With more than 135 million workers in hundreds of thousands of U.S businesses it’s surprising how few national companies provide a first aid supply van service. More surprising is that HART Health is the only first aid supply van service company currently franchising.
Given strict OSHA regulations and employers, increased spending on employee wellness and preventative health care, this niche is poised for growth.
HART Health is not a huge conglomerate selling all types of supplies to a wide range of industries. Unlike its main competitors, HART focuses entirely on first aid supplies for the workplace.
We pride ourselves on having commercial first aid supplies that are both better and often less expensive than anything else on the market. Take a look at the competition and see how smartly HART Health has set itself apart from its competitors:
Large National Companies – Cintas and ZEE Medical
Cintas is the largest uniform rental and lease company in the U.S. As a non-franchised company, mainly known for supplying doormats and uniforms, Cintas began offering first aid supplies to augment their other lines. Today first aid and safety equipment is one of this corporation’s smallest divisions accounting for less than 5 percent of its revenue. Because it is not primarily a medical supply company, Cintas stocks a less extensive line of first aid products than HART’s and at higher prices. And Cintas customers pay additional trip charges for each visit which add up over the course of the year.
ZEE Medical is another large national first aid supply company. It’s owned by the huge pharmaceutical wholesale company McKesson. Zee, like Cintas, has high overhead and charges more for supplies. HART has been aggressively taking over ZEE and Cintas markets by giving customers more personal attention and stocking higher quality supplies at lower prices.
Independent Van Service Companies
In some markets, independent van service companies serve commercial and industrial customers but they lack an efficient business system. Prices may be lower though independents tend to offer no-name generics from multiple suppliers. With no inventory control system, the independents often overstock, which costs customers more, or worse, under stock, meaning companies won’t have the proper supplies when they are most needed.
Do-It-Yourself (DIY) Businesses
Setting up a New HART Health van
OSHA regulations and ANSI standards that require and specify first aid supplies are serious requirements. To comply many businesses have a safety officer who is tasked with buying first aid supplies, monitoring their use and keeping products in stock. This involves inventorying and refilling traditional wall-mounted cabinets or trying to track the usage of first aid supplies in that special drawer that holds the adhesive bandages and little else, or even having to dash off to the nearest pharmacy for an urgently needed item. DIY workplace first aid supply replenishment is time consuming, inefficient and often costs more than HART’s service plus the majority of specialty items a company needs are hard to find in retail locations.
Actual numbers vary but in a typical market, 33 percent of businesses struggle to handle first aid supply replenishment themselves and the other two-thirds use one or more of the competitors listed above.
With HART Health’s unique inventory control system, higher quality first aid products and lower prices, a HART Health franchise is well positioned to compete in this potentially lucrative space.