2006 ERNST & YOUNG ENTREPRENEUR OF THE YEAR: J. BRIAN PATSY, Streamlining a dream

Smart Business Columbus, Jul 01, 2006

J. BRIAN PATSY/Chairman

Streamline Health

J. Brian Patsy lost a sale and gained a company.

While vice president of sales at AT&T in 1986, J. Brian Patsy lost a major sales pursuit to Wang Laboratories.

It was one of the best things that ever happened to him.

Shortly thereafter, he left AT&T to join the Wang team. At the time, Wang had developed a new electronic document technology called Document Management, and Patsy saw that it had huge potential for use in paper-intensive industries such as banking, insurance and health care.

Health caw had the lowest barriers to entry, so Patsy approached his employer about pursuing that market. When he was turned down, Patsy took a leave of absence to pursue the opportunity on his own.

In 1989, he presented his business plan to the University of Cincinnati, which told him it couldn't afford not to pursue the technology Patsy resigned from Wang the next day, going without pay, mortgaging his home and using up his life savings to stay in business.

In 1997, the company's rapid growth and market changes nearly caused him to lose control of the company. Faced with the decision of selling at a loss or doing something drastic, Patsy took Streamline Health public. That year, revenue doubled over the previous year.

Over the next several years, Patsy had to choose again and again between selling the company or saving his dream. Each time, he believed in the company's unique mission, finally deciding to stop competing against the larger competition, and instead focus on how Streamline Health could differentiate itself from other companies. The strategy has worked, and the company has experienced double-digit growth.

HOW TO REACH: Streamline Health, (513) 794-7104 or mw.streamlineheatlh.com