Scott Carson

Ideas are easy. The implementation is what is challenging. Ideas come from all different sources, from customers and employees, and we embrace that. The challenge is in luck and timing.

 

As a worldwide leader in the distribution of medical aesthetic devices, Scott Patrick Carson has set the bar for industry standards. His inherent insight and deep understanding of industry distribution has changed the course of the medical supply industry. In addition, Scott Carson has expanded business opportunities for practitioners worldwide.

Scott Patrick Carson began his illustrious career working in the automotive industry. After many years in automotive dealership management and ownership, he had an opportunity to work in the medical industry and was able to see inefficiencies in the medical device supply chain. It was not long before he recognized the potential of an untapped market and the medical industry as a whole.

Using the principles and concepts he learned working in the automotive resale market, Scott Patrick Carson created a business capable of redeploying used medical equipment. By doing this, he also created a market that did not previously exist in the medical supply industry.

Scott Patrick Carson became a distributor for new and reconditioned capital medical equipment (CME). He took trade-ins and refurbished pre-owned equipment taken in on trade. As a result, he became one of the first and also the largest online reseller of capital medical equipment in the world.

Scott Patrick Carson is also the founder of MRP.io. Carson has taken the online concept and focused his attention on creating online applications to create communities where commerce can exist freely. MRP.io exists in the background, operating the platform where people can connect with all who are in the supply chain from manufacturers, service providers, retailers, sellers, and buyers.

Where did the idea for MRP.io come from?

The whole concept of MRP.io actually came from years of working in the automotive industry. It was based on the trade-in model. It gave the medical industry the ability to buy both new and used equipment. You have to see the adoption of consumer behavior before you make those changes in business behavior.

Before we buy something, big online consumers will still buy face to face. Now it is through video chat or through relationships. There is a contracting marketplace looking for customers. Platforms like Uber and Amazon exist to connect with customers, the manufacturers, or service providers. We’ve taken that same concept and applied it to the aesthetic community. In addition, we created these communities that never existed before other than in consumer life. With Med-Equip Tech (MET), we connect the technician with some form of a service provider.

What does your typical day look like and how do you make it productive?

I begin the day by opening emails and resolving issues for our clients worldwide. We interface with clients at all times of the day. I make sure that our software teams are engaged and have all the resources that they need.

At the end of the day, I interface with our customers from a leadership position. We operate in a world that is 24/7, 365 days a year, and we do not have all the same holidays. Our customers in Asia, the Middle East, and Europe are just waking up at the end of our day.

How do you bring ideas to life?

Ideas are easy. The implementation is what is challenging. Ideas come from all different sources, from customers and employees, and we embrace that. The challenge is in luck and timing. We examine resources, skill set, and capability, and question if the market will embrace it. We filter ideas carefully. We make sure the ideas we have will have an impact on our customers with the least amount of taxation on our team while at the same time returning revenue.

What’s one trend that excites you?

The interesting trends are macro. We have seen two economic cycles in my lifetime. One was the internet bubble in the early 2000s. The other was the home mortgage market correction in 2008-2009. Just 10 years later, we seem to be in interesting times. We are beginning to see the rumblings of economic stalling in growth. Many organizations are looking to where the cycle engages and we are able to execute quite effectively in a retracted marketplace.

What is one habit of yours that makes you more productive as an entrepreneur?

Some habits that make me productive are tenacity, resilience, and work ethic. Finding an original idea and having it executed is quite different from being an entrepreneur. You have to have incredibly thick skin and a strong backbone. If you fail or succeed, the market will come after you. Success is difficult to achieve. There are unforeseeable risks. You have to have “moxy”.

What advice would you give your younger self?

I would tell a younger Scott Patrick Carson that there is great elation with success. There is also tremendous solitude and loneliness in being a founder or entrepreneur. There are many difficult factors facing founders and entrepreneurs. When you are facing incredible tension, stress, or barriers, you have to fight through it. There is no other way. When you hit the wall and you think you have nothing left, you need to push through it. Never, ever give up.

Tell us something that’s true that almost nobody agrees with you on.

There are many books written about hiring good people and letting them run without micro-managing them. I believe you have to hire great people and you have to micro-manage them until the process, theory, and belief becomes woven into the culture of the organization. I want great people who share my vision. Great people have great talent, but cannot possibly have that baseline knowledge or share the vision without being micro-managed or co-managed at the beginning.

As an entrepreneur, what is the one thing you do over and over and recommend everyone else do?

The most important thing to do over and over again is to take care of the customer at the highest level. You are going to fail. When you do, clean up the mess.

What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business?

A fundamental key to the success of MRP.io is our vehement engagement with great customer service.

What is one failure you had as an entrepreneur, and how did you overcome it?

Founders and entrepreneurs have no fear. They never believe that they will fail. If it happens, the ramifications can last throughout one’s career. In my case, I had a business I believed could never fail and I personally guaranteed all the debt. When it did fail, I had to file a chapter 7 bankruptcy. It’s a horrible process to lose a business then need to step into the bankruptcy process. In the end, I overcame bankruptcy. The U.S. embraces people starting over in the bankruptcy courts. People can clear the slate and start over.

What is one business idea that you’re willing to give away to our readers?

There is nothing better than being a founder. There is also nothing worse. Make sure that you have the “moxy” and the stamina to fight through the tough times.

What is the best $100 you recently spent? What and why?

I think that a $100 gift back to a customer in the form of goodwill is $100 well spent.

What is one piece of software or a web service that helps you be productive?

I use Shopify, which is an online marketplace platform.

What is the one book that you recommend our community should read and why?

I would recommend that people read Patrick Henry Hudson. He wrote three books on sales, lead generation, and presentations. They are compelling.

What is your favorite quote?

Theodore Roosevelt: “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

Key Learnings:

● When you are facing incredible tension, stress, or barriers, you have to fight through it.
● There is tremendous solitude and loneliness in being a founder or entrepreneur.
● A fundamental key to success is having vehement engagement with great customer service.