In this issue
	Kutztown SBDC News Healthcare Simulation: An Emerging Market No Sales No Business-By Dan Goldberg Insights to Success

Healthcare Simulation: An Emerging Market

Through years of research and development at Penn State, Dr. Randy S. Haluck, M.D., developed several simulator training devices for medical personnel that he considered to be better than most currently available on the market. Dr. Haluck felt it was important to get his technology into the hands of surgical trainees so they could provide better training and improve patient safety - important enough to invest his own time and money. In May 2003 Dr. Haluck founded Verefi Technologies, Inc. in Elizabethtown, PA. Dr. Haluck completed a business plan, engaged a reseller, and eventually hired Dr. Carol Lake as CEO. Like many start-up companies, Haluck needed to deal with getting incorporated, raising capital, finding office space, and hiring the right people. He also realized that a small company gave him tremendous flexibility for raising money, making business decisions, and marketing and selling his products. Click here for the complete article. »

No Sales No Business-By Dan Goldberg

Making customer care a top priority will give your business a solid foundation for growth. It's real tough to keep a business going without sales. Sales is the fuel and the engine that enables the vehicle to run. Entrepreneurs have been known to successfully create a pent-up sales demand for their product before the business is actually ready to fulfill. But I don t know of any business that has been able to successfully st ick around, ready to fulfill, without sales. Jordache is a great case in point. The owners spent time and money creating a persona for the company. They ran their ads, implanted their image in the consumers minds and actually had folks going to stores salivating to buy their jeans long before the jeans were delivered - in fact, even before the jeans were mass- produced. The built-up sales demand made for great sales figures once their product hit the shelves. This works quite well, especially in retail, at least for a while. However, the human factor ultimately holds the key to success. I recently spoke with the CEO of a product manufacturing company. He confessed that when he was involved in the engineering side of his business, before he became the head of his company, everyone in his division used to complain about the sales force. The common problem, at least to them, was that salespeople would say and do almost anything to get a sale. Deadlines, almost impossible designs and promises, were meaningless to the sales force. Getting sales was the goal. Or in his case, somewhat like Jordache, selling a product before it was actually produced. This made those who had to fulfill the promises, designs and deadlines, the engineering department for example, furious. Click here for the complete article. »

Insights to Success

is a monthly article sharing challenges/learning opportunities encountered by our clients every month relative to their day-to-day business activities. All Insights to Success articles come from our clients' submittals. The format for the piece consists of a brief introduction, the respective challenge, and the solution. 8 Ways to Get Free Publicity-by Roberta Perry There are many ways one can garner free publicity, but you have to do your homework first. Define your objectives and know your target market. Find out what they are reading in print and online. To which business associations and professional organizations do they belong? What are they watching and listening to on TV and radio? Once you have all this info, you are ready to utilize any of the following tactics. Write effective press releases. Knowing the media outlets serving your target is important, but so is getting to know the reporters, their style, and what they are working on. Make sure the content is newsworthy and never, NEVER, have a release longer than a page. The idea is to get the reporter to call you. Click here for the complete story. Please Email your Insight to Success articles to the Success Connection Editor Chrystal Coffelt at ccoff909@kutztown.edu.