Finding the right support network for your business is the key to long term success

John Harris

CEO, OBN (UK) Ltd

Starting any new enterprise is exciting and rewarding, but also a time of great challenge especially in a sector as complex as life sciences.

Whilst company leaders often focus on technology – people and market opportunity are often the more critical factors affecting the potential for success.

Important ‘people’ factors, include finding a team which serves your business needs, who have a positive track record and a shared and convincing vision, as well as appointing an experienced board populated by directors with skills that complement the executive team.

When it comes to market opportunity, is there growth opportunity, is the timing right, what is the value of the ‘accessible’ market, how strong is the competition and does the team genuinely understand the market and have the skill set to exploit it?

Networking provides a great source of connections to highly influential people that otherwise would be difficult to find or interact with.

Building an idea into a business 

At the beginning, you don’t have a business, what you have is an idea. As you progressively generate data and validate the proposition, you transform the idea into a viable company that requires substantial funding to execute. 

The challenges of these early stages are often underestimated which is why on average, 82% of life sciences companies fail. It is frequently thought that the major causes of failure are technical fails, or safety issues but most are due to avoidable management mistakes. An extremely common one is poor planning and not raising sufficient funds in good time. 

Value of networking 

Quality networking can be vital in upskilling, tapping into advice and expertise from like-minded people in similar situations. Particularly important is to build a supportive CEO network – you need a sounding board to discuss and validate ideas in a safe environment. Networking provides a great source of connections to highly influential people that otherwise would be difficult to find or interact with.

Actively seek out the right networking events – being busy is not an excuse. Networking should be considered a fundamental and required component of any senior manager’s role.

The skills and knowledge transfer, coupled with increased opportunities that quality networking present, should be embraced enthusiastically by any business manager.