THE PAIN THAT LED TO A BOOMING BUSINESS

BRAD Beer was running, cycling and swimming his way to a successful triathlon career, however, after a heart-rending incident in his teens, the athlete's sporting dreams came to an end.

For a long while, Beer was unable to comprehend his circumstance and future, but eventually the incident that ended one career, was the catalyst for another. 

"My passion for physiotherapy was born out of my own experiences as a teenager," says Beer.

"I had an aspiring junior professional triathlon career which was cut short by some serious injuries which came from a bike crash.

"As a result I actually spiralled into clinical depression; I was suicidal at one point as a teenager and I had lost my identity." 

Beer says after years of physiotherapy he began to entertain the idea of getting into the physio industry.

He founded Pogo Physio in 2006 and since then has personally delivered in excess of 25,000 physio consultations, while his practice has delivered more than one million physio consultations over the past nine years.

Pogo, based in Mermaid, also has a database of more than 18,000 Gold Coast patients including ironman superstar Shannon Eckstein, Coolangatta Gold winner Ali Day and Australian swimmer Jordan Harrison. 

Beer says he and his team consult up to 200 clients on any given month and he attributes the growth and the success of the business to establishing and focussing on the finishing line from the outset.

"Some people are trying to get out of pain, others want to get into optimal physical performance," says Beer.

"We find out early what they are after and we do everything we need to deliver the results.

"We take people from being in pain to discovering their physical best."

In January, Pogo is launching the 3P model to further assist clients with their healing. Each P represents a different stage in a client's journey - pain-free, perform and prolong.

"We are the first in the industry to launch something like this which is typically a session to session type industry and environment," says Beer.

"We have turned that on its head and from January we go live with this 3P model which is basically giving people better options to ensure an outcome whether that is getting out of pain or being able to perform at their optimal level.

"Another thing that differentiates us is we offer a results-guarantee. So if our clients don't get the results or don't get to that finish line they are hoping to get to, then we give them their money back or continue coaching them free-of-charge through what they need to do to get there."

Beer hopes to grow Pogo Physio into a national brand, opening practices across the country.

Beer recently released a book, You Can Run Pain Free, which aims to dispel the myth that running inevitably leads to injury.