Being a MedTech Entrepreneur isn’t meant to be easy, if it was everyone would be doing it. It takes a special breed of people who are passionate, resilient, inspired, and inspiring to get to the top.
Not only do you face the challenges of setting up a business, but MedTech has it’s own special brand of broken glass to crawl over: Regulatory, IP, Public Procurement, NHS Market Access, varied health economies and funding streams…..to name but a few.
There is a lot of research required:
Is your product really needed? Will it work? Will people buy it? Is it safe? Does it cost or save money? Does it improve lives? Who will buy it? Who will pay for it? How much will they pay for it? What is my budget? Do I need additional funding? Where will this come from?
You need to plan your Road Map of how to progress with your business making sure that the right steps are taken at the right time. For instance you don’t want to investigate your market before knowing that your products has a chance of working, but equally if you evidence it probably will work you don’t want to invest in product development for a product that will have no market, or has already been invented by someone else.
You also need to invest in IP protection at the right time, a company with no money will fail, so setting of budgets, forecasting income and seeking additional funding before you run out is essential.
Not everything you find out will be what you want to hear – “it sounds like a great product but no one will pay for it” is probably one of the most valuable pieces of advice I give to people because it can save thousands of pounds, and potentially come for free.
A real entrepreneur however will not be deterred by negative feedback but will find a rationale to overcome the issues.
However, some ideas are just pants (in the nicest possible way) and should be allowed to die gracefully.
All our clients receive a free confidential consultation to establish what they need, and if they really should be spending money right now. Being a sounding board for potential clients is one of the most rewarding aspects of my work. I can think of four clients immediately who asked for help and advice, whom I advised not to spend their money on me in the first instance. Spending money is not a guarantee of return, spending your money on the right actions at the right time gives you a far better chance of success. These clients have come back to me when the initial actions advised have been taken, and I am happy and proud to be working with them, because they all have the qualities listed at the beginning, no names, but you know who you are.
