Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in health and wellness but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Kim Nartker, founder of The Stretch Mobility Coach, located in Hamilton, OH, USA.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
I founded The Stretch Method® and The Stretch Mobility Coach™. I have two businesses. In my brick-and-mortar practice in West Chester, Ohio, I founded Stretch Physical Therapy and Total Wellness as a way to bridge the gap in our current healthcare system to help people move well during their lifespan and avoid chronic pain and medications, injections, and surgery.
My practice has PT but hosts our Stretch Mobility Coaches, which offer a Wellcare preventative model that helps people stretch pain and tightness away through The Stretch Method®.
Tell us about yourself
I am a PTA and have always loved helping other people. I graduated from school in 1999 and began practicing PT. I quickly found that PT alone did not meet a customer's expectations. My patients told me that I was different and that other PT's and PTA's did not help them as much as I did when they were in PT. I wanted to change that, so I opened my practice in 2013 as an effort to bridge the gap in our current PT system.
The first five years in business were hard. I quickly noticed that my target client was not a person that was looking for PT services. They were people looking for preventative services, and those services did not exist. So in 2020, I developed a Stretch Mobility Coach position within my clinic. In a matter of 2 weeks, my schedule was full. I quickly had to pivot and build a program to train other rehab professionals to work as Stretch Mobility Coaches. Now two years later, I have a thriving business of Stretch Mobility Coaches in my PT practice and train other rehab professionals to become new business owners and become a stretch mobility coaches in their state.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
Determination to make things better and offer a service that is not offered in the US.
What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?
The things you have to learn. As a clinician, I was only responsible for learning new techniques and making sure those techniques offered a true solution for a problem my consumer was facing. But as a business owner, I had to learn about leadership, ownership, systems, hiring, training, onboarding, marketing, sales, and financials. Before I studied to become a PTA, Physical Therapist Assistant, I am thankful that I went to college to be a business manager. This set the foundation, but I still have had to study every day personally and professionally to get to where I am now.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- Prepare to learn what you do not know.
- Implement what you learn.
- Pivot to make sure what you learned helps you to be successful in business.
When we jump into starting a business, most of us have our beer goggles on. We are naive and don't know what we don't know. We are visionaries but need to learn how to implement, focus, have patience and learn how to establish goals that create success in our new business.
Is there anything else you'd like to share?
Make sure to enjoy the journey. Business ownership is hard. You will feel like you are failing at times. Believe in yourself and find support to help you continue moving forward. Do not go at it alone. Learn the things you do not know. Business, marketing, sales, and finance. Start your business in your business, then grow yourself out of each position until you are holding the position you want to hold in your practice. Always recognize the small wins, be ok where you are and Never compare yourself to another business owner. Keep learning and growing, and you will achieve success.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://thestretchmobilitycoach.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/rehabtowellnessboss
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rehabtowellnessboss/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kim-nartker-1bb763232/
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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