5 Learnings as a Healthcare Entrepreneur In the field of healthcare, though scalability and accessibility play a key role in business growth, the journey should always be driven by quality
By Samara Mahindra •
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Building a business from the ground up is no easy feat. Irrespective of the industry you're in, all entrepreneurs experience a multitude of challenges throughout their journey, good and bad. As a founder, getting past these challenges with persistence and conviction is the very foundation of entrepreneurship. Having said that, being an entrepreneur in the healthcare realm is somewhat of a unique experience in itself.
If you are getting into healthcare sector or thinking of becoming a healthcare entrepreneur, here are five insights and learnings as a healthcare entrepreneur
- Always opt for quality over quantity
While every entrepreneur will argue that they believe in high quality and in providing the best of services, many focus on numbers, mass market and scalability. Though all these factors are crucial for a business, it's important to not lose sight of the quality of service being delivered. This requires intense amount of effort, deep learning, research, data and time.
Each of these parameters plays a critical role in providing quality care to a patient. In the field of healthcare, though scalability and accessibility play a key role in the growth of one's business, the journey should always be driven by quality.
2. Data is king
As a healthcare startup, collecting data from your patients plays a critical role in helping you understand the impact of your service or product. The data that you gather can completely change the way you deliver your service.
A small nuance can lead to a deep understanding of how a therapy works and the impact it has on the patient recovery. These data points that you gather as a healthcare company can result in building key partnerships with medical institutes and hospitals. As a healthcare entrepreneur, be diligent about the minute details and ensure consistent data collection right from the start. Though it might seem irrelevant in the beginning, it makes a significant difference in the long run.
3. Listen
As entrepreneurs, we want the world to know about our product or service. We are always keen on more and more people trying out our product. Therefore we spend our time talking, communicating, encouraging people and sometimes hard selling it our consumers so that they experience what we have created. In this obsession to be heard, we forget to pause and listen.
Listening to a patient is more valuable than any medical report or parameter we are measuring. Contrary to my point above, while data is king, it's not everything. Listening to a patient's experience and their feedback is extremely crucial. Though it can be challenging to take a pause and listen to the patient side of the story, this exercise can provide immeasurable and invaluable insights into the business.
4. Learning to collaborate
In the field of healthcare, being the sole runner should not be the goal. To make real impact, collaboration is the key. Any aspect of healthcare service should not be driven by a monopoly. The more the number of entrepreneurs who support each other and offer end-to-end solutions for a patient, the better the outcome of the patient would be.
We need to keep reminding ourselves of why we're here and what we're trying to achieve.It's easy to get distracted and overwhelmed by our own capacity to create an impact. It's important to encourage others to do the same and build business through multiple collaborations.
5. Patience
Last, but certainly not the least and definitely not the easiest, is incorporating the art of patience every step of the way. You need to make patience your best friend. Make a conscious effort to inculcate the habit of being patient. Though this is easier said than done, patience is an essential trait for a healthcare entrepreneur. From dealing with patients with compassionto maintaining consistent quality of care, patience is a key ingredient in the success of a healthcare entrepreneur.
