More Willie

Established in 1995 solely as a .com, Surgicaltools.com fell victim to the .com crash and was on the brink of bankruptcy. It is now half way through 2008 and I’m happy to say that surgicaltools.com has not only bounced back from near-bankruptcy, but it has seen consistent, rapid growth year over year and has proven that a business model based around online sales can work for a medical company. All this without a major website revision until November/December of 2007.

Surgicaltools.com circa 1999

Surgicaltools.com Overhaul, 2007

 
So how did we manage it? In a nutshell…

1) The main reasons for surgicaltools.com’s continued success have been a large shift in strategy. Instead of playing the role of a stand-alone online retailer, direct sales staff were hired to compliment the website and foster client relationships. By doing so, surgicaltools.com increased its sphere of coverage and was able to acquire multiple government contracts that provide a stable level of business. By having direct sales reps, it also allowed surgicaltools.com to extend its offering to capital equipment which require hands-on time in hospital environments.

2) Surgicaltools.com cleaned up and rebuilt relationships with key suppliers and manufacturers in Germany which, among other things, increased delivery time and boosted customer satisfaction as a whole.

3) An eBay store was set up offering huge discounts on demo instruments and other “left-overs” that were collecting dust – clearing out space and solving a large dead inventory problem.

4) Branching out to other domains generated more traffic and targeted more niche markets. This process started with anesthesiatools.com and is ongoing with two or three domains getting ready to launch in the near future.

5) Careful financial management(!) eliminated all company debt.

With continued growth via the web and direct sales, surgicaltools.com has not only survived becoming a .com relic, but proves to be a major player in the international medical market now and in the future.