Her experience with these elite “military athletes” convinced her of the value of unrestricted time with patients and the compounding effects of a team-based approach that helped to optimize an individual’s performance. She believed that working closely with strength coaches, dietitians, and an array of medical professionals resulted in better patient outcomes, quicker ascents to performance goals, and speedier recoveries after significant injuries including battlefield trauma.

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With changing healthcare laws, Dula became frustrated with the health care system. She faced declining insurance reimbursements and increased pressure to see more and more patients per hour in an attempt to recoup profits. That “business model” may work well on paper but Dula considered it a lousy recipe for quality health care, and it left her unable to deliver real results for her patients. She eventually created a new company called Move Better LLC.

The opportunity

In January, Bodymass Gym offered Move Better space inside its brand-new personal training and fitness facility located in the Courthouse neighborhood of Arlington. By relocating her practice, she had a chance to reposition her model of holistic care. Rather than only serving the military community, Dula could extend her practice to a broader clientele that included civilians. Nested inside BodyMass Gym, Dula has joined an interdisciplinary team that includes personal trainers, nutrition experts, health coaches and physical therapists. In the first few months after moving, the focus was on building a strong foundation. Activities included designing marketing materials for doctors, personal trainers, and gyms, while consistently delivering excellent patient care. She also began to leverage social media to broaden the company’s brand recognition.

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The challenge

Despite a solid start and a steady stream of patients, growth began to stall. Since physical therapy is typically covered by medical insurance, it proved difficult to educate potential clients about the difference between Move Better and alternative models of care. Move Better Physical Therapy wasn’t “present” enough in the local community to market effectively to potential sources of patient referral, and focused too heavily on foot-traffic into BodyMass Gym. Move Better began to invest heavily into selling physical therapy services, instead of focusing on its core services of preventative care and holistic, interdisciplinary wellness.

The advice

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Dula turned to Ed Coleman, a counselor with the Washington, D.C. chapter of the entrepreneurship group SCORE, to tap into his experience in marketing and business development. Coleman advised Dula to narrow her marketing to focus on cultivating referral sources. Coleman also connected her with Alexandria Fox at the Arlington County Public Library who educated Dula on how she could leverage the library’s free public databases to broaden her search for potential clients within her local market.

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The reaction

“Armed with more data on the local market, I was able to create an education-based marketing campaign. I am directly targeting potential referral contacts including personal trainers, and their gyms and this is yielding the best results. I tried marketing to doctors and clinics but had little return on investment due to challenges with insurance programs. I continue to meet with local trainers, provide free classes to public forums, and push educational material via blog posts and social media to attract viable new clients. As potential clients outside of the gym’s foot-traffic continue to discover Move Better Physical Therapy, our referral network is beginning to grow and we are realizing the results of our efforts.”

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SCORE is a nonprofit association dedicated to entrepreneur education. Looking for some advice on a new business, or need help fixing an existing one? The Greater Washington DC Chapter provides confidential counseling and mentoring from more than 60 executives across the region. You can request a mentor at www.washingtondc.score.org.