Success Stories
Errand Solutions
Marsha McVicker’s company, Errand Solutions, which started as a service for doctors and nurses in need of someone to run their errands, has now grown to a nationwide company employing almost 130 people. Marsha’s company provides services that help hospitals improve their satisfaction scores. By outsourcing their customer service needs, hospitals are able to focus on recruiting the best medical talent and appealing to potential patients by having higher standards of customer service than their competitors. The demand for Errand Solutions has increased due to new healthcare regulations requiring hospitals to obtain certain satisfaction scores in order to accept Medicaid and Medicare plans. Being able to accept these plans allows for the hospitals to generate significantly more revenue.
Marsha’s experience with the WBDC spans over a decade, assisting her to build Errand Solutions through business counseling, workshops and a $75,000 microloan last spring.
“We relocated the business to Chicago in 2002 and one of my first phone calls was to the WBDC because I knew I still had a lot to learn,” says Marsha. “WBDC has always been part of the growth of Errand.”
Errand Solutions has struggled with gaining access to funding as it is a service-based company, thus maintaining low amounts of collateral. Marsha states, “Banks want everything collateralized. We would be growing at a higher rate if there were more financing options available to us.”
The loan from the WBDC enabled Errand Solutions to match their revenue and expense projections, allowing the company to operate on a much leaner budget.
The future of Errand Solutions is bright as more hospitals are outsourcing customer service to distinguish themselves from other hospitals. “The easiest and most inexpensive way for hospitals to differentiate themselves from their competitors is simply by increasing your customer service.” Thought leaders in the hospital industry have already moved in the direction of outsourcing customer service and others are following rapidly behind. Over the last year Errand Solutions has seen 12% growth by securing large clients such as Kohl’s Department Store and the University of Alabama.
Look here for more information about Errand Solutions and read Hedy M. Ratner’s
article in the February TCW.
The Vocal Gymnasium
Wendy Morgan has been a professional singer since her teenage years. But as with many aspiring artists, she paid her bills by working behind a desk during the day and singing at night. She was confident, however, that working full time in music would come, so in 1999, following the birth of her son, she founded The Vocal Gymnasium.
The Vocal Gymnasium began as a one-woman operation teaching voice lessons to people of all ages. Over the years, Wendy expanded to include a full music program for children through the Wilmette Parks District. Furthermore, Wendy is a voice teacher and a jazz faculty member at The Music Institute of Chicago in Winnetka. Currently, she has an employee who helps with the children’s programs, but Wendy herself teaches voice lessons, which is what sets her apart from her competition. “When I teach music and breath control it’s very personalized. It would be hard to clone the personal energy, brightness, and the joy and passion that I deliver to my students and audiences.” It’s the personal aspect that keeps Wendy teaching. She witnesses positive changes in students she works with every day through singing and teaching.
The downturn in the economy has affected Wendy’s business, but it has also allowed her to flex her creative muscles to seek out new outlets for her craft. The Vocal Gymnasium is about to launch a new program working with people in their later years of life called LifeMusik™. Wendy is in the planning stages of determining her costs, price points and program marketing, which have been the topic of her discussions with WBDC business counselor Meg Herman as of late. “Working with Meg is just a delight. I feel very inspired working with her. I can run ideas by her and it helps me get focused,” says Wendy.
Wendy’s voice training provides a unique experience and a release from the hustle of everyday life for each student. As the demand continues for creative outlets, Wendy continues to adapt her program offerings. Along with the LifeMusik™ program, Wendy developed a “Rock ‘n’ Roll” children’s music program, also through the Wilmette Parks District, and she is maintaining and nurturing her own music career. As a professional vocalist with a band wendymorganband.com she has shared her talents throughout Chicago, including at the WBDC’s 25th Anniversary reception at the 25th Anniversary Entrepreneurial Woman’s Conference.
