The Pattersons worked with a light and photon therapy equipment manufacturer to set up their own clinic. After two years, however, quality problems with that company’s equipment led the couple to investigate making their own treatment devices. “We contacted the original patent holder, who referred us to his engineer,” Ron says. “He became our business partner, and we worked with him to develop a cost-effective model, the LUMEN 90, that met all the required specifications for treatment.”
As they were getting their business off the ground, Ron happened to catch a radio program about SCORE on the local NPR station. That led to a call to SCORE’s Western N.C. chapter and the first meeting with Connie Butler, the co-founder of a specialty chemical company. Butler mentored the Pattersons through nearly every phase of their company’s start-up and growth, including business planning, finance, transitioning from a sole proprietorship into a corporation, marketing, and international sales.
“These were all things that we were encountering for the first time,” says Pam, “but Connie was always just a phone call away with help, advice and moral support.”
Just two years after introducing the LUMEN 90, the Pattersons augmented their treatment services at Lumen Photon Therapy, Inc., with a successful manufacturing and sales business largely by word-of-mouth referrals. The company is now poised for even more growth thanks to a highly favorable review from a widely respected practitioner and a prominent listing in a specialty medical equipment supply catalogue. The Pattersons also had one of the busiest exhibits at the 9th Annual Congress of Bioenergetic Medicine in Orlando in summer 2005.
“The LUMEN 90 is used by doctors and clinics around the world,” Pam says. “Its all very exciting.”
And as their company grows, the Pattersons can count on Connie Butler and SCORE being there every step of the way. “Although we started out with very little business experience, Connie always made us feel like we were capable of being successful,” Pam says.
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