Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Parker Cates. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Parker, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Folks often look at a successful business and imagine it was an overnight success, but from what we’ve seen this is often far from the truth. We’d love to hear your scaling up story – walk us through how you grew over time – what were some of the big things you had to do to grow and what was that scaling up journey like?

Scaling was not particularly difficult for us in the first few years. We grew from 1 location to over 9 in about 4 years. The hard thing for us was making sure we maintained the quality of service and had adequate staff. I suppose sticking to our principles allowed us to find a sweet spot of growth while continuing a great quality of service.

Parker, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Real Deal as a whole is very unique from other providers. We have two main businesses, one is an addiction treatment company, and the other is an outpatient mental health provider. Both of these companies focus on uniquely applying solutions to overcome our internal conflicts.

Let’s move on to buying businesses – can you talk to us about your experience with business acquisitions?

Over my career, I have purchased four different companies. Three of them were directly related to our service business, while one was more of a project. The acquisition process was pretty simple. The first three businesses I bought were previous partners at Real Deal, so they directly approached me. It was pretty seamless and worked well for all parties involved. The other acquisition was basically helping a friend out while investing in an industry I loved. Again, I was approached because of a previous relationship I had.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

The most important thing I have learned is that it does matter what people think. On a personal level, I understand it’s important to be yourself and not worry about opinions. However, in business, it is crucial to develop a good reputation. I have failed miserably at this many times.

Contact Info:

• Website: rdsoberliving.com, rdoutpatientrehab.com