Growing a Business and Helping your Community

We talked to Trevor Perkes of ProHealthcareProducts.com about its cutting-edge equipment and COVID-19.

First of all, how are you and your family doing in these COVID-19 times?

Trevor Perkes: We are all doing well. Fortunately, we were well stocked with plenty of food storage before the pandemic really hit our little town, so we didn’t have to go out to the store very much, which limited our chance of potential exposure to the virus. Additionally, we were really blessed in the fact that I was able to work from home, which allowed us to keep paying the bills.

The kids are happy to be back in school again among their friends and not feeling like the world is coming to an end. We are trying to allow our kids to live as “normal” of a life as possible without exposing them to the virus.

Tell us about you, your career, how you joined ProHealthcareProducts.com.

Trevor Perkes: A few months back, in the middle of the pandemic, my business partner received a call from the investors who purchased his business roughly 6 years ago, stating that they were no longer able to run the business and wanted to sell the company back to him. Shortly after that, he brought me on board to run the business.

I began the transition from my previous responsibilities to working full time on ProHealthcareProducts.com. Being a part of ProHealthcareProducts.com has been amazing. We have since added a few people to our team and have grown the business well over double the sales from the previous year in a very short amount of time.

How does ProHealthcareProducts.com innovate? 

Trevor Perkes: This is a great question. With the internet, businesses are able to reach customers from around the world. We have not only expanded our reach to international sales but here at home as well. During the pandemic, we saw the need for cotton face masks early on and began the process to establish teams of skilled seamstresses in 5 different locations around the country and produced several hundred thousand cotton face masks.

Here in my hometown, we were able to put together a team of 115 local moms, dads, and youth to produce over 10,000 masks per week. This not only produced sales for our company but, more importantly, created jobs for many families. For some, the ability to provide an income during the pandemic was a huge blessing; for others, it was extra money to pay for student loans, medical debt, or just to save a little money for a rainy day.

Going forward, we have several other projects in the works that we are hoping to expand on the products and services we currently offer. I’m excited about the future.

How the coronavirus pandemic affects your business, and how are you coping?

Trevor Perkes: Overall, we are doing really well and are always looking for new ways to improve. It certainly helps to be in the medical industry during a pandemic. That said, we have noticed that some of our customers are hesitant to spend money right now, given the country’s current state. Both COVID-19 and the political environment have played a part in customers’ reservation in spending money unless they absolutely have to.

Did you have to make difficult choices, and what are the lessons learned?

Trevor Perkes: This is probably one of the hardest challenges for me with our growing business, knowing when to hire and when to let people go. In many ways, it’s easier for me to do a lot of the work myself than to explain it to someone else, but in order for us to grow, I know this step is necessary. It’s hard to know when to make that call to bring someone new on. When you are the business owner and have worked so hard to grow a business, it’s hard to trust someone else with your company’s name. However, we love employing people and keeping jobs in the community, so that makes it even harder if we ever have to let someone go. This is a lesson I’m still learning, but I have really learned to lean on my mentors and business advisors.

How do you deal with stress and anxiety? How do you project yourself and ProHealthcareProducts.com in the future?

Trevor Perkes: As a company, we have sure had our stressful days with a low number of sales or shipping delays that are out of our control. As a team, we strive to do our best, knowing that the work we do today will make tomorrow better. As long as we do our work to improve not only the company but to improve ourselves as well, the future of ProHealthcareProducts will be great.

Who are your competitors? And how do you plan to stay in the game?

Trevor Perkes: Anyone who sells medical supplies would be considered a competitor. We will continue to offer great customer service and competitive prices for our customers. Over the next 6 months, we are looking to expand the amount of products we offer from 3,000 to about 10,000. This will allow us to provide better options for our customers and meet their needs better.

Your final thoughts?

Trevor Perkes: Running a business is hard and stressful at times, but when you work hard and put your customers and community first, it will all work out. Don’t be afraid to think outside of the box and look to others who have more experience or a different perspective from you to come to the best solution.

Your website?

www.ProHealthcareProducts.com