There are several threads on UK Business Forums by ex-military servicemen and women looking to start up in business. Here's an article on how one ex-army officer, Alex Hamilton, made the transition into business with a startup healthcare venture, DocTap, that's just hitting the market now.
It's a question that Alex Hamilton was forced to ask himself after just five years in the army, when a chronic back condition meant he would have been limited to desk-based work if he had stayed on.
'It was a hard thing to process at first, but I knew I had to forge a new path outside the army,' says Hamilton.
'Many ex-army officers end up in City professions like banking and insurance, or retrain as lawyers or other professional career paths. But I never warmed to those options. I had a strong will to be independent and entrepreneurial, so I started off by approaching successful startups in the new economy and quite quickly landed a job offer as an operations manager for Deliveroo.'
At first glance, it looked a great option for Hamilton. Operational expertise is something army officers are drilled in and he knew he could apply his skills effectively in the role. But he also knew his real driver was to push ahead with an idea he had for a healthcare technology startup.
Hamilton could move fast because he had already been doing his market research and clarifying his potential offer while he was preparing to leave the army and says he was very well-supported in that process.
'I wasn't eligible to benefit from the many free training courses on offer, having only served five years myself, though I could have paid to take any of them. But the army is excellent at helping leavers to clarify their skills sets and signposting the opportunities to deploy them in the commercial world.'
The other way in which the army helped, says Hamilton, was with a contacts book he could tap:
'Leaving the army, I was plugged into a network of literally hundreds of would-be mentors I could reach out to with experience in travelling a similar path. That was a huge reassurance and a wonderful potential resource. As it happens, I haven't really drawn on that network in developing my niche offer, but it's great to know it is there and for many it will offer a real lifeline.'
'The premise is simple,' he says. 'In this digital age, GPs should be accessible and convenient for everyone: patients and medical professionals alike. To improve access beyond the usual NHS booking process, DocTap gives patients the opportunity to visit a private GP at a clinic for £29.
'Until now, the going rate for a private GP consultation has been north of £60 for a 15-minute consultation, but by using tech innovation and a unique working relationship with NHS GP surgeries we have moved the goalposts.' Hamilton explains that DocTap is now approved by the Care Quality Commission and clinics will all be situated within existing NHS GP surgeries, using consulting rooms at times when GPs from the practice aren't occupying them. By offering simple online booking, convenient appointment times and low prices.
It aims to make the process simple - and as soon as a patient gives consent the GP can access patient notes too.
'Getting to this point - we are launching DocTap at a surgery in east London in June - has taken more than a year of hard work,' says Hamilton. 'I had thought it might take four months initially, but it has been a real learning curve. You find out what you don't know along the way! But, from where I sit today, I don't feel bad it has taken this long - and I've applied a lot of my army background to keeping the project on course.'
Hamilton has funded the business proposition to its launch with £100,000 of seed money from 'a wide network of contacts,' he says. 'These are angel investors, using the SEIS scheme, which is so attract for investors in tax terms.'
And, he adds that the act of raising money boosts that sense of accountability and makes a project tangible.
'It makes you be serious - and seriously effective - about your business planning and the tasks that need to happen and when. It's a great challenge and the army disciplines have definitely helped along the way.'
Heps460
'I'm an ex-military chef from Newton Abbot starting a catering business…. [but ] the market seems very difficult to break into… I would love to network with other people and chat about the benefits of having a good network [as well as] possible lead-generation ideas.'
Willing2learn
This article is brought to you by .uk, an attention grabbing web and email domain used by businesses who want to stand out from the crowd, bringing UK values to a global audience. From ambitious start-ups to vibrant brands, this dynamic online space offers a shorter domain that puts the emphasis on you. Get your .uk web domain here.
From army officer to entrepreneur
What do you do when you need to leave the military prematurely with an injury, but don't want to pursue some of the more the obvious career avenues?It's a question that Alex Hamilton was forced to ask himself after just five years in the army, when a chronic back condition meant he would have been limited to desk-based work if he had stayed on.
'It was a hard thing to process at first, but I knew I had to forge a new path outside the army,' says Hamilton.
'Many ex-army officers end up in City professions like banking and insurance, or retrain as lawyers or other professional career paths. But I never warmed to those options. I had a strong will to be independent and entrepreneurial, so I started off by approaching successful startups in the new economy and quite quickly landed a job offer as an operations manager for Deliveroo.'
At first glance, it looked a great option for Hamilton. Operational expertise is something army officers are drilled in and he knew he could apply his skills effectively in the role. But he also knew his real driver was to push ahead with an idea he had for a healthcare technology startup.
Making the leap
'Once I'd embraced pursuing the opportunity, things moved quickly. I met a friend of a friend who is a software developer, we talked it through over a few hours, and that was enough. It was the leap I needed to make and between us we started to plot the way ahead,' he says.Hamilton could move fast because he had already been doing his market research and clarifying his potential offer while he was preparing to leave the army and says he was very well-supported in that process.
'I wasn't eligible to benefit from the many free training courses on offer, having only served five years myself, though I could have paid to take any of them. But the army is excellent at helping leavers to clarify their skills sets and signposting the opportunities to deploy them in the commercial world.'
The other way in which the army helped, says Hamilton, was with a contacts book he could tap:
'Leaving the army, I was plugged into a network of literally hundreds of would-be mentors I could reach out to with experience in travelling a similar path. That was a huge reassurance and a wonderful potential resource. As it happens, I haven't really drawn on that network in developing my niche offer, but it's great to know it is there and for many it will offer a real lifeline.'
Developing DocTap
So, just what is Doctap, and how has Hamilton got it going?'The premise is simple,' he says. 'In this digital age, GPs should be accessible and convenient for everyone: patients and medical professionals alike. To improve access beyond the usual NHS booking process, DocTap gives patients the opportunity to visit a private GP at a clinic for £29.
'Until now, the going rate for a private GP consultation has been north of £60 for a 15-minute consultation, but by using tech innovation and a unique working relationship with NHS GP surgeries we have moved the goalposts.' Hamilton explains that DocTap is now approved by the Care Quality Commission and clinics will all be situated within existing NHS GP surgeries, using consulting rooms at times when GPs from the practice aren't occupying them. By offering simple online booking, convenient appointment times and low prices.
It aims to make the process simple - and as soon as a patient gives consent the GP can access patient notes too.
'Getting to this point - we are launching DocTap at a surgery in east London in June - has taken more than a year of hard work,' says Hamilton. 'I had thought it might take four months initially, but it has been a real learning curve. You find out what you don't know along the way! But, from where I sit today, I don't feel bad it has taken this long - and I've applied a lot of my army background to keeping the project on course.'
Hamilton has funded the business proposition to its launch with £100,000 of seed money from 'a wide network of contacts,' he says. 'These are angel investors, using the SEIS scheme, which is so attract for investors in tax terms.'
And, he adds that the act of raising money boosts that sense of accountability and makes a project tangible.
'It makes you be serious - and seriously effective - about your business planning and the tasks that need to happen and when. It's a great challenge and the army disciplines have definitely helped along the way.'
From the forums - ex-military
'Working for myself seems the right way to go as I am motivated to get the job done. Where I think I am going to fall down is the business side of things... I am also working on marketing: from what I can see, word of mouth and a good reputation goes a long way but I will need to get started on jobs in order for this to happen.'Heps460
'I'm an ex-military chef from Newton Abbot starting a catering business…. [but ] the market seems very difficult to break into… I would love to network with other people and chat about the benefits of having a good network [as well as] possible lead-generation ideas.'
Willing2learn
This article is brought to you by .uk, an attention grabbing web and email domain used by businesses who want to stand out from the crowd, bringing UK values to a global audience. From ambitious start-ups to vibrant brands, this dynamic online space offers a shorter domain that puts the emphasis on you. Get your .uk web domain here.
