A Sharp Intake Of Breath… The Biggest Mistakes Medical Startups Make
When you’re looking at the best type of industry in which to start a startup, a medical practice is one of those that, arguably, where your reputation needs to be solid. While every business needs a great reputation, when you’re in the business of fixing people, one mistake and you’ve got a lot of problems on your plate. Medical startups can make a lot of mistakes, especially as they just trying to find their feet, but what are the most common ones?
Poor Marketing
It’s important to remember that when accessing the right healthcare, people will go online to do their own homework first. When you are marketing your business, a less than comprehensive social media and SEO marketing plan will undersell your business. If you have no social media presence, or your website isn’t sophisticated enough, it’s important to fix these issues right away.
Insufficient Back Office Processes
For every startup that is working hard at setting up their business, too much attention can be paid on to one aspect, but not enough for the other. While working hard to show your facade of a business that is organized and professional, everything could be falling apart behind the scenes. Your back office processes need to be as comprehensive, if not more comprehensive than what you present to the public. Something like the electronic health records (EHRs), when not sufficiently looked-after, can result in a lot of EHR errors and this is just the tip of the iceberg. Your back office processes need a structure and support from qualified members of staff who can support your workers, not to mention the whole business. While the very beginning of any startup is where all of your workers pull together, in the medical profession, the stress involved in pleasing every customer can mean that many things fall by the wayside.
Not Investing In Your Workers
Your workers are going to be put under a lot of stress. If you don’t invest in their capacity to improve their job, as well as their own mental health, you might find yourself with a very high turnover rate. It’s vital that you invest in your staff members at the very beginning, and promote a culture of support. There are many ways to do this, but it stems from you, the leader. Instead of embodying the approach of do as I say, not as I do, leading by example is a far better method to encourage the workers to feel like they can discuss issues as and when they arise.
It’s certainly a three-pronged attack when you are working at developing a medical startup that cares for the customers as well as the workers. While there are so many medical startups now, it’s not just about operating with a business head on; it’s about generating the fundamental care that people will want to come back to you. It’s not always about cost, it’s about service. And this is where many businesses fall down, not just medical ones. Remember this, and you will avoid a sharp intake of breath when your startup hits potential problems.