Bob Gray, owner of Any Lab Test Now of Sarasota, FL, and Venice, FL. shared his story with us about his passion in the nursing profession. After experiencing high-cost lab tests himself, Bob became a franchisee and quickly set out to help bring about better healthcare options to his local community.
Expensive Lab Bills Lead to Business Opportunity
As we got started, we asked Bob how he first heard of Any Lab Test Now.
“I always had a job with extremely good medical benefits, and always had annual visits to my physician with the same annual tests. Three or four years ago I went to my regular physician who ordered the same tests as he always did. I went to the lab, and they took my credit card and I was expecting my usual co-pay to be billed to my card. Then I went back to my physician for a follow-up and my tests came back looking good with no problems.”
“And then I got a bill from the lab, $722 for my lab tests. So, I said no, no, that can’t be right. Last year my copay was $65.00. So, I reach out to them to try to figure out what’s going on. And they told me my insurance denied the claim for my tests. I said no, no, no, I have health care insurance, and all this other stuff went round and round with them repeatedly trying to get my insurance to cover the tests. Then I finally got through to the insurance company, and they said, oh, we no longer have to cover WellCare annually because I wasn’t in the Affordable Care Act and I was on self-pay insurance.”
“So, no one ever told me that I would be liable for this $722 lab bill. The long and short of it, I paid it.
Then, the following year, I went back to my physician again. I told him the story and said this year, I am not going to go through all of these tests which were always normal. I said, you get one or two tests this year for me because I can’t afford $722 again.”
“My doctor said, oh…we need to go to Any Lab Test Now this year. I said, okay, and I go to my local Any Lab Test Now office in Sarasota. They ran my tests and did everything the other lab did the year before, all the same—the bill came to $202.”
“And I said, Okay, I don’t understand how they could do all the same tests for $202. So, I got very interested since I have a medical background myself. I started investigating whether or not franchises were available for the south portion of the county where I lived. And lo and behold, the owner of the Sarasota, Florida office was ready to retire, and I negotiated with him and ended up buying his franchise. Then, eight, nine months later I opened my second location in Venice Florida.”
“I was a prime candidate to learn the ins and outs of this business because of what happened to me. I was also in medical sales and a registered nurse and knew a lot of medical people. Also, I knew that there were an abundance of people out there who have no insurance or had high deductibles and were in the same situation, I was in. So, I felt that I could assist those people much more readily in this capacity, to help bring about even better healthcare in this area.”
A Career Military Man Chooses to Continue to Serve His Community
We asked Bob what his background is and what drew him to Any Lab Test Now on a personal level.
“I have an honorable discharge from the Army, Navy and Air Force. I was in all three services; in the Army as an OR Tech, the Navy as a Flight Corpsman for Sub Chasers, and the Air Force as a Flight Nurse and ended my service as a Lieutenant.”
“When I was in the military, I became a Combat Medic Operating Room Technician and later I went to nursing school, got my Registered Nurse License in Michigan, and then became an Operating Room Supervisor. At the same time, I was offered a job in medical sales because I understood the surgical aspect of what companies were looking for. During that time, I got my certification to do critical care nursing, and went into flight nursing, became a high-end Flight Nurse, and traveled all over the world in a Learjet.”
“In 2013, the company I worked for downsized, and I found myself prematurely retired and that is when I came across the Any Lab Test Now opportunity. With my background in medical sales and nursing, it was a perfect fit because I was already comfortable with consultive sales in the medical field. My business approach now is to be a valuable asset to my customers.
Being Boss is Fun!
We asked Bob what he enjoyed the most about owning his own business.
“Having the ability to work and do this myself. The thing that is the best is that I don’t have to answer to a boss, I don’t have to get things approved that I want to try or ask if I can do something different. So, having the ability to make a decision where I don’t have to get financial approval from anybody if I believe in it, I’ll do it. Just to be able to do that is very rewarding.”
Community Driven Business Model
Bob shared how his business has impacted his local community.
“So, primarily the businesses, our local businesses have utilized us for either pre-employment testing for drugs or work-related injuries and or accidents on the job for drug testing. We enjoy that relationship with them. And when other medical offices close at three o’clock, and somebody has an accident at five o’clock or four o’clock, we can still take them in and take care of their employees.
And those employers, who started using us for COVID testing for their employees, who might come to work with a sniffle or a sore throat or something, they would send them over to us, we’d have them tested, and back to work in an hour. So having the resource for them that we deliver what we tell them we’re going to do is great.”
Gratifying Work That Pays Off
We asked Bob if he wakes up every morning saying, “I love my job” and how he feels about his work life and who he works with now as a franchisee and business owner.
“Generally, by the end of the day, when I’ve finished all the tests that we’ve done, I’ve met some great people and, you know, and taking care of their needs and things, that’s when that gratification feels the best.”
“I’ve been very fortunate, the employees that I have, one of them, Sarah, has been with me for two years, she’s an ex-nurse, and offers a very good foundation. She’s run both of my stores and has done very well. My second longest employee, Hannah, has been with me for the last two years. While she was working with me she went to nursing school at night. Now, she finally graduated from nursing school, and she’ll be moving on to the hospital environment as an RN. Then I have another young lady, Melvina, who’s also very experienced, worked for another well-known laboratory for many years, and now she works for us.”
“My employees tell me that number one reason we’re great to work for is because we consider their feelings.”
Empowering People to Understand Their Health
We asked Bob what the most unusual thing he’s learned about this business model has been.
“I enjoy the feeling of being able to help somebody with the skills that I have and making a difference for people and giving them something they wouldn’t have gotten in other places. We’re well established and accepted in the community, and we do a lot of testing.”
Being in Service to Others
We know nursing is a profession tied to helping and serving others on a very deep level and he responded with some very personal thoughts.
“Nursing, in and of itself, doing the nursing job is not what I do this for what I do it for is I like being close to people. I’m a people person. I like being close to people evaluating their needs and seeing if I can help them. And then, part of it is, I’m a hands-on kind of person and I like doing procedures because there’s a challenge to it. There’s an opportunity throughout the day to feel that you’re making a difference and feel good about what you’re doing. And that’s why I like doing what I do.”
Working to Feed Your Soul
As we closed our discussion, we asked Bob what he felt this business did for him on a personal level.
“When I got into this, I was on my third retirement, and because I just not ready to retire, I began looking for something else that I could do where I could make a difference. Where I could feed my soul and my needs and continue to enjoy going to work and everything. So, this business with Any Lab Test Now has given me the opportunity to do exactly that. So, from being in medical sales, working as a nurse, and now to running my Any Lab Test Now location, this has done what I was looking for it to do.”
“If I had to do it all over again I would do it without any hesitation because I like to set goals. I like to measure my value for what I’m doing for people and for myself and for my family and I have been able to attain those things working with Any Lab.”
“We didn’t talk much about what I did just after I was put into an unexpected retirement. In the four years before I became a franchisee, I actually bought and flipped 40 houses. I also have a real estate broker’s license, so I have my own real estate company buying and flipping houses, however, buying and flipping houses is dirty work.”
“This is clean work, I get to go home clean or pretty close to as clean as when I went in. I like this type of clean work, and I use my head, I use my brain more to help people and to problem solve, to make a living. For me, it’s better than pounding a nail and cutting a piece of wood, and so the gratification of my education has paid off for me with this business.”
My Son Is Following In My Footsteps Now
We asked Bob if he was happy doing what he’s doing for work today.
“I’ve always said that the best thing I ever did was go to nursing school because for me my entire career, I have utilized and parlayed that education in just about everything. So, it was the best decision I ever made. Now, my son is a Registered Nurse. And so he’s working on becoming a Nurse Practitioner, so he has seen the value of what I’ve been able to accomplish through my career, and he’s following in my footsteps.”
The Last Career of Life Should Be Filled With Life’s Passion
Finally, we asked Bob if he felt like this business opportunity was one of the best decisions of his life.
“Yes, it is. Because it has given me the opportunity to, I’ll say, for the last career of my life, my last job to utilize the skills that I have attained throughout my life, put them to work, validate what I feel, how I do things, how I treat people, and how I believe that I can make a difference for our community. So yes, I think that I’ve been extremely pleased with what I’ve done, how I’ve done it, and I’m proud of the current position of our company, our standing in the community, and what we have to offer. And I feel that I have dramatically affected that.”
“This business gives me the opportunity to continue to work with people, and problem solve for people while helping. Then, using my skills that I have, and my hands-on
technical skills it feeds a lot of needs, and I enjoy it. I love my work because I can see that I can make a difference for somebody by getting the right tests in a timely manner, consulting, and helping people.”
A big thank you to Bob for taking the time out of his busy schedule to share his story and perspective of what it’s been like working as a health care professional, franchisee, and business owner!
If you’re looking around at what business opportunities are open to you, please reach out to us directly. We’re more than happy to provide you with information and answer questions. Learning about the available opportunities in your local area is the first step in discovering how you can find success with an Any Lab Test Now® franchise business.
