For all HealthTech startups the route to growth is an intricate process. Managing early traction and converting that into a scalable product requires careful planning and strategies in order to help mitigate potential risks along the way.
Balint Bene, CEO of Bene : Studio, recently shared his company’s 10+ years of digital product development experience with HealthTech startups and enterprises from our HealthTech Networking Club.
Focusing on UI/UX and software development, bene : studio has recently launched an accelerator program to share the know-how they acquired during their 100+ project history.
The basis of success for any growing HealthTech startup is the need to implement a product design strategy and roadmap from the get go. This will help ensure that key milestones are clearly identified and along with those the necessary strategy and management processes needed to achieve those goals.
At the start of the process is a successful MVP (minimum viable product). While most HealthTech startups understand the need for an MVP, many fail to get this step right. It is easy to get carried away by offering multiple functions, and provisions, within a solution thinking that this adds value to the customer, when in fact it merely produces something that fails to actually solve the underlying problem that those customers have.
“You have to have the first success with customers with your MVP to build later steps on top of the product” comments Balint. “Represent the core value with a small MVP, then you can go step-by-step, adding more value and leaving out initial fantasies about the product, and implement the nice-to-haves later.”
While it sounds like a straight-forward process, producing an MVP that hits a core necessity for your customer base, is difficult to achieve. Only by fully understanding your customers and their needs can you get this step right. Knowing what your users require to make their job, or activity easier, and then translating that into a user experience within a solution is an essential part of this process.
We have all experienced technology solutions that have left us asking ‘how do I do that?’. Where a particular function is difficult to find, or a process is hard to navigate. These experiences leave the user with the additional task of working out how to use the very technology that was supposedly designed to make something easier. Intuitive user flows and user experiences (UX) are therefore critical to gaining that initial success with customers.
Less is more
“Having a core product with only essential features will give you the time to have a more stable technology serving it. I.e. better device, platform, browser compatibility, and security” advises Balint.
“Users will value a new product more when they are not overwhelmed with a lot of complex functionalities.
“Remember how Uber, Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat, etc. have all started. Back then they offered a very simple product before becoming the mature, highly complex apps they are today. Thanks to their initial success, the capital they acquired followed by years of development based on user feedback and constant UX research.”
Failures to avoid
It is also important to plan ahead in order to mitigate risks. Many startups feel that they can delay putting in place important elements like legal counsel until later stages in their development. This can prove costly, particularly in the HealthTech sector.
Regulatory compliance, data protection, data governance and robust technical processes are all elements that are demanded at the earliest stages for building successful healthcare technology companies. It is much better to try and foresee and plan for future risks than to have to deal with them later.
“Going too fast can break things on the legal side as well as on the technical side and it can make you lose grip and balance on the roadmap and plans.” comments Balint
By applying recognised techniques you can effectively stratify your exposure to risk and help increase the likelihood of success.
Any startup involved in healthcare technology will need to demonstrate to all stakeholders (customers, investors, regulatory agencies) that they have taken the necessary steps to implement robust strategies for managing risk.
Best practices for HealthTech startups
Arguably the most important first step in growing a digital health product strategically is building a simple MVP that represents the core value of the product.
Balint suggests that HealthTech startups should “Have awareness of your budget, product, and technologies. It is fine to have an MVP then build a scalable product from scratch later, but you also can develop the MVP further step-by-step i.e. with Microservice architecture. The key is that you have to be aware and plan ahead to what makes sense to your business.”
Work with experts
One of the most important things a startup can do is to work with experts who understand the health technology market and can advise and assist in bringing a product to market and achieving success with customers.
In bene : studio’s non-equity, design, and technology-focused accelerator you can have your product set in line for strategic growth by experienced professionals.