Experience and expertise keys to success for entrepreneurs


  • November 4, 2016
  • /   Reggie Dogan
  • /   entrecon

Tommy Duncan learned early the business aphorism that success is never final and failure is never fatal.

After four restaurants failed and a family health care business flopped, Duncan today runs a company that makes more than $140 million a year, yielding an $8 million profit.

His Washington, D.C.-based health company, Trusted Health Plans, helps people connect to and get health coverage through Medicaid. It employs 100 people, serving 35,000 clients.

“Entrepreneurs usually have good mentorship or expertise, someone who has done it before to help them avoid the pitfalls,” Duncan said. “That’s what EntreCon is all about, providing that type of mentorship.”

EntreCon is a business and entrepreneurship conference hosted by Studer Community Institute. The two-day event features 40 speakers and panelists, including seven keynote speakers and 12 breakout sessions. The speakers and panelists share strategies, offer advice and provide information on starting and growing a business.

As a keynote speaker on Friday, Duncan talked about the pros and cons of becoming an entrepreneur, while emphasizing the importance of experience, expertise and excellence in helping an organization break through the clutter of competition to succeed in a competitive marketplace.

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A native of Detroit, Duncan started a business while in college in the five-year MBA program at Florida A & M University in Tallahassee.

After a trip to Amsterdam, Duncan came back with the big idea of opening a restaurant that sells French fries in cones. Fried World opened in four locations and later became Tommy D’’s. They made money, but no profits.

The name change didn’t change the company’s fortune. Duncan said his lack of experience, expertise or interest in running a restaurant led to the restaurants’ demise.

“Even though I was earning revenue, I wasn’t making a profit,” Duncan said. “It was a complete disaster, and I was so happy those restaurants closed.”

The lesson learned, he said, was not to make a decision to start a business for the love of a product, but for the business itself.

Duncan finished his studies and went back home to help his mother run the family’s health care company. It eventually went out of business, so Duncan started his own health care company.

This time was different because Duncan said he had purpose, passion and a drive to make a difference.

In 2006, a company in Detroit recruited him to enroll uninsured psychiatric ward patients in Medicaid. It energized him to help more patients get health coverage.

Duncan did his homework and found that few companies did Medicaid enrollment for hospitals nationally. He stepped in to fill the void.

“Find out what your customers want through research,” Duncan said. “Once you figure out what they want, you can structure your business to meet their needs.”

Duncan and a partner created Care Compensation Specialists Inc. In 2007, Duncan sold the company to Accretive Health.

“In health care, I liked the product and the delivery of the business,” Duncan said. “The most valuable thing I had was experience in corporate America.”

An important thing new entrepreneurs should keep an eye on is revenue vs. costs, Duncan said.

Don’t spend too more money than you need to or have going into business, he said. Start small and keep costs down as much as possible.

“Don’t put your life on the line for a dream,” Duncan said. “If you have revenue on the top, you need profit on the bottom.”

With entrepreneurship still burning and a desire to continue helping people enroll in Medicaid, Duncan took his profits and moved to Washington, D.C.

During the past two years, Trusted Health Plan has built momentum not only with its core business but also throughout the healthcare industry, Duncan said.

The company has implemented a comprehensive delivery system that closely monitors the health behaviors of its members through disease and case management and health screen programs.

In 2014, when Trusted Health Plans opened a Health and Wellness Outreach Center, the first of its kind in the country, many doubted that members would come.  Last year, the center saw 750 members each month, a 20 percent increase from its first year.

It took Duncan a few years to find niche as an entrepreneur and make his mark in the marketplace.

He offered a word of caution to future entrepreneurs.

“Entrepreneurs … either you are or you aren’t,” he said. “The difference is action.”

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