham, through me around, invaded my privacy and acted like I was offending them by coming in in the first place. They jabbed me with painful needles and the disenfranchised employees gave me mean looks. The poor doctors were rushed from place to place, and the nurses treated the patients like complete dirt. I've never been to prison, but I can't imagine how it could be much different. And much like the legal system: the punishment was in the process. Sorry for coming in, having my health insurance pay your salaries, and bothering you. Wow. Amazing....is this 2006? Now, in contrast, just yesterday I went to a local spa. I'd never been to a spa before. But I looked a few up online. I read some reviews on Citysearch, I checked out some websites. One caught my eye, a beautiful informative website about a local Japanese spa about 1 mile from my house. I called up and had an appointment set for a few hours later. The spa experience was amazing. Thick fabric robes, small candles being refreshed by staff, constant attention from multiple people. Deep body massages and an in depth facial before getting a mani/pedi...It was fantastic. These people knew service. They thanked me profusely for coming in and I will surely be back...What did all this cost? A measly $230...Now this was capitalism at work...Find a hungry market, offer a superior product with great service and do a little marketing. This is isn't rocket science folks. This all got me thinking: why should these experiences be so drastically different? Both are basic body repair processes...but, clearly, market forces are only driving one of these businesses. The other assumes it is some form of monopoly and you'll do things their way or the highway. Oh. My. Gosh..... Now here's an opportunity, right? Whoever can get this right, will propel their family into stratospheric wealth and prosperity that will last generations. I'm 100% sure of it...The HospAtel. A hospital that is more spa than bleak industrial slaughterhouse. The patients get immediate service. There is plenty of staff that is, gasp, appropriately trained. Your experience is immaculate and the equipment is state of the art. The patients are treated nicely. 500 stations of Satellite TV and 100MB/second broadband Internet access is offered. Massages, a beauty salon, and tranquil music plays in the background. The focus is on rejuvenation and rapid rehabilitation. Heck, bring in some famous motivational speakers if you need to (I saw Tony Robbins last week at my body vacation!) once in while. People want to get their health problems fixed and will gladly pay to do so... People would line up for this service. Think about it...how many people do you know that have some form of injury (back and knee come to mind immediately) who absolutely refuse to go to a doctor for fear of being incarcerated in a hospital? Quite frankly, I know dozens of people like this and I don't blame them. And surely, my sphere of influence isn't very wide. Big centers, small centers, national, international, it wouldn't really matter. The hospatel would be more of a body repair vacation. Offer quality doctors more pay and maybe charge some form of overage (similar to a first class plane ticket extra fee) to willing patients. Yes, it would cost extra. But it would be worth it for everyone. Besides the customers (formerly referred to as 'patients'), employers would reap massive benefits as well. Their employees would get back to work faster, have better attitudes upon returning, and be more productive than if they just got out of a lengthy hospital stay. Talk about alignment of interests... Now this isn't so much of a why not as it is a when question in my opinion. Do you really think that savvy foreign marketers aren't watching the aging of the US population without broad smiles? The U.S. is the wealthiest market in the history of the world, it's aging, and NO ONE is providing proper service at home. If I was an entrepreneur in China or India and I had access to capital: this is exactly what I'd be setting up off shore somewhere: A state of the art wellness center. And by wellness, I mean a real wellness center that focuses on servicing the customer's mind and body. These countries surely don't have nearly the regulation that we do in the US. Furthermore, the capabilities of foreign doctors is advancing rapidly with the availability of high speed data lines for training and information exchange. Overall, it boils down to this: Aging population? Check. Lack of service options? Check. Customer demand for better service? Big Giant Underlined Red Check. Competition? Little to none currently with no serious competitors on the horizon... |
