Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in health and fitness but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Garrett Salpeter, Founder of NeuFit, located in Austin, TX, USA.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
At NeuFit, we are best known for our patented Neubie device, which uses direct current stimulation to help people rehab and recover faster, better, and stronger from surgery, injuries, or lost body functionality. Thousands of physical therapists, chiropractors, PM&R physicians, and athletic trainers with professional teams use the Neubie to accelerate their clients' rehab and recovery—leading to better outcomes for everyone. Our work is also the subject of multiple ongoing trials showing how this unique stimulation can impact muscle growth (or "hypertrophy") and accelerate functional recovery after surgery and for patients suffering from neuropathy and MS.
Tell us about yourself
I feel very fortunate to have found something that combines my academic training in engineering and neuroscience with my passion for health and the human body. One major catalyst that set me on this path was actually an injury I experienced while playing college ice hockey. With some torn ligaments, I was told I needed surgery to repair them. And, with my previous experiences in traditional orthopedic medicine and physical therapy, I had resigned myself to needing that surgery. Then, fortunately, I met a doctor who was using functional neurology and direct current -- a combination that turned out to be a huge breakthrough for me! Functional neurology had us look not just at the torn tissue (or "hardware") but also at the nervous system's response to the injury (or the "software"). It turns out that the software is vitally important to the overall healing and recovery process. I also experienced direct current for the first time -- an older technology, but one that had a profound effect on my healing process. I ended up healing in 3 weeks, avoiding surgery altogether, and was so excited to find something that not only helped me recover but -- as an engineer and scientist -- something that also made sense from first principles! I immediately felt a calling to share this work with as many people as I possibly could.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
One is actually launching and commercializing our product because of everything that goes into it, especially for a medical device. The other is building a real team with people who are excellent in their particular domains and where the whole is truly greater than the sum of the parts.
What's one of the hardest things that comes with being a business owner?
The uncertainty, especially in earlier and more vulnerable stages of starting a business.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- You have to become a real expert in something -- either the specific product/service/market in which you're operating or how to run a business in general. You need both domain expertise and general business operations expertise. It takes time to gain deep knowledge in any domain and become a real expert. Don't expect to skip over this learning phase. The more time you spend deepening your roots, the higher your tree will be able to grow.
- Learn to "delegate and elevate" by handing off most of the activities you're doing so you can stay focused on the core few that you are best suited for (and that energize you). In the beginning, you'll have to do it all, but then the business becomes a successive series of "letting go" moments.
- Always be learning. Business is a great vehicle for learning and growing because it constantly presents us with new challenges. Welcome them as opportunities to improve.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://neu.fit/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/neufitrfp/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/neufitrfp
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/neufitrfp/
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
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