Dr. Hotchandani's Son Returns to Wall Street

After a stint helping to streamline the operations of Hotchandani Laser & Vein Center, Dr. Hotchandani's eldest son has returned to Wall Street to link back up with former Lehman Brothers colleagues at a new firm to participate in the global economic recovery. Having brought some analytical firepower, creativity and energy to the pioneers in aesthetic medicine in Green Bay and Appleton, Wisconsin, the timing of the financial crises could not have been better for this family business.

The collapse of Lehman Brothers was a news headline for many in Wisconsin, but for Hotchandani Laser & Vein Center, it hit very close to home. When the firm collapsed, the financial markets spiraled out of control and the group that Dr. Hotchandani's son Tim was in was dismantled. He found himself in a short term holding pattern back in the Global Healthcare group, a business that was acquired by Barclays Capital; however, it was only a matter of time until he was unceremoniously jettisoned from Barclays.

With the bright Barclays blue lights of 745 Seventh Avenue behind him, Tim dove into the medical aesthetic business. In only six months there was a new website, numerous underutilized and legacy technology lasers had been sold, inventory and working capital was reduced, the marketing message was elevated, and an asset-light approach to bringing on new technology was undertaken. The client centric culture that built Hotchandani Laser & Vein Center's reputation over the past decade had not been explicitly articulated, but now it has been such that clients are at the center of everything we do.

One key moment early on came when Tim reached out to his former professor, a renowned member of the University of Wisconsin-Madison faculty and Academic Director of the Nicholas Center for Corporate Finance and Investment Banking, Professor James K. Seward. Thankfully, Professor Seward entertained the idea of completing a live consulting project and by the end of the conversation a team of MBA and IBC undergraduate students were slated to complete a comprehensive business analysis on Hotchandani Laser & Vein Center. Hard looks at capacity utilization, operating systems, marketing messaging and other topics were on the agenda.

Having approached the project from a Private Equity perspective, the talented students completed painstaking due diligence, industry research and ultimately made fearless and provocative recommendations. They recommended that the Michigan clinics be closed due to significantly underutilized overhead in those locations, that a uniform marketing message be formulated to properly communicate the differentiated pioneering market position, and operational systems be piloted and rolled out over time. Every recommendation that the Nicolas Center team made was considered and subsequently implemented.

Without the Nicolas Center's acceptance of the project and astute observations, the Hotchandani Laser & Vein Center may not have been around to continue to be pioneers in aesthetic medicine today. With the company back on solid footing, it was time for Tim to resume his career on Wall Street, but given Hotchandani Laser & Vein Center remains a family business, he will continue to be involved in significant strategic conversations as Vice President, Finance & Operations.

To all of our clients, employees and members of the community who continue to support us and who put up with Tim's New York-paced cadence to get things done, thank you. We would not be here today if it weren't for you. Special thanks to Jim Seward, Chad Heyda, David Nied, Deanna Olson, Sean Grossberg and Jason Schroeder who tirelessly applied themselves to our project.