Turning It Around: Airway Management Gets Back on Track
Home Medical Equipment Company Returns to Profitability with Florida SBDC at UCF Assistance
June 17, 2024
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Hal Thayer, Communications Director, FSBDC at UCF, 407.420.4850 or HThayer@ucf.edu
Jill Kaufman, Associate Director/ABC Program Manager, FSBDC at UCF, 407.420.4854 or Jill.Kaufman@ucf.edu
Orlando, FL – The ability of a small business to overcome adversity becomes the difference between success and failure in almost every case. There are times, however, when the market’s headwinds are so formidable that even the most resourceful and resilient business owner needs help. Such a time unfolded for Daniel Ramsaywack, owner and President of Airway Management, Inc., and he turned to the Florida Small Business Development Center at the University of Central Florida (FSBDC at UCF) for support.
Kissimmee-based Airway Management, Inc. is a home medical equipment company serving Central Florida and a leader in the delivery of professional healthcare products and services. It offers an extensive inventory of medical equipment, healthcare solutions, and supplies ranging from advanced respiratory care devices to mobility aids, all carefully selected for quality and reliability and delivered directly to the client’s doorstep – ensuring comfort, convenience, and peace of mind.
“Airway Management is unique and special because we provide individual service to our clients,” Ramsaywack says proudly. “When they call us, we pick up the phone. Even if it’s in the middle of the night, our therapists are there. Airway’s approach contrasts significantly with the big multinationals where calls go to a call center which then tries to reach someone in Florida which can be tough.”
Despite its strong business model, Airway Management found itself wrestling with difficult market conditions and a challenging insurance and Medicaid reimbursement environment. “I originally sought out assistance from the FSBDC because we were on a downward slide in sales and in margin,” recalls Ramsaywack ruefully. “We were losing money every month and it was not sustainable. We were going to go bankrupt. I needed to turn the company around and asked the FSBDC for help.
The Florida SBDC extended a full complement of resources to assist Ramsaywack. He participated in its award-winning Advisory Board Council (ABC) program, led by program manager Jill Kaufman. The ABC is a customized, no-cost board of experts providing advice to help businesses grow. The FSBDC acts as a matchmaker between established local businesses like Airway Management and area professionals who volunteer their expertise and are purposefully selected to address the specific needs of the FSBDC client.
The FSBDC’s services didn’t stop there. Ramsaywack took advantage of its no-cost consulting; its CEO XChange program, a peer-to-peer coaching group for growth-minded business leaders; and its Small Business Institute® program in which UCF graduate students work as consultants focused on defined projects under FSBDC supervision.
“The Advisory Board Council, in particular, helped me see a future for my business,” explains Ramsaywack. “It was like taking a microscope to my business to see where we were losing money, how we could mitigate those losses and turn it around. They did strategy analysis and financial projections. They reviewed the staff and our approach to human resources. They evaluated our marketing plan. They looked at so many aspects of our business and those insights helped me grow the business and turn it around.”
Significant credit goes to Danial Ramsaywack himself for his determination and willingness to be a change agent, especially through his lobbying efforts, relationship building, and service in various state level health care organizations that turned the tide for his industry on the insurance and Medicaid reimbursement front.
At the same time, he is vocal about his gratitude to the FSBDC. “Since working with the FSBDC, we have seen a growth in sales, cost reductions, improvement in gross margin and net income growth that is very positive for us,” Ramsaywack states. “We have helped people in our community as we have increased our employee base by one-third. One of our proudest accomplishments is to have our patient count grow 300% over the last four years.”
“I’m just very grateful for the support of so many people at the FSBDC and elsewhere that helped make that all possible. For me, the FSBDC was Airway Management’s ICU (Intensive Care Unit). We needed emergency help, and we got it. For that I say, ‘Thank You’.”
For information about Airway Management, please visit www.airwaymanagement.com.
— FSBDC —
About the FSBDC at UCF
Hosted by the University of Central Florida (UCF), and with its main office in the National Entrepreneur Center located at the Fashion Square Mall in Orlando, the Florida Small Business Development Center at the University of Central Florida (FSBDC at UCF) is part of part of UCF’s Office of the President and the Florida SBDC Network.
The Florida SBDC at UCF provides aspiring and existing small businesses with no-cost consulting, low-cost training, and access to business data and research resources. In addition to its core service offering, the Florida SBDC at UCF also offers specialized services to qualifying companies, including capital access, market growth, government contracting, international trade, business continuation, cybersecurity, disaster planning and recovery, and more. The FSBDC at UCF serves an eight-county area that includes Brevard, Flagler, Lake, Orange, Osceola, Seminole, Sumter, and Volusia counties and maintains 9 service centers across Central Florida.
In 2023, the FSBDC at UCF served more than 2,800 entrepreneurs in Central Florida with consulting services, resulting in more than 10,100 jobs created, retained or saved; $743.5 million in sales growth; $59.2 million in capital formation; $122.5 million in government contract awards; and 164 new businesses started. For more information, please visit www.sbdcorlando.com .
About the Florida SBDC Network
For more than 45 years, the Florida SBDC Network, the state’s principal provider of business assistance [Fl. Stat. 288.001], has nourished a statewide partnership between higher education and economic development to provide existing and emerging small and medium-sized business owners with management and knowledge resources that enable overall growth, increased profitability, and economic prosperity for Florida’s economy.
In 2022, the Florida SBDC Network delivered 117,750 hours of consulting to 14,758 small business clients – resulting in business owners securing $446 million in capital, $445 million in government contracting, impacting 23,515 jobs, increasing sales by over $4.5 billion, and creating 825 businesses.
With over 40 offices statewide, the Florida SBDC is funded in part by the U.S. Small Business Administration, Department of Defense, State of Florida and other private and public partners. The Florida SBDC Network, headquartered at the University of West Florida, is nationally accredited by the Association of SBDCs and is a recipient of the President’s E Award for Export Service. Florida SBDC services are extended to the public on a nondiscriminatory basis. Language assistance services are available for individuals with limited English proficiency. For more information, please visit www.FloridaSBDC.org.
FSBDC at UCF | 3201 E. Colonial Drive | Orlando, FL 32801 | p 407.420.4850 | f 407.420.4862
sbdc@ucf.edu | www.sbdcorlando.com
