The Wild Ride: Here’s How Your Business Can Survive the Twists and Turns of Change

I have a love-hate relationship with roller coasters. I love coming to the top of a peak where I can see for miles, revel in the tranquility, and enjoy the feeling of being on top of the world (only for a split second). Then both the world and my stomach drop as the cart tips over the edge. As I grip the safety bar in white-knuckle panic, I wonder what I could possibly be thinking lining up for this, and wish desperately to get off and vomit.

Roller coasters are apt clichés for so many aspects of life, but they particularly apply to organizations that have hit a peak and await the inevitable descent. Since I started Empirical Testing Corp. in a garage 20 years ago, I’ve hit those highs and lows more times than I can count. Most small businesses and professionals know the ride, especially those in the medical device industry over the past 10 years.

After one of those recent stomach-churning dips, I started looking for the emergency exit. We needed a major paradigm shift to bring some stability and predictability to the way we conducted business. There had to be a better way to navigate the ebb and flow of the industry; simply maintaining a death grip on the safety bar and following a pre-planned track was not helping us accomplish our goals.

After several peaks and valleys, certain indicators became clear. In a more general sense, those markers meant we were missing key foundational pieces and processes that could set us up for a smoother ride.  There are certain professional, personal, and industry changes that make businesses and the people that run them re-evaluate their tactics. Those changes—generally speaking—often boil down to global/U.S. economy shifts, industry shakeups, and leadership switches.

In 2008, I recognized the signs that Empirical needed an overhaul. One obvious indicator was the 10-year demographic change in clients who continued to ask for mechanical testing. At that point, the world and U.S. economies were slowing down, thanks to a financial crisis stemming from questionable mortgage lending practices of previous years. The orthopedic device industry usually trails broad economic downturns by about six to 18 months, so as we watched the real estate-based crash ripple through the U.S. economy, we knew we should be prepping for a downturn of our own.

Part of the stabilizing reaction to the financial crisis was a series mergers and acquisitions in the medical device industry. In the independent mechanical testing lab sector, the downturn caused serious and predictable dips in business as companies put projects on hold. There’s always a post-merger lull in activity as those newly formed corporations sort out their combined staff, locations, priorities, and resources.

Here was an economy-driven point of serious introspection. How could we evolve Empirical Testing Corp. to be relevant for the next generation of orthopedic devices, companies, and processes reeling from the effects of a shaky global economy? How could we add value for our clients? What tools would we need to achieve the desired result? Honestly assessing the state of your organization, how it relates to current market conditions, and how it can continue to deliver your product or service at the highest level of client satisfaction are critical components for longevity, regardless of your specific sector of the industry and its vulnerability to global economic health. When you take the time and develop a corporate culture that’s willing to ask those tough questions and then make the tougher changes that answer those questions, you’re setting your business up to weather those economic declines and other turning points.

Major industry changes are another signal that it’s time to consider a corporate shift. When I first entered the orthopedic industry as a development engineer in the quality, cost, and delivery paradigm, cost was not a serious consideration. That eventually changed. After 2008, cost with quality and delivery were critical in meeting clients’ needs. As the dollar went through a value reset, I asked several clients what they needed. What services or considerations would make it easier to obtain regulatory clearance for their devices? A direct approach to clients served us well on two fronts; first, we heard it directly from the people who knew the most and mattered the most, and second, it showed clients we were committed to meeting their needs and willing to work with them.

During this same time period, we found ourselves dealing with that third prompt for assessing and activating big changes—my second son was born. For a small business owner like myself, that translated to a significant redirect in how we could conduct business. Besides growing my domestic clan, I was expanding my family of companies. We eventually developed Empirical Consulting LLC in response to the growing demand from our existing client base for regulatory support throughout the product development cycle.

Again, based on customer feedback, we knew we had an opportunity to grow our business in a new direction, one we were well-positioned to follow. But just like every other working parent, I struggled to balance my family and professional lives. I kept wondering how I could effectively manage both. When key members of a business’s leadership team hit a major life hurdle—birth of a child, death of a family member, health crisis—you have to take stock of how that personal milestone will affect your company’s productivity and bottom line.

At Empirical, we had to take a critical look at how we interacted with clients. Up until my son Tyler was born, I was the single point of contact. But both my family and business had grown to the point that this was no longer a realistic expectation for any of us. So we called in experts and advisors to lead us through a serious self-evaluation. We looked at how we connected with our clients (outside-in vs. inside-out view points), the process flows of each job, delivery times, and anything else we had to do to ensure top-notch quality.

This time it wasn’t just about the clients. We also considered our employees—did we have sufficient staffing? Were we creating an environment that kept them challenged and engaged? And, how would we pull off a significant shift in our business model while still maintaining a casual, family-like culture that made work feel like home?

In our case, that meant incorporating recognition and incentive programs. We now have a trail map of Pikes Peak that we use to track accomplishments of employees with a hiker making his/her way up the mountain to represent their progress. Employees got together to define the qualifications of  “progress,” such as loading a certain number of frames a day, earning praise from clients, and other job-related successes. When enough hikers make their way up the trail, the whole company benefits from a cookout, ping-pong tournament, pie party, or other fun event.

A focus on employee wellness is a natural complement to customer service; it fosters the right attitude of concentrating on what is going right, performance-based rewards, and the family feel we pride ourselves on creating within Empirical. It keeps our employees engaged, feeling appreciated and committed to excellence. That kind of attention to the team following a major shift is another effective way to stabilize your company and keep everyone on track.

We still have our ups and downs, but that’s to be expected on any roller coaster. Because we’ve survived some of those horrifying dips, we know when it’s time to reassess where we are, who we want to be, and how to get there. Anybody can, given the right mindset and preparation. I don’t know that I’ll ever be a business owner or amusement park visitor who can throw her hands up and scream with delight at the next twist in the tracks, but I do know my team is flexible and strong enough to help me (somewhat) enjoy the ride. 

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Dawn Lissy is a biomedical engineer, an entrepreneur, and an innovator. Since 1998, the Empirical family of companies has operated under Lissy’s direction. She has been responsible for all Empirical operations, including designing test fixtures and protocols, running test protocols, and writing complete reports. She holds an inventor patent for the Stackable Cage System for Corpectomy and Vertebrectomy. She is a member of the Biomedical Engineering Society, Society of Women Engineers, the American Society of Biomechanics, and the ASTM. She holds an M.S. in biomedical engineering from The University of Akron, Ohio. She can be contacted at [email protected].