Inspirational Thoughts On How a Teacher Found Small Business Opportunities By Overcoming Her Own Tragic Spinal Cord Injury page 3
Make a Plan
When Hamilton and her friends Jim Okamoto and Don Helman founded Motion Designs (MDI), the vision “to look nicer and have more function, more mobility, more freedom, more movement” is what drove the company’s success. In the process of fulfilling this vision, the team uncovered a multimillion-dollar market.
The company started making lightweight wheelchairs weighing twenty-five pounds-half the weight of their competitors. They came in a variety of colors and sizes that rivaled the selection of automobile manufacturers. Options were also an important part of their appeal. Easy pushbutton release wheels, quick release brakes, breathable fabrics, and accessories to carry everything from chewing gum to briefcases were all available.
The team believed that if they built the product, the clientele would be there, and they were right. By 1985, sales were roughly $15 million annually. Thousands of people were now able to benefit from Marilyn Hamilton’s vision for overcoming her own dissatisfaction with the heavy, unstylish wheelchairs she encountered after her accident.
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Within a year of her injury, Hamilton had identified three significant problems. First, the wheelchairs on the market in 1980 were overweight. Second, they had poor performance and were difficult to maneuver. Third, they were typically made of plastic and bright fake chrome, making them ugly.
She felt those circumstances were intolerable, envisioned a solution and came up with a plan. The odds were against her because society was not used to seeing active, energetic individuals in wheelchairs, so the wheelchair manufacturers of the day saw no need for Hamilton’s improvements. According to Paula Patch, “MDI targeted the rehabilitation market and sought to enhance the lives of users, refuting the idea that they were invalids. Like Hamilton, most of MDI’s customers had been active before experiencing spinal cord injuries or degenerative diseases.”
Before manufacturing their products, Hamilton and her partners spoke with wheelchair users and equipment dealers, and found out what the end-user wanted and needed. Once they had developed a stylish, high-performance wheelchair that came in an array of colors, with accessories and material options, it was time to hit the streets.
Hamilton didn’t sit back and wait for her vision to appear. She spoke directly with wheelchair athletes about the benefits of her products. They began using her wheelchairs in daily life. She educated dealers on the benefits of a lightweight high-performance wheelchair with extensive options. Dealers and rehab centers became excited about MDI’s products and services as well as with Hamilton’s passion and vision to change the way people in wheelchairs felt and saw themselves.
“Marilyn Hamilton’s ‘get-out-there spirit’ has raised the bar for an entire industry,” says Mike Hammes, CEO of Sunrise. “As an industry icon, she has made us all really think about product and quality. Her commitment to the HME provider and to bringing product to the market that not only changes lives but builds business is unrivaled. The HME industry has been fortunate to have Marilyn as one of its leaders over the past 20 years.”
Mike Hammes’ company, Sunrise Medical, made a deal with Marilyn Hamilton and her partners at Motion Designs in 1996 for an estimated $60 million. She stayed with the company until 2007 in various integral positions. So what do you do after helping to change an industry and helping to influence the way society views an entire population?
If you’re Marilyn Hamilton, you take your 20+ years of experience building companies, advocating, and contributing time and money to worthy causes and consolidating it into a business that continues to transform corporate cultures and inspire individuals.
Marilyn says, “My experience with Quickie and Sunrise Medical has been an amazing ride that has taught me so much, and it’s not over-it’s just changing direction.” Marilyn is taking her valuable experience and sharing it with others.
The Secret of Difficulties is revealed when an individual chooses to capitalize on life’s challenges. Once you begin embracing difficulties as opportunities, your journey begins. Let me repeat this: everyone has difficulties. I do, Hamilton did and still does, and so do you.
When you follow the four steps of turning difficulties into opportunities, you will not only solve your problems, you will be creating a formula for solving the problems of others. Hamilton solved not only her problem of not having access to a lightweight, high-performance wheelchair but also the problems of many others. In the process, she created a product that has been sold to millions, transforming and improving their lives, and at the same time making her a fortune.
1. Identify a difficulty. (For Hamilton, this was a heavy, unstylish, difficult-to-maneuver wheelchair that kept her from the active life she loved.)
2. Imagine a solution. (For Hamilton, this started with a lightweight, stylish maneuverable wheelchair.)
3. Make a plan. (For Hamilton, this included researching the market and opening a small company to serve a niche clientele.) To receive immediate help making a plan, click below for a free Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich e-book.
4. Take action. (For Hamilton, this began with creating a relationship with customers and distributors by sharing her passion for her product.)
