The Balance between Consistency and Diversification
Focus on one thing and do it very well and Don’t put all your eggs in one basket may seem like contradictory pieces of business advice. But as one health services company realized, it’s not only possible for a company to do both – it’s essential.

This company began as a provider of health services to a large correctional facility. The relationship was successful, but after twenty years, the company’s president became concerned that her business’ success hinged on a single client. “We knew we needed to diversify in order to grow,” she recalls, “and we had researched few different ways in which we could do it. For instance, we thought about opening a nursing school. We thought there might be possibilities for a line of urgent care centers. But I didn’t want to waste time or money expanding our offerings if I didn’t know that we’d have a viable business.”

The question, of course, was how to determine if a potential business venture was likely to succeed.
The answer came from Annona Enterprises.

ForeSight and ForeCast Processes Yield Rapid Results
Annona Enterprises conducted a feasibility study through their ForeSight planning service. The company’s nursing school idea was unlikely to be successful. However, the concept of urgent care centers showed great promise. The feasibility study was thorough enough to support the company’s decision to move ahead using Annona’s ForeCast Launch Management service.

Annona Enterprises’ Founder and Managing Principal, Soyini Coke, led the health services company through everything it would need to successfully launch the urgent care centers. This included researching and defining everything from staffing requirements, supply needs and stocking schedules to financial projections, operational processes and architectural expectations. Ms. Coke also presented the company with detailed location analyses which determined where the need for specific types of urgent care was greatest. The company president recalls, “When we first started working with Soyini, we met once a week so she could update me on her latest findings. Now that the plan is in place, she’s taken on the role of project manager and we meet as necessary to discuss particular issues, usually once a month.”

Cost Savings, Operational Efficiency and Speed to Market Deliver a Competitive Advantage
The president believes that had she not found Annona Enterprises, she would have had to hire a full time staff member to research and pursue new opportunities. “I’m glad that we didn’t have to go that route,” she says. “The engagement with Annona Enterprises was far more reasonable than the cost of a full time employee. Yet, I feel like Soyini feels a sense of emotional investment in this project. She has a great sense of integrity and after she’s completed a task, she always seems to deliver more. That makes her less of a consultant and more of a partner.”

Plans are already in place to have four clinics up and running by the end of 2008. “We’re very entrepreneurial,” confirms the company president. “In fact, in support of the clinics, we’ll also be running a staffing company and in-clinic restaurants.”

Annona Enterprises has made sure that new entrepreneurial achievements would not come at the expense of the company’s core business. “At one point, I mentioned that there could be an opportunity serving jails that were under court scrutiny,” recalls the president. “Soyini responded immediately. She researched and presented us with a list of all the correctional facilities under these orders. Now, we’re pursuing business in our current market that we never went after before.”

The company’s president credits Annona’s ForeSight and ForeCast services with helping her company achieve the elusive combination of entrepreneurial expansion and core business growth. “In this business, in order to get a foothold in the marketplace, timing is critical. In both pre-existing and developing areas of our business, Annona Enterprises has made it possible for us to confidently reach the marketplace faster. That gives us a real competitive advantage.”