Healthcare World CEO and Director of Consultancy Emma Sheldon MBE examines the ways in which healthcare businesses can grow post pandemic
The pandemic has changed the way we live and work, from the newly remote nature of our interactions to the focus of our customers in dealing with new problems and systems.
Our businesses have been subjected to unprecedented levels of uncertainty over the last year or so, with a lack of clarity and understanding about everything from the state of the global economy to questions as simple as whether we’ll even be able to go into our offices.
That uncertainty leads to fear and doubt and there has rarely been such a shared volatile business environment in which to operate. Yet even a volatile business environment offers the potential for significant opportunity when your offer matches the new needs.
We have all experienced the same global pandemic, but from different perspectives and through varying filters. Our usual routines have been disrupted to the extent that many of our usual ways of engaging with others have been removed and are only just starting to re-emerge.
What remains constant is that with change comes opportunity, with problems comes collaboration, and with a shared global focus comes innovation at an unprecedented pace and unusual scale.
Smart businesses have seen opportunities to match their innovations with need, to speed up adoption of their technologies, to improve patient care, and to share their successes as widely as they can to help others. To support our entrepreneurs and businesses they need the right advice, the right people, and the right money.
This requires a massive investment of time and effort. Sometimes we’re running so hard at our goal that we fail to take the time to reflect on the changes that have impacted us, or to understand where our offerings can best fit. We aren’t able to shape and hone our strategy in the right way, or we don’t have the time to refine our messaging to make an impact with the right people.
This is where an experienced and independent pair of eyes is invaluable, equipped to support you in assessing where you are against where you want to be. They help you to plot your path to success, providing a diagnostic to help you identify and address any gaps in your business planning in a way that allows for the best chance of success.
Planning your move
In order to understand where you are and where you want to get to, there a number of critical areas to consider:
• Proposition development
o Crafting and shaping your proposition for the best chance of success.
• Marketing
o Making an impact in the right places, generating leads and strengthening your message with strong targeting and significant amplification.
• International planning
o Ensure you have the right strategy for specific international markets, with good external intelligence, recommendations, insight and support.
• Strategy Development
o Tailor your strategy, including a review of your business, the current situation and your ambitions, the competitive landscape and the strategic imperatives for success.
• Preparing for investment
o Identify the key criteria to support the right investment, and ensure you tell your story succinctly and correctly.
• Recruiting for growth
o Design the resource strategy for your business, develop role descriptions, and support in finding the right people for your team. Remember that poor, costly recruitment decisions can be the most expensive mistakes you can make and ensure you engage the right people for the design of your organisational culture as you grow.
• Market and customer analysis
o Focus is critical when growing a business but narrowing down which markets or sectors can sometimes stop progress for business owners who are conflicted by numerous choices. Prioritise markets, sectors and customers, and design in metrics that will help you see how your choices are making a difference and ensure you are able to quickly assess when to change direction
• Business Development
o Once your strategy and messaging are where you want them to be, reaching the right potential customers quickly and efficiently is vital. Use contacts, strong networks (like those of Healthcare World) to ensure you’re getting to the right customers.
Throughout the life cycle of any business, all these elements will be required, and never more so than now, as we live through a situation which is delivering a complex and fast changing landscape for our businesses, people and ideas.
I’ve spent my whole career working in and around the international healthcare space. With Healthcare UK I helped UK NHS Trusts to make their first steps to sell their services overseas. At Vernacare we exported a UK product to more than 50 countries around the world and I was lucky enough to be awarded an MBE for services to export.
In all cases, the kind of strategic insight and work I’ve outlined above was absolutely critical to the success of our endeavours. It provided the confidence and context to get beyond the fear, uncertainty and doubt that plagues any business in uncertain times and particularly in the current climate.
Here at Healthcare World, the team and I are able to offer all the above, to give you the support you need and more through our experience, knowledge, contacts and expertise. And let’s not forget to mention the fantastic network that Healthcare World Magazine and the Healthcare World Festival brings to the table.