Posted by Nicholas Stabler | 29 November 2008

Tristan White

The Physio Co

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Tags: physiotheraphy

Tristan White is the founder and Managing Director of The Physio Co a specialist physiotherapy provider to the aged care industry.

After finding a gap in the aged care market, Tristan has worked hard to put together a young, dynamic group of physiotherapists that are making a real difference to the lives of 1000’s of elderly Australians every week. The Physio Co is rapidly becoming the market leader in aged care therapy.

The Physio Co is certainly a unique approach to physiotherapy and aged care. What prompted your realisation that there was an industry gap that needed filling?

I realised there was a niche that could be pursued while working as a physiotherapist for a small, private clinic. As part of my role, I visited and treated clients at a number of local aged care facilities. The service being provided at these facilities was very basic and irregular - I knew it could be done much better. There were, and still are, hundreds of thousands of senior and elderly people in Australia that could benefit from better physiotherapy and health services. The Physio Co specializes in making every consultation a memorable and enjoyable experience that improves quality of life. We are making a real difference to thousands of clients every week and growing at a rapid rate

Has retaining your personal values and vision been an important foundation for the Physio Co?

Absolutely. I value people - young and old. The Physio Co is built upon respect for our elderly clients and our dedicated team members. Being dependable, on time, communicating clearly and having some fun are all part of the service we provide. There is so much that our elderly clients can teach us in terms of their life experiences. If our team can contribute to making life just a little bit easier or more enjoyable for each of our clients, it will be worth it. Having a chat and sharing a laugh while undertaking some therapy and enjoying each others company is what The Physio Co is about.

Getting such a massive idea off the ground must have come with many challenges. How did you overcome these?

In 2004, I was a 23 year old recently graduated physiotherapist with little money, no history as an employer and working from a spare bedroom. Getting the runs on the board quickly and creating a good impression as both an employer and service provider were the real challenges. I overcame these by providing the best, most dependable and most refreshing service possible. I personally worked at more than 10 different locations each week and was as accommodating and helpful as I possibly could. I applied this same approach to recruiting and working with staff. If I found the right person to join the team, I would be as open and flexible as possible – we still are. If someone is the right fit for The Physio Co, we’ll find them the right role. Working in aged care has often been an ‘ugly duckling’ of the healthcare world – The Physio Co embraces elderly people and provides a remarkable service that is in strong demand.

Have you had any mentors or guides throughout the process?

When I started the business I was very green. I had a vision to create a business that improved the quality of life of our elderly clients and those who joined our team. In order to formalise the vision and seek assistance I did two things: I undertook a small business course at the Kangan Batman TAFE in Richmond, and I entered a business planning competition – Shell Livewire.

Both of these programs were very helpful and connected me with some great people. I was a finalist in the Livewire competition and my mentor assigned to me from that competition works in the business today as our consultant accountant - Ben has become a trusted part of our team along with a great personal mentor and friend.

Creating a supportive team environment must be a rewarding process. What qualities do you look for in your team members?

The most important qualities that I look for in our prospective team members are great communication skills, enthusiasm and a genuine interest in working with the elderly. We have a great training program and support system in place that means we can teach our staff what is required to create great outcomes for their clients – the right attitude however, is a must. I believe that if every team member knows what’s expected of them and they’re supported to achieve those goals, then work will be much more enjoyable. We do everything possible to ensure that our physios have as much time as possible to do what they love doing: helping people.

A challenge for our physios involves working at various locations with different people every week – this can be isolating for some physios. We do our best to overcome this by encouraging our staff to become a part of the care team at each and every location. Our staff become good friends with the nurses, carers, clients and family members – they are sorely missed if they ever move on to a new location!

The Physio Co has regular team meetings where we keep in touch, review recent physiotherapy research, have guest presenters and share our successes. A great sense of achievement and worth is created within our team by working together and also having a few laughs - the likeable oldies (our clients) often amuse us and it’s great to share some of these sayings with each other!

What is the most valuable piece of business advice you have received?

The most valuable advice that I have been given and that I try to empower our team members to embrace is to ‘be remarkable’. The term remarkable quite simply means for someone to remark about you. By providing a refreshing and high quality service The Physio Co aims to be the most talked about people in our industry. If we can achieve this, we will avoid complacency and can continue to grow into one of the most trusted and recognizable brands for all seniors.

The Physio Co is a specialist physiotherapy provider to the aged care industry.

See: www.thephysioco.com.au for more.