Hi all
I am a consultant surgeon based in the UK.
I am also someone who is interested in business/start ups.
I have a great idea for a business venture in the healthcare industry.
I have done my research and there is nothing like this that I can find.
Essentially, I am looking for some advice on how to take this forward.
Thank you
Having spent many years with start-up founders, tracking their history, supporting them and seeing which ones succeed vs which ones fail, here are my naive, ignorant, assumption based and to-the-point thoughts based on what you've posted so far - purely with the intention of giving you knowledge that many founder's stubbornness will only allow them to accept after gruelling trial and error experiments that end terribly.
1) "I am a consultant surgeon based in the UK."
Being a consultant means nothing in the start-up world, just in case there's any part of you that thinks such a title, which may impress friends and family, gives you a leg up over anyone else.
(in fact, positions involving high levels of authority, but where the individual is not fully responsible for
everything going on in a business/department, often only serves to empower such people with a false sense of capability when it comes to launching a business)
2) "I am also someone who is interested in business/start ups."
Starting a business is not a hobby. For almost every individual out there, launching a business becomes an all-consuming shit-show of mismanagement and despair until something clicks and revenue starts to grow faster than the number of hours needed to generate it.
There are always exceptions to this rule, but like winning the lottery, don't bet on being the one in a million that succeeds where the other 99% fail.
3) "I have a great idea for a business venture in the healthcare industry."
Said everyone who's never built a successful business from scratch before. Unfortunately, what most founders learn the hard way is that in almost all cases:
- Their idea wasn't great but it took them 3 years and 5-6 figures to find out
- There are at least three founders (visibily) pushing the same idea
- There are countless other founders (invisibly) pushing the same idea
Experienced founders, and anyone involved in this scene, know there's a HUGE gap between what first-time founders know, vs what they don't know, vs what they ought to know.
Someone who's taken the time to properly validate their idea and its potential successes, would provide at least an implication that some formular or person other than themselves have concluded it's a good idea. They may throw some key metrics around, typically derived from financial forecasts or at the very least have the knowledge, confidence and wisdom needed to explain the strength of their idea withwithout giving away any secrets e.g. I've developed a machine that turns paper into gold.
Failure to do that paints the picture of a shy and inexperienced founder who still thinks the idea (and not the execution of said idea) is the most valuable part of the start-up equation.
4) "I have done my research and there is nothing like this that I can find."
Many founders form the opinion that they're the only one with such a unique idea, on the results of 1-3 light Google search sessions. What have you done that goes beyond this?
A lot of business happens behind closed doors. There are ~8 billion people on the planet. 1,000 new pitch decks are created every day. The primary limiting factor to the formulation and adoption of new start-up ideas is technology, which means that every founder or potential founder, is focused on solving the same problems, with the same limited set of solutions available to them.
AI is often not the solution people think it is and want it to be.
The term innovation, and what really constitutes it, is often woefully misunderstood - you'll know this if you've ever tried to secure grant funding in the UK, especially post Brexit.
5) "Essentially, I am looking for some advice on how to take this forward."
Asssuming that none of the above applies to you, for anyone to be able to help you, you'd need to give them an idea of where you're at, what problem you're trying to solve and, without giving away your secret ingredients, how your solution delivers a level of value above and beyond anything currently in the market.
If you're a first-time founder hoping to make 6-7-8-9 figures within the next 2-3 years, you will need a mentor.
If you fall foul of any of the points I raised above, you will need a mentor.
Beyond that I would suggest:
- Get at least a couple of other people (who know the start-up scene) to validate whether your idea is any good
- Overcome any notion that your idea alone is worth billions
- Recognise that if you currently have no plan and/or no way to turn your idea into reality then you still have 80% of the journey to tackle - making it real is the hardest and most valuable part of any start-up idea
(because SO many people think the idea is the golden nugget, they underestimate the challenge of everything else and how much support they'll need, overestimate their capabilities, create a big ol' mess and write the whole thing off as a learning experience to try and save face)
- Create a cashflow forecast and get that validated by someone who knows the start-up scene
(Inexperienced founders typically treat this as a box ticking exercise but what they don't realise is that people with the right knowledge can spot MASSIVE problems in the business, pricing, or launch model, founder mindset etc by the way the forecast has been created, what's been included, what's been excluded etc)
- Start making a plan around who is going to do what in your team. Avoid the temptation to give away lots of equity to "doers" e.g. developers because if you truly believe in your idea, you will need to invest a LOT into it, to make it a success - which you will only do if you truly believe in the idea. If you truly believe in the idea then you must operate on the basis that one day you will be generating revenue of 6-7-8-9 figures - in which case it makes zero sense to give away 20-50% in sweat equity to someone delivering £1k-£50k of services.
- Come back here when you have more details to give so that others have at least the bare minimum needed to give you any level of what might be considered effective advice.
(at the end of the day everyone here wants you to succeed, and will give you lots of help, but you need to do the leg work and make it easy for others to support you in the way(s) you want and need)
