Why Getting Into Walmart Almost Broke This Product Business
- Stanley Igboanugo
- 1 hour ago
- 25 min read
In this episode of the Harvest Growth Podcast, Jon LaClare sits down with Scott Anderson, entrepreneur, Air Force veteran, and founder behind multiple growing businesses, including iFlex, Optimal Weight and Wellness Med Spa, and Get VA Help.
Scott shares the story of iFlex, a phone holder product that saw exciting early momentum in retail stores like Walmart, Office Depot, Staples, and Fred Meyer. But what looked like success on the surface quickly revealed a painful lesson: revenue does not always equal profit. After cutting pricing dramatically to meet Walmart’s requirements and splitting already-tight margins between multiple partners, Scott realized the retail path was not the right long-term solution for his business.
The conversation dives into how Scott took the product back, canceled the licensing deal, and rebuilt iFlex around customer feedback. By launching the improved iFlex Buddy, optimizing Amazon listings, investing in PPC, and paying closer attention to reviews, Scott was able to regain control of the brand and drive renewed growth on Amazon.
Scott also shares how the lessons he learned from product development carried into his next venture: Optimal Weight and Wellness Med Spa in Sun City West, Arizona. What started as a one-room weight loss clinic quickly expanded into a seven-room med spa offering medically supervised weight loss, GLP-1 support, facials, dermaplaning, microneedling, massage therapy, red light therapy, and more.
Finally, Scott introduces Get VA Help, a new platform designed to help veterans better understand their VA disability ratings. Powered by the Veteran Rating Intelligence System, or VRIS, the platform helps organize medical records, decision letters, exams, and supporting statements so veterans can better see how their records align with VA rating criteria.
If you’re building a product brand, considering retail, growing on Amazon, launching a service business, or looking for a real-world example of how customer feedback can shape better decisions, this episode is packed with practical lessons.
In today’s episode of the Harvest Growth Podcast, we’ll cover:
Why getting into Walmart is not always as profitable as it looks
How retail pricing pressure can destroy product margins
Why Scott took iFlex back from a licensing deal
How customer feedback helped create the improved iFlex Buddy
Why Amazon reviews, PPC, and listing optimization helped restart growth
How Scott’s mindset shifted from passive licensing to hands-on business management
What product founders can learn from listening closely to customers
How Optimal Weight and Wellness Med Spa grew from one room to seven rooms
Why Google reviews and community trust matter for local service businesses
How Get VA Help is being built to support veterans with VA disability rating clarity
And so much more!
You can listen to the full interview wherever you listen to your podcasts.
Or, click to watch the full video interview here!
Want to connect with Scott?
Search for iFlex phone holder on Amazon to find the iFlex Buddy. To learn more about Optimal Weight and Wellness Med Spa, visit myoptimallifeaz.com. If you are a veteran or family member of a veteran, visit getvahelp.org to learn more about Get VA Help.
Do you have a brand you’d like to launch or scale?
Visit HarvestGrowth.com to book a free consultation and learn how our team has helped generate over $2 billion in product sales.
Prefer reading instead of listening? Read the full transcript here!
[00:00:00]
Jon LaClare
My guest today is back on the podcast with a story of reinvention. Since we last talked, he's navigated the challenges of licensing, rebuilt his product business with more control and profitability, helped launch a fast-growing med spa, and is now stepping into the tech world with a mission-driven platform for veterans.
[00:00:19]
Jon LaClare
There's a lot to unpack here about resilience, strategy, and what it really takes to build lasting businesses.
[00:00:26]
Announcer
Harvest the growth potential of your product or service as we share stories and strategies that'll make your competitors nervous. Now, here's the host of the Harvest Growth podcast, Jon LaClare.
[00:00:42]
Jon LaClare
Over the past 20 years, our team has helped launch and grow hundreds of consumer products, generating more than $2 billion in revenue for our clients. On this show, we break down what actually works in product marketing with real stories, real strategies, and lessons you can put to work in your business right away.
[00:01:01]
Jon LaClare
So whether you're getting ready to launch or you're looking to scale what's already working, you're in the right place. So let's jump into today's interview. Su- today I'm super excited to be speaking with a past guest, Scott Anderson. He's the CEO of several different businesses and has some really interesting stories to share across them.
[00:01:18]
Jon LaClare
One's product, and then two sort of service businesses. We'll talk about those and some commonalities and, of course, differences between them. But he's got some great stories that he's gone through, some painful, but they'll help you, I guarantee it, on how to improve and grow your own business as well as, as we listen to these stories.
[00:01:35]
Jon LaClare
First of all, Scott, I want to welcome you to the show. Hey, how you doing, Jon? Great to see you. As I mentioned, you know, you've-- you're the CEO of several different businesses and, you know, you've learned from some, taken those learnings to others, and we'll, we'll kinda talk about one business at a time.
[00:01:49]
Jon LaClare
But the first one I wanna discuss is the EyeFlex. That's a consumer product, and then we'll get into your other service businesses as well. And this is the same product we talked about years ago. We're talking today because Scott has had some Interesting occurrences across the way that I think will be really helpful for you to learn, uh, you know, a- as, as a listener or a viewer.
[00:02:08]
Jon LaClare
Scott, can you first describe what is the iFlex or the iFlex Buddy for those that don't
[00:02:12]
Scott Anderson
know? Uh, sure. So the iFlex is a bendable, uh, moldable, hangable, uh, cellphone and tablet holder. So, you know, lot of, lot of different, uh, stands out there to hold your cellphone and everything. Um, but we're the only one that really can go from, you know, uh, a Samsung, an Android, an iPad, uh, a large 13-inch, uh, tablet down to, you know, a regular, you know, iPad.
[00:02:40]
Scott Anderson
So it's... It bas- well, you know, I have one right here, in fact. Sorry for my reach. You know, so this is the iFlex Buddy. So, you know, um, this is an Amazon, uh, Choice, uh, product. So we've been, uh, doing this since, uh, 2019 and basically, you know, depending on what you wanna do to hold your phone or tablet, in fact, my phone right now is on an iFlex, you can bend it and mold it to what you want.
[00:03:09]
Scott Anderson
So depending on the angle you want, the degree, or what you're holding, you just bend it, um, you place it, and a lot of times you just forget about it, and it's always there. So we actually invented the iFlex, uh, due to, uh, airplane travel. So you always see people, and even till today, trying to balance up their phone against a, a water bottle, and it slips off, or they're trying to.
[00:03:33]
Scott Anderson
So we actually built the, uh, iFlex to, uh, go behind the tray and then be able to support your phone while you're sitting there- watching it. And it's just kinda grown since then. I mean, we launched in 2019, went to the Consumer Electronics Show. Uh, we ended up being a hit even though we didn't have one piece of electronics in the, uh, product.
[00:03:56]
Scott Anderson
And here we are, seven years later, still, uh, uh, thriving with the iFlex.
[00:04:02]
Jon LaClare
And I, you know, usually my, my audience knows I definitely encourage our, our... most of our guests to use a desktop computer to record this. We had to do this one on a phone today really because to, to show how easy it is to use the iFlex.
[00:04:12]
Jon LaClare
So he's actually recording this video on his phone, uh, as we, you know, as we go through, and it's, it is very convenient and, and great product. I've, I've been using them for years as well, uh, ever since our first interview many years ago. Um, uh, let's talk about the business side of this. So from when we last spoke and did our interview several years ago through today, a lot has happened.
[00:04:30]
Jon LaClare
So you worked with a licensee, if that's the right way to say it, helped get into some massive retail, mass retail, and then brought it back to yourself as a business. Help us walk, walk us through that story. What happened? What did you learn along the way?
[00:04:42]
Scott Anderson
Sure. Absolutely. So, you know, as, uh, new, um, uh, product designers, we had never been in this space before, and so we actually hired a product consultant to help us.
[00:04:56]
Scott Anderson
And, uh, she was great. She introduced us to some distributors, and then we, we moved quickly within our first year. Uh, we actually got into, uh, Walmart, and, uh, man, we just, we just thought we hit it big. We signed on a, uh, licensee and, uh, you know, we basically handed them over the iFlex and we were, we were Amazon, we were Walmart, we were, uh, Fred Meyer, we were, uh, Staples, we were Office, uh, Depot.
[00:05:25]
Scott Anderson
So we were just, just booming out there. But what happened was basically the distributor and product consultant, you know, they weren't taking care of the iFlex like we were. So they started to make small little changes and modifications to the, uh, the iFlex, which kinda actually hurt our reputation for being a strong, um, product.
[00:05:50]
Scott Anderson
You know, they made, uh, I'll give you an example, an easy bend, so it was more flexible, but they gave up strength. So, uh, we, we hit all the, uh, the, the, the big stores. We, we were making it. We were in Walmart. And, uh, come to find out, within three years, we made more money Doing the, um, iFlex ourself on Amazon than we ever did in three, uh, years of being in Walmart.
[00:06:22]
Scott Anderson
When you've got two nickels to rub together versus two dollar bills, you have to sell a lot of product. So, uh, this past year, we went ahead and took the iFlex back. We canceled the, uh, licensing deal, and then we actually created the iFlex Buddy. So now the iFlex Buddy, it's, it's smaller, it's stronger, you can actually hang it, you can actually charge.
[00:06:45]
Scott Anderson
We listened to our consumer, and we made those product improvements that our distributor and our licensee would not, uh, do. So now we've taken it back, and within a year of having it, we've, uh, skyrocketed as an Amazon choice, and our sales velocity and acceleration has just been tremendous, and we're continuing to see growth after growth.
[00:07:07]
Scott Anderson
So this year we're already up a hundred and sixty percent over last year. So we, we have great, um, uh, acceleration. And we- we're doing a lot of that because we started to get in and dive into, like, Amazon and PPC and really, uh, uh, rewriting, you know, our listings and making sure that it really related to our consumer.
[00:07:32]
Jon LaClare
I, I love that s- story. So it's like, I mean, from a learning perspective, it's a painful one to get through, but I think it's very helpful. You know, so it's wh- which is why I say that. I wanna talk about-- Let's talk about the margins a little bit. So, you know, you mentioned that you grew a lot in Walmart, so on the top level it looks great, especially when you're, you know, licensing it to somebody else.
[00:07:49]
Jon LaClare
You maybe don't see all the numbers behind the scenes. But the margins weren't there, right? And so as you said, it's, it's great to see that growth, great to see revenue, but at the end of the day, the profit is really what matters. And we have had a lot of clients. It doesn't mean we shouldn't do brick and mortar.
[00:08:03]
Jon LaClare
There are avenues to make a lot of money in brick and mortar, but it's not for every business. And we've had quite a few that have started down that path and, like you, gotten into Walmart or other big retailers and either changed or maybe refocused to direct to consumer, and the profits can be much greater.
[00:08:18]
Jon LaClare
You have control. You-- Outside of all, of Amazon, you know your customers. You have their email addresses, their contact info to be able to market to them. Amazon's a little different, but they use those tools, right? So you don't have as much personal control, but they can sell to more people, uh, once they have their own, the customer list, et cetera.
[00:08:34]
Jon LaClare
But what about the margins th- I guess, surprised you in, in the retail side where it was less profitable than you originally thought it would be?
[00:08:44]
Scott Anderson
Yeah. So, uh, the first thing that we had to do when we were in negotiations with Walmart is, uh, basically we had to cut down the initial price of the iFlex by fifty, almost sixty percent.
[00:08:59]
Scott Anderson
So when we were selling it direct to consumer or even through Amazon, you know, I'll just give you, uh, uh, an estimate, you know, ten dollars, you know, was the retail. Well, Walmart did not wanna sell, uh, this product for ten dollars. They wanted to sell it for four to five dollars, you know, four ninety-nine.
[00:09:18]
Scott Anderson
And so all of a sudden, you know, we had to figure out how we can make those margins work. But here was the, the, the true challenge. So Walmart, of course, wants to make their profit on it. So now out of that four dollars, you know, we have two dollars, then we have the production, the manufacturing, the, uh, the landing costs, you know, getting it here.
[00:09:41]
Scott Anderson
And we have three sets of people. We have the licensee, we have the product consultant, and we have us that now have to share within this amount of margin. And so that's where it came down to nickels, um, of being able to make profit. Now, I was excited about it, you know, 'cause I was like, "Hey, a million nickels is more than, you know, this."
[00:10:05]
Scott Anderson
But that's a lot of iFlex. And, um, I w- I had very optimistic hopes, and I think the biggest thing is it was more about my ego getting into Walmart, having a product that, that was just on this skyrocket. And, uh, people were loving it, and, you know, we were getting to where we wanted to be, but it really wasn't the solution for us.
[00:10:28]
Scott Anderson
Uh, it was, it was too quick, and we did not properly analyze, uh, the true cost of going into Walmart or these other stores. Now, the other stores weren't as bad, such as Office Depot, Staples, um, uh, Fred Meyer and such, but Walmart really kinda, like, set the, uh, the barrier to entry, and that was very painful.
[00:10:53]
Scott Anderson
It was exceptionally painful.
[00:10:55]
Jon LaClare
And then when you, when you got it back, you took over the business. It's, you know, when you m- move away from a license deal and take it over yourself, in some ways, you're kinda starting from scratch, right? At least from a control standpoint. You gotta learn things that they might have been doing before.
[00:11:08]
Jon LaClare
What was the first thing that worked to really stabilize the business on the Amazon side for you and, you know, put you on that path towards profitable growth?
[00:11:17]
Scott Anderson
So the, the first thing that we did was we reimagined iFlex. So, you know, we had, you know, multiple sizes. We had the, the, the original iFlex, which was a large, uh, uh, product.
[00:11:30]
Scott Anderson
It was, uh, ten by five. It was, it was quite, uh, substantial. And then we had the iFlex Mini. We had a whole range of colors. So what we did is we, we just- Separated ourself from the old iFlex and our distributor, and then we went into the iFlex Buddy. So we have one product that, uh, does everything we want it to do and more.
[00:11:55]
Scott Anderson
And one of the things that we heard from our consumer was that it was hard to charge the phone when it was sitting on the iFlex. So, 'cause there was no ability, no port. So that was the first thing that we decided to do, was open that up, and then we, you know, created a, a... one more feature, and that was the, uh, the hanging aspect of it.
[00:12:17]
Scott Anderson
So then the iFlex could be, if you're sitting in a cubicle, you can hang it on the side. So we made a couple adjustments. We listened to the consumer, and we made one product, and we separated ourself from the original iFlex and the iFlex Mini that our distributors had. So, and then we actually went to Amazon, and we had to basically start over again because we saw the reviews slipping, um, on the original iFlex, and mostly that was 'cause of the, uh, transition in from the heavier metal to a thinner metal, giving it more flexibility but not as strong.
[00:12:59]
Scott Anderson
So we basically rebuilt that, separated it, and then launched new. And so now we're actually rebuilding. Even though it's still the iFlex, we're having to rebuild it all, and we've seen a, a slow growth, uh, the last year. Um, but then this year we- we've kind of triumphed, and we've got over the hill 'cause it takes a while for, um, that acceleration to happen, and now we're, we're starting to see exceptional growth again.
[00:13:25]
Scott Anderson
So we, we got set back three years, and, uh, it's probably gonna take us another year to two years to really, uh, gain where we're supposed to be. Um, but we're gonna get there. There's no doubt about it.
[00:13:39]
Jon LaClare
Yeah, absolutely. And, like, you've got that foundation right over the first year, getting re- positive reviews in.
[00:13:44]
Jon LaClare
It just takes time and then really starts to steamroll after that. That's very, very common on Amazon. It's great to see your, your growth is coming back now. Um, w- how has your mindset shifted from the, you know, the early... as an entrepreneur, right? So if you think about the entrepreneur status of the business from when you first launched this and went to, or shortly went into the license and distribution model to now where you've taken it back over control yourselves, uh, how has it changed the way you think about the business?
[00:14:11]
Scott Anderson
So, you know, I'm much more, uh, uh, decisive, analytical and pragmatic. I, I am in the numbers and, and Amazon all the time, you know, uh, looking at, uh, you know, what we have in inventory, what's the sales rates. And I'm very, uh, studious about looking at that, where before, you know, I, I thought it was the, uh- You know, uh, I hit the golden goose when I had a distributor, and they were gonna handle everything, and, you know, we were gonna sit back and collect that royalty.
[00:14:47]
Scott Anderson
So now my mindset is that I am looking at every aspect from, you know, the, the packaging, making sure that we have the right graphics, the information that, I mean, it looks good from working with our manufacturer, uh, timing our shipments, you know, so we don't overstock, we don't under stock. You know, even with Amazon, you know, their, uh, their warehouse distribution to FBA, and I'm watching that.
[00:15:16]
Scott Anderson
So I've taken a much direct role in managing the day-to-day because I wanna ensure that, you know, we don't slip into, uh, where we were before, and we make sure that, you know, the Eyeflex, you know, we, we, we care for it. We care for our, our consumers. We make sure this product is meeting their needs, and if it's not, we're gonna adjust quickly to find out what's happening.
[00:15:44]
Scott Anderson
So we're watching the reviews. We're addressing, uh, any type of messages coming into us, you know, through Amazon, and then we're moving forward on that. So we're making sure that, you know, uh, we're spending a lot of time and tender care, uh, with the Eyeflex.
[00:16:01]
Jon LaClare
And, you know, there certainly are good licensees and distributors and good deals that happen, and that, that model can work for some businesses depending on margin, the type of product, et cetera.
[00:16:12]
Jon LaClare
But I think one thing that potentially hamstrung the business i-in some ways i-is, if I could kind of reword a couple things you said, is the connection to the consumer. So when you start off early on and get that great early success getting into Walmart, that's... it can be fantastic, and it can be, you know, a road to true growth for your business.
[00:16:32]
Jon LaClare
But if, if that's the only piece you have for your business or really a primary, one of the downsides to brick-and-mortar retail is you lose the direct connection to the customer. So you don't know what they think about it. They bring it home. They may love it. They may hate it. You don't know. It's harder to make adjustments, improvements, et cetera, along the way.
[00:16:49]
Jon LaClare
One of the benefits of direct-to-consumer, whether it's your own website and you've got direct connection to your customer or like through Amazon or even Walmart.com and you've got reviews, right? So you may not be able to talk to the customer directly if they're an Amazon customer, but you can hear from them.
[00:17:03]
Jon LaClare
And I love how you talked about or explained learning from that, right? Learning from however you communicate with your customers, finding a way. And again, if brick and mortar is 90% of your business and it's profitable if you're listening, great, right? But if you can get a portion, a larger portion of your business that's direct to consumer and truly listen to them, then you can improve your product.
[00:17:24]
Jon LaClare
You can fix problems. You can get ahead of it in a much faster way than you can in brick and mortar and actually can help brick and mortar sales, right? So I would guess that if you now took your product to retail, not that you're going to, right? But let's say a couple of years down the road, your strategy changes and go back to brick and mortar, it's going to be in a better place.
[00:17:42]
Jon LaClare
One, you've got better exposure, more power because you've got a brand out there already. Retailers listen to you a little bit more on pricing and margins, et cetera. But most importantly, the product is optimized because you've perfected it along the way. So just to kind of reword a couple of things that you said, I hope I did that correctly, but that's my thoughts from what you've shared.
[00:18:00]
Jon LaClare
And I think it's very valuable. So I want to, let's shift gears. I want to talk about your next business, the med spa. So it's interesting, like you've moved from brick and mortar onto direct to consumer, and now you've created your own brick and mortar business, which is a med spa, not really a retailer, right?
[00:18:17]
Jon LaClare
So explain that business to us.
[00:18:20]
Scott Anderson
Yeah. So, you know, my business partner with the iFlex is also a nurse. And so, you know, I'm prior military and he's a nurse. And so over the years as a travel nurse, you know, Chris was unfortunately living a very transient, unhealthy lifestyle. So over the 15 years as a travel nurse, living in hotels, three months at a hospital, going to a new hospital, he had put on a lot of weight.
[00:19:00]
Scott Anderson
And to be fair, after I left the military, you know, the first thing I did was, hey, I am done with all the regimented, you know, PT that I had to do. So I don't want to run another mile and a half as long as I can. Well, unfortunately, that also allowed me to pack on a few pounds. So we have all kind of heard of the new, you know, medical weight loss, the GLP-1s and things like that.
[00:19:30]
Scott Anderson
So Chris was actually the first one to go on a GLP-1 and he started losing weight. And he's talking to me about this. So Chris was in Arizona and I live in Pennsylvania. So I'm listening to him, uh, explain this, and I was like, "This is very interesting." So this was, uh, twenty-- at, uh, December twenty twenty-three.
[00:19:53]
Scott Anderson
And so everything was kind of new. So I'm like, "What? I don't understand what you're, uh, saying." So twenty twenty-four, uh, we decided that, hey, you know what? There could be a business model here helping people with GLP-1s. So we actually launched, uh, Optimal Weight and Wellness Med Spa in, um, Sun City West, Arizona.
[00:20:18]
Scott Anderson
It's just a little, uh, suburb out of Phoenix. And, um, we were just in a one-room clinic. So that was, uh, January. Uh, and we were just helping people, uh, lose weight. And, uh, we became very successful. So October of that year, so ten months in business, we actually expanded and opened up a seven-room med spa. So, you know, we, we were still doing the, uh, the GLP-1s, the GIPs, the semaglutides, tirzepatides.
[00:20:50]
Scott Anderson
Uh, but then, you know, our clients, again, we were listening to our clients, and they were like, "Hey, if I'm coming in and I'm getting thin, I also wanna be beautiful on the outside." So then we started bringing in, uh, other actual spa features such as, uh, facials, uh, microplaning-- uh, I'm sorry, microneedle dermaplaning, uh, massage therapy, red light therapy.
[00:21:17]
Scott Anderson
And, um, so We, we expanded into those, um, services, and from 2024 to 2026, uh, we have been named the, uh, the, the First Med Spa, the, uh, Best Weight Loss Clinic, um, Best of the West, uh, Desert, uh, multiple year Phoenix Home and Gardens, uh, Best Med Spa, Best Weight Loss, Best, uh, uh, Massage Therapist. So, you know, I do think that, you know, as a entrepreneur with a single product, the EyeFlex really taught us how to really pay attention to our clients.
[00:21:57]
Scott Anderson
And even though we're providing a service, we knew how to exceed their expectations. And, uh, so now, I mean, we've, we've brought on, uh, multiple staff, and we're really starting to, uh, thrive and looking at opportunities to actually expand and go into other areas of the Phoenix market, you know, Scottsdale, Peoria, Goodyear, Glendale, uh, because we're getting requests to be able to do that.
[00:22:24]
Scott Anderson
So we're trying to build a roadmap right now to take what we're currently learning, um, in the med spa and then being able to move it into another area. And if we can duplicate that properly and properly launch that, uh, we'll be successful. What I don't want to happen, and this is the challenge I put on Chris 'cause he runs the day in, day out, uh, business, is that the new med spa, if we do open or expand, has to fund itself.
[00:22:57]
Scott Anderson
Our flagship store, our flagship med spa cannot be the direct income for that store. It has to be able to, uh, build by itself. So, you know, we, we've drafted a roadmap. We know where we wanna go, and every day gets better and better, and really excited about what the future is. And we're only two years deep into it, actually not even completing two years.
[00:23:22]
Scott Anderson
And so now I see the next level that we need to go, and sometimes that's the scary part. I mean, having a single store, that's, that's easy. That's a lifestyle, you know, kind of business. "Hey, this is my store. This is what we do. We make money." But then when you start growing, now we've gotta figure out that growth strategy.
[00:23:40]
Scott Anderson
Now it becomes, uh, very specific on how we actually do that, and that could be, uh, very hard, very tiring, and very, uh, strategic.
[00:23:52]
Jon LaClare
Yeah, and it's a shift in the business strategy, right? You've got going from one location to several. I mean, and then the product side, it's like growing from one to 10 products or whatever.
[00:24:01]
Jon LaClare
You know, it really shifts how you market, how you operationally run the business as well. And it's, you know, it's tremendous growth, right? Going from one room to seven and, you know, growing from there to multiple locations. What has worked best for the marketing? You talked about reviews and having a positive customer experience.
[00:24:18]
Jon LaClare
That's fantastic, and that's a great learning to share from the product side to the, to the service business. You know, it's different how the reviews show up, right? One's on Google, one's on Amazon, whatever. But what is really, from a marketing standpoint, what's driven that tremendous growth?
[00:24:32]
Scott Anderson
So marketing, believe it or not, is one of our weakest elements of, of the med spa, and which we, we really have focused on, and we- we're trying to narrow it down because in a very condensed market, uh, Phoenix, Arizona, is, uh...
[00:24:53]
Scott Anderson
Med spas out there are like Starbucks in Seattle, one on every corner. So we have to set ourself apart. So what we've done for marketing aspects is that the first thing that we did is we focused on our Google, and we focus on the reviews. Um, so we have, within 18 months, we have 155 five-star reviews. So really wanted to make sure that, you know, we built, uh, trust within the community.
[00:25:27]
Scott Anderson
So when somebody's gonna be looking for somebody to, uh, provide medical support to them, because we, we do the medical weight loss, they're gonna actually take a look in and take a look at their reviews. So that's the first thing that we've done, and we've actually had a lot of clients say, "I came to you because of your reviews."
[00:25:47]
Scott Anderson
And then what we've also had to do, and this is where I really am proud of my staff that we have, is we're focusing on social media. Now, there's, uh, two different, uh, mindsets that we've had to overcome. So the first one is, uh, we do have some younger, uh, aestheticians that work with us, and they're like We're not Facebook people.
[00:26:10]
Scott Anderson
Those are for old people. And we're like, "Well, who do you think comes in to our med spa?" You know? And, and so, uh, we, we've had to focus on, uh, you know, Facebook marketing, uh, and then we had to learn TikTok and Instagram marketing. But the fun part now is that our staff, uh, are making these great videos. I don't necessarily understand them all the time, but, you know, people find them, uh, intriguing, funny.
[00:26:41]
Scott Anderson
Uh, they'll actually come through the door, and they'll actually mimic, uh, some of the things that, um, our staff is doing on the videos. So we are starting to see a bit of growth in marketing there. And the other thing is that we are constantly, uh, out on social media, you know, talking to people and, you know, responding to community questions.
[00:27:06]
Scott Anderson
And so our name is there front and center. So when a person does make a decision, uh, to either, uh, do weight loss and/or maybe even looking for a new spa, if it even flashes, you know, for prom, they're gonna know our name and hopefully come to us. So but marketing has been a struggle. I, I'm not gonna lie, and it's, it's something we are not strong on.
[00:27:35]
Jon LaClare
And yet you've grown a great business, and part of that comes back to, you know, I always talk about the product or service, right? The quality of what you're offering is really the most important thing. You still need marketing, right? You can't... You have to introduce what you're doing, service or product, to people in, in a, in a fashion that they understand, but it comes back to the quality of your service.
[00:27:53]
Jon LaClare
And that leads to good reviews, it leads to word of mouth, and that's great to see that that's been driving a lot of your success so far. So the other business I wanna dive into, you're just launching a business that helps veterans, which is fantastic. They need our help for sure. Um, can you de- describe that business?
[00:28:11]
Jon LaClare
Just for our audience's sake, what is it? Sure.
[00:28:14]
Scott Anderson
Abso- absolutely. So I spent, I spent 30 years in the Air Force, 27 active duty, and I retired October of 2020. And when any military member spends any amount of time in the service, when they exit the service, um, they get turned over to the Veterans Affairs, VA, for medical determination.
[00:28:39]
Scott Anderson
Uh, basically, if the, if the military breaks it, they own it. So basically, uh, what we found out, there's a, there's a real gap in how veterans understand their, their VA disability ratings. Um, most receive a percentage, but they're never shown, uh, how that number has actually determined or how their records, um- tie into the VA's rating criteria.
[00:29:07]
Scott Anderson
So basically, the VA evaluates based on functional impairment and very specific guidelines under thirty-eight CFR, which is the Codified Federal Regulations. But that framework is essentially invisible to the veteran. Um, that's where things start kind of breaking down. So what I'm doing is we're building, uh, Get VA Help, and it's powered by what, um, I call VRIS.
[00:29:33]
Scott Anderson
So VRIS is the Veteran Rating Intelligence System. So we have VRIS Alpha and VRIS Bravo. So Vera-VRIS Alpha. So imagine somebody spends thirty years in the military. Their medical records are what we call STRs, Service, uh, Treatment Records, can be this thick. And, um, when they exit the military, uh, they basically have to go through their records, and then they claim to the VA, "Hey, these are the things that happened."
[00:30:04]
Scott Anderson
Um, but we know that things can be missed. So what VRIS does, VRIS Alpha, uh, extracts all that information, you know, puts it all together. Then we have VRIS Bravo that does all the rational, uh, rationalizing and, um, an-analyzing of all that data, and then they work together. And so basically, we have the veteran, uh, upload their decision letters, uh, C&P exams, uh, personal medical records, uh, even supporting statements such as buddy statements, uh, and basically, VRIS organizes all of that into exact criteria that the VA uses.
[00:30:43]
Scott Anderson
So the result is basically a structured analysis that shows how everything lines up and highlights areas that may not be fully reflected because VRIS is unemotional. You know, VRIS says, "This is what I see, this is what I know, and we're gonna put it together, and we're gonna tie it to the regulation, and then you're gonna use this information to be able to go forward and file that with the VA."
[00:31:09]
Scott Anderson
So it's not gonna miss anything. And as an example, you know, like a buddy letter, uh, you know, we have military that serve overseas. And let's say somebody was loading a truck, they jumped off the back, and they twisted their ankle. You know, they're probably seen by the field, uh, field medic, you know, wraps it up and sends them on their way.
[00:31:30]
Scott Anderson
That never gets back into their medical record, but it doesn't mean that it didn't happen. And sometimes that veteran doesn't even know they can claim that. But down the road, all of a sudden they, they have, uh, tendon issues or ankle issues, which can lead to other, uh, factors. And so that's where we get secondary, uh, issues, um, that the VA is actually responsible for.
[00:31:54]
Scott Anderson
So, you know We're, we're starting to, uh, uh, get all that built. Uh, Verus, uh, should be up and running, uh, uh, this week, and we're gonna go out there and start helping veterans kinda take a look and see if we can support them on their ratings.
[00:32:13]
Jon LaClare
I, I, I love that business model, and I appreciate what you're doing to help our veterans.
[00:32:18]
Jon LaClare
Uh, for our audience that's listening that wants to learn more about any of your businesses, can you tell them what's the best way to find any of your three businesses? So j- if you wanna give the URLs or how to find on Amazon for your product, what, what, make... What's the best way?
[00:32:30]
Scott Anderson
Sure. Absolutely. So for the iFlex, you know, uh, definitely go to, uh, Amazon.
[00:32:37]
Scott Anderson
Uh, that's where we are. You just... You can just type in, you know, iFlex, uh, phone holder, and we'll pop up. We're an Amazon Choice, so, uh, you should see us. Uh, for the med spa out in Arizona, uh, that is www.myoptimallifeaz, so myoptimallifeaz.com. And for those people that are not in Arizona, we do do remote health.
[00:33:03]
Scott Anderson
So if you ever considered, uh, you know, doing a GLP-1 but you wanna do it medically supervised, even with our remote patients, we medically supervise them. Uh, reach out to us. We'd love to, uh, uh, work with you. And if you are a veteran or a family member of a veteran, uh, please, um, getvahelp.org, getvahelp.org.
[00:33:28]
Scott Anderson
And, you know, w- this is the one that I really want, uh, people kinda sharing because that's gonna make a difference in somebody's life. I mean, uh, not just, you know, uh, financially, I mean, that's one aspect of it, but also medically. So anything that the government breaks, you know, they're supposed to take care of for the rest of their life.
[00:33:53]
Scott Anderson
So we wanna make sure that all veterans are covered properly.
[00:33:58]
Jon LaClare
And I agree. Thank you. These are all great businesses. And with any of them, if it do- if it doesn't apply to you, uh, please share them with, with friends and family that might be able to benefit from, from any of these. And iFlex, by the way, is the letter I like iPad, right?
[00:34:10]
Jon LaClare
So I-F-L-E-X. And if for anybody who's listening or watching, um, hopefully not watching while you drive, or, or, you know, these are all in the show notes. So go to YouTube, go to harvestgrowthpodcast.com or wherever you're listening to this show. In the show notes, you'll find all of these URLs or, or links to find these products and services.
[00:34:29]
Jon LaClare
Well, to our audience, if you wanna take the next step in growing your own business, please visit harvestgrowth.com, and you can connect with our team. You can book a one-on-one conversation focused on your business. Well, today, thanks for listening, and we hope to see you in the next episode.
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