Provider of staffing for the health care industry, including doctors, nurses, therapists and other health care professionals.

Founded 2002. (Marina del Rey)

Growth Rate

400%

Executive:

Mark Stagen, chief executive and founder

Early Days/Financing:

I had founded a company and then sold that company to a bigger company in 1999 at the height of the dot-com boom. But things didn’t turn out all that well. That company eventually went bankrupt and I lost my stake in the company. I was looking for a new business to get into, and I had heard about shortages of health care professionals. But it was tough going in the beginning; I had to use several credit cards to get the company off the ground.

Big Break:

That was signing up our first major hospital, Lincoln Medical Center in downtown L.A. I was just persistent. I told them I would stop calling them every day only if they gave me a contract.

Biggest Challenges:

Finding good employees to run the office and the company. Trying to convince Type A employees to work for you if you don’t have venture capital or private equity financing is very difficult. But I think our most serious challenge hit when one of our major hospital clients didn’t pay its bills, even after 180 days.

What’s Next:

We already have some clients in other states, but we are going to add more through nationwide recruiting.

Sage Advice:

For entrepreneurs, my advice is just start your business. Sure, do some research, but don’t get into paralysis by analysis. You have to take the plunge and work through problems as they come up. You will find that in most industries there is room for another company.