Founder Interview
Richard Sias
There are a lot of skill sets that go into making a business successful. But at the outset, there is one fundamental question that has to be asked and answered as the foundation…
So nice to meet you! First off, what’s your name? Tell our readers a bit about yourself—where you’re from originally and where you live now.
Sure! My name is Richard Sias, and I'm originally from Florida, with a background in construction sales, but I moved to middle Tennessee in 2022 to take over WeCare Solutions.
Tell us one thing you love about where you live now.
Florida is a great state, but it is hot. Tennessee has four seasons, and it's been a nice change to experience that.
Tell us a little more about what your company does and how it started. How does it help your customers?
WeCare Solutions is an OEM (manufacturing) company that specializes in washing and sanitizing solutions for long-term care facilities such as nursing homes, rehab centers, etc. Specifically, we make automated, portable wash cabinets for their durable medical equipment, such as wheelchairs, walkers, potty chairs and much, much more.
It was actually started by my father-in-law back in 2000, and our mission is to provide these facilities with adequate cleaning solutions in lieu of them trying to clean this equipment by hand. Imagine having a nursing home with 50 wheelchairs. Now imagine being tasked with hand washing all 50. How well are they cleaned? What infection control protocols are being used to help minimize the spread of pathogens? That's where we come in.
If someone wants to start a business, what advice would you give them?
There are a lot of skill sets that go into making a business successful. But at the outset, there is one fundamental question that has to be asked and answered as the foundation of that business: do you offer a solution or product that doesn't exist in the market currently, OR do you offer something that already exists but can do it better than the competition? I think this philosophy applies whether you are building an appliance or baking cookies.
What is one piece of feedback from a happy customer or client that you won't forget?
I had a small nursing home in New York call me a year after they purchased our wheelchair washer to tell me how much of a game changer it was for their facility. From incontinent to sick patients, they never felt confident in their ability to adequately clean their chairs and other medical equipment until they bought our unit.
Where do you see your company in the future?
Right now we are preparing to launch our new collapsible wheelchair washer, which will only take up 24" of width in a supply closet if the client wishes to store their washer between uses. It will also be only about 50% of the cost of our current stainless steel wash cabinet. This will open a whole new market segment for us that currently can't afford our larger unit or doesn't have the ability to stage it in the premium floor space of a healthcare facility.
What is the biggest misconception about your industry?
A big washer can be expensive, so many facilities on a tight budget may feel that pursuing a medical equipment washer would be too much of a strain on their budget, when in reality the labor savings you get from automating your washing, as opposed to an employee cleaning dozens and dozens of wheelchairs or walkers by hand, are huge.
What has been one of your biggest struggles building your business, and how did you deal with it?
There are thousands of healthcare facilities in the US, and the hardest part in getting a business like this going is reaching potential clients and letting them know you exist. It's not as simple as putting up a billboard in our local area or taking an ad out in the paper; you need national marketing to cast the net wide enough to serve the industry. Our best strategy for this has been online marketing through email campaigns and doing regional trade shows to get the largest number of people together in one spot to educate them on what we provide and do for them.
Who was your favorite music artist and athlete growing up?
Oh man, you're going to date me with this one, huh? Well, for music I was a kid of the '90s, so Nirvana tops that list, and I was living in Jacksonville when we got the NFL expansion team, so Mark Brunell, the Jaguars quarterback, was my favorite athlete.
Any shoutouts you want to make?
A hearty shoutout to my father-in-law Craig Weaver, who built the foundation for WeCare that will allow us to take this company into the future.
Where can our readers learn more about you and your company?
https://wecareincorporated.com
