SUCCESS IN ACTION
everyone is suffering from Alzheimer’s. You might be doing mini tech talks and genius bar activities in one facility. In another, you may be providing things to aid in therapy—the Frank Sinatra music a patient loves, or sounds from Cape Cod. Our support for delivery of care is driven by the facility’s needs.
Never “Talk Down” So many people who’ve tried to build technology for an aging population did it in an insulting way. Their content offerings were all about care. Our brand is about living, not dying. We try to design things in a way that’s universally appealing. My kids should want to get on what we’re building as much as my grandmother does. For example, we’ve incorporated picture-based e-mail. If you want to send someone a message, you don’t necessarily have to type in the e-mail address—you can touch the person’s face in a photo and an addressed message will automatically pop up. We do pay attention to things like contrast, color, and icons, because we understand there may be a significant amount of macular degeneration among our users—but we aim for a presentation that is simple, uncluttered, and beautiful.
Next: In-home Apps There is so much coming up for our company in the next 12 months. We believe in the mobile revolution completely. Our platform is on every mobile device you can imagine, but we are also rapidly building new apps. We’ve been doing really exciting work with Apple’s health division and other groups. As far as isolation and aging, many more people are at home than are within the walls of a facility. We will be releasing HomeConnect programs to
help people who are aging at home to reach a virtual community. We will be lining up with an insurance company to see how Connected Living plays out with in-home health care. There’s so much research that shows that a connected life is a healthier life, with fewer hospitalizations. Why wouldn’t insurance companies want to make sure this kind of technology is a piece of their delivery, knowing they’ll save money on the back end? From the federal government
standpoint, access to technology is going to be a huge issue. Increasingly, seniors need access to the Internet to get government services they need— but most seniors aging in public housing don’t have it. We are already in public housing in Atlanta and Washington, D.C., and expect that part of our business to expand. I’m convinced there isn’t anything society can’t do for seniors, if there’s a willingness to pull together from a technology standpoint.
SCOTT FRITH, LAWN DOCTOR:
INNOVATING FROM THE GROUND UP
T
he suburban sprawl of the 1960s created generations of new homeowners, with new problems: how to keep the lawn looking green and lush? That opportunity was the genesis of Holmdel, New Jersey– based Lawn Doctor, a lawn care company that now has 500 franchisees nationwide.
The business, which had $98.6 million in revenue in 2013, has proved to be virtually recession-proof as consumers move from a “do it yourself” to a “do it for me” model, explains CEO Scott Frith, who took over the top spot from his father, Russell, in 2011. Frith intends to continue to fuel growth through investment in technology related to customer relations, business operations, and >> equipment. He explains how.
Winter 2015
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