3 Best Business Practices for Life Sciences SMBs from a Leading Biotech Entrepreneur

Business leaders in the life sciences industry know all too well they face unique challenges. In this highly innovative and rapidly evolving field they must move quickly to remain relevant.

My team of HR experts and I were recently on a call with Dr. Craig Shimasaki*, president & CEO of Moleculera Labs and a successful founder of three biotech companies. During the call, Dr. Shimasaki raised some important questions for business leaders in the life sciences industry to consider. He also helped define the direction entrepreneurs in this field can take as they are starting out. Based on this conversation, here are the three business best practices that stood out as key drivers for those in the life sciences industry:

1) Keep innovating
Innovation may sound like the most obvious requirement for a business in our ever-changing world but it’s a good reminder that this should be your main strategic focus. Ask yourself whether your business model provides a unique solution tailored to the client.

Make sure you offer your customers the opportunity to explore options and find their niche within your product offering. In other words, offer customers and clients a product that becomes an organic part of their lives. The result will be an innovative model that continues to shape their lives or businesses moving forward.

2) Listen effectively and offer your customers creative solutions
According to Dr. Shimasaki, you must “find new ways to creatively solve clients’ problems.” He added that listening is the most important piece to finding a creative solution for clients. Learn to listen more effectively. You may think the client is saying “what have you done for me lately?” when what they are really saying is, “we need help finding new ways to help the business succeed without straying from our vision and mission.”

Listening to your customers’ needs means more than acknowledgement. It means taking action on what the customer has requested. The better you listen, the better you can understand the problem and ultimately deliver creative and effective solutions.

3) Have trusted partners and refer clients to them
Think about the last time a customer asked for a solution that was outside your wheel house. What was your response? Did you feel compelled to help no matter what? If you always try to resolve your customers’ problems, even if you do not currently have the in-house capability, it can cause unnecessary stress and the possibility that you may not be able to deliver.

A great option in this case is to connect customers with trusted partners that fill the need gap. This will not only position you as a go-to resource but also as someone who cares about their success and well-being. Take the time to cultivate these relationships. Having a business partner who is an innovative, creative problem-solver and shares resources increases the value of the partnership and positions your business as a trusted advisor.

* Dr. Craig Shimasaki, through his company, Biosource Consulting Group, is a paid advisor to TriNet. Moleculera Labs, Inc., another of Dr. Craig Shimasaki’s companies, is a customer of TriNet.