Question Kindly give our readers an introduction to your business. Please include what your business is all about, in which city you are located and if you have offices in multiple locations/ cities.
Answer Total Point started in Texas in 2019 with the goal of providing affordable care at the highest standards in terms of patient care. They slowly expanded to include Free Standing ER and Urgent Care centers to span most of North and East Texas to the Houston metroplex. In 2022, we decided to branch in Missouri. We wanted to make a real difference. We wanted to bring health care into an area where the lack of access was already very strained.
In Missouri, our fist location is in Hollister and we have 4 other cities that we are planning to expand to [ 2 sites in Branson, 1 in Springfield, and 1 in Nixa].
Question Kindly give us a brief description about yourself (it should include your brief educational or entrepreneurial background and list some of your major achievements).
Answer I was born and raised in the United Arab Emirates and moved to the US for my educational pursuits. Since have moved to the US, my education pursuits have taken me from North Carolina to Baltimore, Boston, Australia, New Orleans, Odessa, Amarillo, Oklahoma City, and then Dallas.
I completed my undergraduate B.Sc. in Health Management with magna cum Laude distinction. Thereafter, I completed my MD degree at Ochsner-UQ in New Orleans, LA. I have spent several years after medical school in both clinical and lab research with several publications. After completing my residency training in Internal Medicine, I worked in the ICU, ER, and as a hospitalist. I also completed an interventional spine and pain fellowship prior to me getting involved with TotalPoint in Missouri.
Question What inspired you to (start a new business venture) or (to make significant changes in an existing business)? How did the idea for your business come about?
Since childhood, I have moved around and naturally have been very inquisitive in regards to the differences in the different parts of the world where I have had the opportunity to explore and call home. The healthcare delivery disparity is vastly different across the different continents.
Essentially, I asked myself: if I was a patient what would I want different?
I would want to walk into a place where the service was so immaculate that it would help calm my nerves, I would want the level of care be at such a standard that I would not have to go anywhere else, and I would want to know that when I was ready to be checked out that I would not have to stop anywhere else [ ie. Pharmacy, labs, imaging, DME equipment].
At Total Point, we are a one stop service. We have the capacity to evaluate, obtain labs/imaging and have the results within 30 minutes so that we can utilize the results to assist us in giving you the best care possible.
Question What three pieces of advice would you give to budding entrepreneurs?
Answer
1. You have to stay positive. There is no room for doubt. The tiniest seed of doubt can destroy you before you have even started. Surround yourselves with individuals that will support your idea and that will believe in you.
2. Perseverance. You have to be consistent and be able to push through. Ups and downs are inevitable. Your support system will help you persevere and not get caught in a vicious cycle of self doubt.
3. Planning. It is obvious that if someone did not have an idea for a business then they would not need any advice. I will not ever say well you need have a good idea because all ideas are good. Planning is crucial. You need to be able to visualize what your end goal is. For me, I have a goal that in about 20-30 years I want to be able to say that I did x,y,z and etc.. Once you have have a visualization of what your goal is, you start to plan on how you need to get there.
Question What would you say are the top three skills needed to be a successful entrepreneur?
Answer Work ethic
Flexibility. You have to be able to make last minute changes because something did not work out as you has planned. Flexibility is key to the success of your end goal.
Social skills. I do not mean that you need to be able to go party with 100 people. I mean that you need to be able to convert your thoughts appropriately. This is important in selling your dream to potential investors or when talking with your employee.
Question How many hours do you work a day on average?
Answer 18-20 hours
Question To what do you most attribute your success?
Answer My parents. The endless support they have provided me is what keeps me going. Whatever I have accomplished in life is a reflection of their efforts and sacrifice.
Question How do you go about marketing your business? What has been your most successful form of marketing?
Answer I didn’t know much about marketing when I started out. Surely, as I got more involved in getting the name out there, A friend gave me a crash course and kind of told me what I needed to do. Digital marketing is very important given its 2023 and everything is digitalized. You have to know your target audience and where you are opening. Face to face marketing is as important as the digital aspect. I have gone door to door, placed ads on the radio, and extensive digital marketing to reach my targeted audience.
Question Where you see yourself and your business in 5 – 10 years?
Answer I am a physician and will always be clinically involved. No matter how big I get or even if it does not, I will always treat patients and stay clinically engaged.
In 10 years, I see that we have opened not only urgent cares, but hospitals, LTAC, nursing homes, and etc.. In 10 years, I see myself having sites in many states and not just Missouri.
Question Excluding yours, what company or business do you admire the most?
Answer Real estate is very fascinating and intriguing.
Question How important have good employees been to your success?
Answer Employees are the back bone of your day to day operations. If your employees are well trained then that means you will have less issues that come up.
Question How long do you stick with an idea before giving up?
Answer If I see that there is a 0.1% chance that it could work, then I will always keep it in the back of my mind. I keep an open mind. Today, that one idea may have 0.1% chance of success, but two years from now there may be a 40%. Chance of success.
Question What motivates you?
Answer That I am in my 30s and that most people in medicine do what I am doing today in their mid 50s.
Question What are your ideals?
Answer Honesty, hard work, and helping people.
Question How do you generate new ideas?
Answer Talking!
Question How do you define success?
Answer That’s a very personal definition. Everyone has their own definition.
Question What is your favorite aspect of being an entrepreneur?
Answer True control on your day-day schedule.
Question What has been your most satisfying moment in business?
Answer The day I opened doors for the public.
Question What do you feel is the major difference between entrepreneurs and those who work for someone else?
Answer Personality types. Employees relish in being safe when it comes to receiving a pay every month. Entrepreneurs are risk takers and problem solvers. There is no guarantee of a set pay every month.
