Entrepreneurial Superstars

Company: Trifax Corp.

Location: Washington, DC

Business Began: 1978

Start-Up Cost: $3,000

1996 Sales: $4.5 million

1997 Projections: $8 million

Ralph turner knows how to roll with the punches. And it's a good thing, because his registered nurses health-care company has weathered some hard hits since its inception.

"Our original concept was to do health screenings for the insurance industry. Then in 1983, the [Washington, DC,] city council prohibited insurance companies from collecting certain medical data," explains Turner (above, with executive vice president Ruth Ledbetter). He responded by expanding his firm's professional nurse staffing division.

Not one to rest on his laurels, the 56-year-old entrepreneur has since diversified Trifax even further, branching out to include medical research data collection and analysis and health-care education programs. Clients include an Army hospital and Washington, DC's public health centers and schools.

Turner is betting the future of health care will see more emphasis on preventive rather than reactive care, and when that happens, he plans to be the service provider offering just what the doctor ordered.

This article was originally published in the April 1997 print edition of Entrepreneur with the headline: Entrepreneurial Superstars.