Client Name: Karen Duffy
Business Name: Top Wellness
Business Website: https://toponsitewellness.com/
Industry: Insurance corporate wellness turnkey programs
Location: Dover, NH
SBDC Advisor's Name: Ed Miles
When the national wellness organization Karen Duffy worked for closed suddenly, she did not let that get her down. It was quite the opposite. She was their top sales rep for five years and as she puts it, she “couldn’t just let it go.”
Rather than move on and find another job as many would likely do, in 2016 Karen instead got together with an operations colleague to co-found Top Wellness, “a U.S. based national corporate wellness provider, offering turnkey programs that can drastically save healthcare costs, mitigate claim risk, and ensure continued organizational productivity.” Top Wellness specializes in the onsite delivery of preventative health services.
Over the years, the business has undergone various transitions of partnerships and challenges. Today, Karen is now the sole owner of Top Wellness and the driving force behind the business’ evolution of services for today’s employers.
As a business that caters specifically to employee groups, COVID delivered one of the company’s biggest challenges. Once the employees were gone, there wasn’t enough business to allow Top Wellness to grow and thrive. It was so difficult in fact that Karen almost decided to close the business. She had no idea how to move forward.
But with Ed Miles, her SBDC Business Advisor, by her side, she had the support she needed to see her way through the immense challenges. Ed encouraged her to continue to expand her thinking and see that owning a business is not just about money, but also about tenacity, resilience, and remembering that she loves her business.
“From partnerships to COVID, to whatever, I’m still here and we are still here.And the SBDC is such a huge part of my not throwing in the towel.”
Ed also connected her to the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program where she learned a lot and was introduced to a representative from APEX Accelerator, a resource of the Department of the Defense program which works to make sure that small businesses have an opportunity to be players in the field of government contracting. While the idea was intimidating to Karen, she felt that between having Ed from SBDC and her APEX advisor Danielle, she had solid support in embracing this new opportunity for her business.
Karen says, “slowly but surely, as Ed and Danielle worked with me tirelessly, in an edifying manner, always allowing me to be my own expert but deftly guiding me to new possibilities, we survived. Then we survived again. If there's anything that I feel has really made a difference in this business, it's SBDC and APEX.”
Ed also helped Top Wellness to develop new products and services, allowing them to build a system where they can be a fit for both commercial and government clients. Karen explains that their new business/new client opportunity was always being worked on. Together with Ed, patience, perseverance, and facing facts were always in the discussion. Looking at paths forward were a regular conversation. “Teaching me how to look at new ways to look at and be in business were essential parts of our work together,” notes Karen. “Ed never let me leave commercial for government or government for commercial. Instead, we worked on my understanding of how to better our opportunities in and through both areas.”
Karen also credits Ed for helping her to focus on herself as a leader, while maintaining a work / life balance. “Ed is such a champion of small businesses,” says Karen. “He allows you to see your full path forward. He looks at things and analyzes it all with you. He will keep you moving no matter what and expect you to follow up on the steps that you say you're going to do.”
Ed helped Karen find gaps in service that Top Wellness could fill and provided valuable advice on which directions not to go. He listened, offered feedback, and ultimately helped her navigate her own through processes toward decisions about her business. “Without Ed, I truly do not know where we would be,” says Karen. “We would certainly not be at a place of expanded market spaces, clients’ bottom-line understandings, next level opportunities, balance or anything else that makes up the recipe of a successful business.”
Today, Karen shares that everything they’ve been working on is starting to come together and suggests that small business owners who are not working with SBDC are missing out. While there are no guarantees, Karen points out that with SBDC “there are resources, educational opportunities and good strong guidance.”