If you really want to create and maintain a life of freedom, your business must be profitable. But that’s easier said than done. Only 1 in 10 startups actually generate commercial revenue, irrespective of their industry or location. However, if you want to be that 1 in 10 startup that succeeds, learn and apply the entrepreneurial principles that have worked for others.
A few months ago, at the largest medical devices conference in the world, MD&M West, I was fortunate enough to attend a presentation by John Crombie entitled ‘Don’t Be Naked and Afraid in the Medtech Valley of Death’.
John has generated $2 billion in sales for 6 industry-leading companies, including Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson. Having built a strong name for himself as a product development consultant, he now lives life on his own terms, mentoring physicians interested in pursuing entrepreneurship.
John’s presentation sparked a lengthy one-on-one discussion about what it means to be a successful entrepreneur, which I found incredibly validating and insightful. Here are 10 entrepreneurial principles that stem from key themes that emerged, and where we saw the most synergy in what has led to our respective success:
1. Solve the problems that no-one else can.
Products that arise from iterative design processes are unlikely to pave the way to profitability. Rather, opportunity lies in innovation. So, instead of making incremental changes to what you’re selling, over time, focus on making the impossible possible and work really hard at it. “Just know what you’re doing and be persistent,” says John. “We don’t need more stuff—we need more value.”
John demonstrates this perfectly in how he approaches his product development consulting business. Being a former track athlete and mechanical engineering student, John knows how to bridge gaps between unmet medical needs (e.g. injury and performance-related setbacks) and the manufacturing components that exist to meet them. So he teaches doctors how to efficiently collaborate with engineers to create new components to be used in surgeries and the like. This helps everyone reach their potential, while solving “the unsolvable”.
2. Never stop the value proposition.
Even when you have a viable product or service, there’s no guarantee it will be profitable. Scaling is crucial. Now, you have to take your proven concept and get it in front of more people who need it. “As a small company, you have to understand how the big players work,” says John. “Always keep digging!”
Think about who else could benefit from what you have to offer. How can your message reach entire communities or existing networks who need it?
For example, Prospology has helped 48 clinicians (and counting) break free of the chains of healthcare or academia and build freedom-focused lives for themselves as medical communicators. But the principles we teach—personal branding, strategic networking, overcoming imposter syndrome, sales and negotiation, emotional intelligence, etc—can be applied in countless other industries. When we start to think about how to extract our key teachings and entrepreneurial principles and bring them to corporations, academic institutions, or careers centres, the “revenue net” becomes significantly wider.
3. Figure out what works and double down on that.
John learned pretty early on that there was a direct correlation between physician involvement and getting a new patent approved. So, what did he do? He turned his attention towards physician involvement.
In John’s experience, enabling physician innovation carves the path to success in his business because of the credibility it brings to his creations. “The doctors give you a reputation,” he shares.
In this way, John can focus on what he knows best—how to get patents approved—and he lets the physicians figure out the rest. “You know the outcome and requirements and they know what would work in clinical practice.”
Doctors also have access to patients and state-of-the-art facilities, for research purposes, and that data can be used to generate funding and further traction.
4. Reputation is everything.
Building and maintaining a good reputation is another one of the key entrepreneurial principles that can lead to the success of your business. When you work hard and generate great results, you’re on a path to becoming the go-to person in your industry for a particular product or service. In John’s case, that’s product development.
But, it’s when you get really intentional about building a strong reputation that the magic starts to happen. John was able to partner with some of the top physicians in the sports industry so that no-one could ever question his competencies or expertise. “I can develop products—that’s my reputation,” says John. “I’m a product development subject matter expert.”
When you’re persistent and strategic about what you do and who you do it for (or with), people will pay to get the same results you’ve gotten for other clients or customers. Always document those successes. And don’t be afraid to play the long game sometimes, when it’s better for your reputation to give someone else your idea and let them run with it.
5. Get people invested and keep them engaged.
In order to grow, you need funding. And in order to get funding, you need to expose your ideas to the right people. When John was commissioned to make a prototype of a new Medtech product for a physician, they couldn’t wait to get the word out! This is because the product made such an enormous difference to the individual’s quality of life that they cried when using it for the first time.
The physician wanted to take a video of themselves using the product and send it to the President of Johnson & Johnson, as they were so impressed with it. Now that’s a great person to expose an idea to!
By developing your emotional intelligence skills so you can empathize with others’ needs, you can effectively engage them in your work and have them become what John calls “team allies”. Do this well and you’ll be poised for entrepreneurial success.
6. Never underestimate the power of networking.
As John’s reputation continued to grow, so did his network. This was another common thread between our respective approaches to business.
When you prioritize making genuine connections with those who share a common interest, objective, or set of values, you can make headway so much faster and more effectively than you otherwise would. This makes networking one of the many essential entrepreneurial principles of success.
In John’s case, that meant physicians bending over backwards to give him money for prototypes. They will say: “Can you make me that? I’ll pay for it,” he recalls. One person even wrote out and handed John a check for $10k, with no contract in place and no request for equity, because they wanted to work with him at any cost.
Invest as much time and energy as you can into fostering real relationships with people in your field. Continue to work hard and deliver results, and let things grow from there.
7. Find synergy between people and capitalize on it.
There’s synergy between people everywhere you look. But are you looking?
As soon as I heard John speak, I knew I had to connect with him. It’s not every day I meet someone who sees the world the way I do and has very similar thought processes—let alone someone as accomplished and well-connected. So I took strategic action towards building a meaningful and long-lasting professional relationship. Now, we’re planning some upcoming speaking engagements together.
Another apt example of this is when John asked an intern to do all of the computer aided design work on an important project, to keep costs down. When this individual graduated, they showed what they had created to a hiring manager at Johnson & Johnson and was immediately hired, straight out of school.
Pay attention to people’s specific needs and desires. Then find ways of meeting those needs or making those dreams come true. The money and opportunities will follow.
8. Show them what’s possible and get them wanting more.
You don’t have to make a direct pitch to have people knocking at your door wanting to buy from you, collaborate with you, or engage your services.
When John presents at conferences for physicians seeking to achieve entrepreneurial success, he doesn’t have to sell them on his consulting services. He sells them on what’s possible for them in the Medtech industry (i.e. how much money they could make from successful patents). From there, they naturally have questions and interest in breaking into the field, and John’s already well-positioned as someone who can support and mentor them on that journey.
We take the same approach at Prospology. Our YouTube webinar and free LinkedIn and email newsletter content shows clinicians and academics what’s possible for them (i.e. more free time to spend with family, recover from chronic health issues, travel, and generally live life to the fullest) and they want to know how they can achieve it. Who’s lined up to help them do it? The Prospology Team.
9. Create something when the need arises.
When John speaks at international conferences and networking events, he doesn’t know what’s going to come of it. Yes—he’s intentional about which opportunities he’s looking to create, which helps enormously. But by remaining open to unknown possibilities, he sees doors fling open left, right, and centre.
You don’t have to have a plan. In fact, it’s better for your business, and thus one of the core entrepreneurial principles, to allow yourself to be led by others’ needs. Where there’s a need, there’s money that can be made. If it doesn’t feel aligned to your company’s mission and values, feel free to say “no”. But when you’re intrigued and want to learn more, explore!
All John wanted to do was speak at a particular conference. But, after pitching some presentation ideas in the form of abstracts and asking for an “in”, he soon found himself coordinating the entire event! From that, he was offered a number of other speaking engagements and asked to create trainings for companies who wanted to learn from his expertise, and the ball just couldn’t stop rolling.
10. When you have insights, write them out as a process.
If you’re a highly intuitive, empathic person, like John and I, you may be mistaken for a fortune-teller from time to time. But, to you, it’s just how things are—you’re living in the future as if it’s already happened. “People think I can predict the future,” says John. “But, really, I’m just seeing how all the complex factors at play can come together in unsurprising ways.”
This “magic” is actually manifestation—a powerful tool that you can use to your advantage in business. When you have a strong intuition or insight that no-one else seems to have, challenge yourself to break it down and write it out as a process. Not only will “implementers” (i.e. those who need to follow a step-by-step process to achieve success) be blown away by your expertise, but “intuitives” will know you’re a leader in the field and want to follow and/or collaborate with you.
I’m excited to see what comes of my newfound connection with John, and how Prospology continues to evolve now that I’ve solidified and validated these 10 entrepreneurial principles of success.
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And, if there’s anyone who you think could benefit from studying and applying these entrepreneurial principles, shoot them the link!