Healthcare entrepreneurs “Healthpreneurs” are an important part of the entire healthcare ecosystem.

They are the people who look around, discover common problems and come up with effective ideas that can solve those problems.

Without them, the healthcare ecosystem will not be able to tackle some of the regular and common healthcare challenges society struggles with.

They are the grease that ensures the many joints and bolts in any society’s healthcare structure operate smoothly without friction. They are the innovators and leaders who can use the little resources they have to proffer smart solutions to all sorts of healthcare-related problems plaguing society.

And in this digital age, healthcare entrepreneurs have found themselves in the right position to innovate at deeper levels, considering the digital tools and opportunities that they have at their disposal.

“The Centre for Disease Control and Prevention reported a 154% rise in telehealth visits in just over a year, between March 2019 and 2020.“

With the burning flames of the pandemic came the warming torch of innovation. The “years of the pandemic” have seen an unimaginable rise in healthcare innovations, especially digital health and health-tech innovations. 

This is the best time to innovate in the healthcare ecosystem. And if you have been seriously considering that path, I have put together some important business and entrepreneurial tips for “healthpreneurs” who want to use their unique experiences and expertise as healthcare professionals to change the world. 

You may not even be a healthcare professional, but you have the desire burning in your heart to create innovative solutions to solve healthcare problems tormenting your society and the world. 

I have gone into detail, explaining what you must know before you venture into the world of healthcare entrepreneurship. And if you are already in it, there’s still wisdom here for you.

Share it with your friends and colleagues who you know have a passion for healthcare innovation. 

Purpose, Mission & Brand Identity 

Purpose & Passion

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”

Steve Jobs

A simple, general question: why do you want to start a business or become an entrepreneur? 

“It’s a fancy idea.”

“Others are doing it. I think I should also join them.”

“I need to get out of debt right away, or I will die.”

“I need a better life.”

“I am going to make a lot of money and buy a yacht and an island.”

“I want people and society to respect me.”

“I want to become a celebrity, like Elon Musk.”

“I want to touch lives and change the world.”

“I don’t feel fulfilled doing what I currently do.”

It’s an endless list of replies, reasons, and answers. 

You see, ‘purpose’ is the foundation of anything we do in life. 

If your purpose for doing something is weak and shallow, in no time, you will begin to see the effects of a weak and shallow purpose. 

It’s like building on sand. 

Healthcare entrepreneurship is a very tough journey. 

It takes a high dose of grit to push through the many hurdles and obstacles that will come your way as you make progress. 

So, it takes more than just basic, greedy, and shallow reasons. 

You must have a solid purpose. 

It’s that purpose that will keep you going when you get to the point where everyone abandons you. 

It’s a strong sense of purpose that will be your energy when people around you don’t believe in your ideas. 

Your purpose will be the fuel that will keep you going when there’s nothing to inspire or motivate you. 

Entrepreneurship can be a very hard and painful journey. 

Especially when you are just starting. 

You have few resources to go around; friends and people who don’t believe in you; limited time to do the numerous things you want to do; partners and team members who are not as enthusiastic as you…

The list goes on and on and on and on. 

It’s your passion and purpose that will keep you going during these dark periods in your entrepreneurial journey. 

If you have not discovered your purpose, you will easily give up and abandon your dream. 

This is what you must do first before anything else. Find your purpose. 

Even before a business plan. Work on your purpose. If you don’t find it, don’t move forward. Tarry until you have discovered and understood it. 

“One of the huge mistakes people make is that they try to force an interest on themselves. You don’t choose your passions; your passions choose you.”

Jeff Bezos

Your Brand’s Identity

How do you want people to perceive your brand or business? 

Gone are the days when you just jump on an idea and start doing things without a well-structured plan and strategy to guide you. 

The entrepreneurial landscape is changing [it’s getting tougher and more complex]. And those who do not have concrete plans and strategies will fall by the wayside.

Sit down and work on your brand’s identity. If you have to secure the services of a brand strategist, please do so if you can afford it. 

If you can’t, go out and do some rigorous studies, research, and learning. This path will take more of your time and energy, but it’s worth it. If you don’t have the time and energy, then get a professional to do it with or for you. 

Your Vision & Your Mission

Create a vision and mission around the problem you are solving or the unique characteristics of your business. 

It’s important. Your vision and mission guide everything you do as an entrepreneur. 

Entrepreneurship is majorly about solving problems. So, let your vision and mission capture what you are dedicating your time, energy, and resources to; your life.

Business Strategy

How do you achieve your goals as a business? This is where your strategy comes into play. Your strategy must be detailed enough. It should be a step-by-step process of achieving your goals and objectives as a business or an entrepreneur. 

It shouldn’t be skeletal. It must be detailed enough. It should spell out how you manage finance, and how you get people to work with and for you.

Make Plans To Establish An Online Presence 

We can’t overemphasize how important establishing an online presence for your business is. 

It’s very important. 

A large percentage of your customers or audience is online. 

If you rely on physical structures alone, you won’t make real progress. 

• Buy a domain: We can help you with this.
• Get a website: We can also help you with building a website.
• Create social media pages: Our Digital Marketing agency can also help you with this.
• Invest in marketing: Or, let our team help you with your marketing.

Well, my honest advice for beginning “healthpreneurs” is that they should start with Social Media pages before they start building websites. 

It’s easy and cheap to create and maintain social media pages. 

You can do that all by yourself as you start. 

Websites are really difficult to maintain.

It takes a lot of time and dedication to keep one running. Especially if you don’t have the resources to build and maintain one. 

Though you can start with “WordPress.com“, free plan, which makes it super easy to launch a website. But as your business grows and expands, there are features that you will need that may not be on WordPress.com, so you have to migrate to “WordPress.org“, which makes it easy for you to customize your website the way you want. 

However, it’s better you start with Social Media pages if you have sparse resources than go straight for a full website.

But if you have the resource, you can start with a website.

We work with excellent Web Developers that can help you build a befitting website that matches your budget.

You Will Need Financial Resource

Be ready to spend money. Most of the time, your personal money. 

When I see starting entrepreneurs who are reluctant to spend their personal cash on their business, I am amazed. 

I mean, it’s your business, you are solely responsible. 

No one’s going to spend their personal cash on your business. 

No one is that good or kind. Unless you are lucky enough to get a business loan or grant that will lift the burden off your shoulder a little bit because from time to time, you will still need to dip your hands into your pocket or savings to settle one or two issues. Or you have a fantastic team of co-founders that are ready to spend their own cash too. 

It’s natural. Ask around. Entrepreneurs spend their cash on their businesses. 

Prepare In Advance

Before you venture. Make sure you have something in your pockets to cover major expenses. This is simple wisdom for small entrepreneurs. 

You can go broke in the blink of an eye if you are not careful enough.

So, make sure you are prepared and ready. 

Engage In Thorough Research

Research will save you a lot of time and resources. 

With thorough research, you will have solid evidence and direction on what to do with your resources. 

Research will point you in the right direction– what to focus on in the beginning and what not to focus on. 

Starting entrepreneurs don’t need to spend money subscribing to or buying a lot of software. 

Though, there are software that you may have to work with, like: 

• Finance Software. [QuickBooks Online].
• Marketing Software [Co-schedule, Hubspot Marketing Hub, etc].
• Writing and Editing Software [Grammarly, Hemingway, QuillBot]. 
• Creator Software [Canva, Adobe, etc].

Many of them have free versions which you can use as you start and they are easy to use, with no big technical know-how needed. 

Work With The Right People & Establish The Right Connections

By the time you have started to make some money from your business, you may start considering hiring people.

Now, take note of this, it’s important. 

Do not hire amateurs. I repeat, do not hire amateurs.

Especially for very sensitive projects and roles. 

Why? You will waste time and resources hiring an amateur who doesn’t have deep knowledge about a project, and your business does not have enough resources, in time, and finance to throw around if projects don’t come out looking good.  

You should hire professionals who will save you time and money. It’s worth it. 

Work With Freelancers

Working with the right freelancers will save you time and resources. 

If your business needs to build its email list, get a freelance email marketer. Or if you need to hire a digital marketer so you can focus on other aspects of your business, then get one. 

By the way…

“Let’s help you with your Digital Marketing so you can focus on other important aspects of your business.”

My team is currently building a Digital Marketing Agency that will help small and medium healthcare and health-tech businesses and entrepreneurs with their Digital Marketing. 

We will help you with everything, while you focus on growth, development, and networking. 

We are giving MASSIVE discounts to the first five clients that come on board. 

We want to make it as organic as possible [our team will work closely with your team]. 

We work with a team of highly experienced and passionate creators and technical experts. From Copywriters and Editors, Web Developers, Software Engineers, Digital Marketers, Product Designers, Project Managers, Graphic Designers, etc.

Start by sending us a mail today! evolvehealthmedia@gmail.com.

Ok, where did we stop…?

Make Use Of Volunteers Where Necessary

Volunteers are important when it comes to some aspects of your business, especially the less sensitive general aspects. 

It’s not advisable to let volunteers handle certain sensitive or major aspects of your business. 

Always make sure you oversee their activities, always make sure. 

And be careful the way you use volunteers to carry out activities that bring in revenue for you. I suggest you appreciate volunteers once in a while with ‘something’. It might not be too much, but just something to let them know that you appreciate them.

It might be small cash gifts, subscriptions or gift cards, or books or courses. Anything just to appreciate them for working and learning with you. 

Establishing The Right Connections

You need to learn how to network if you don’t already know how to. 

The success of your business is greatly dependent on the kind of leadership relationships you nurture.

You can’t build or innovate in isolation. 

They are people out there who can contribute to the growth and development of your business in amazing ways you can only imagine. 

Through networking and building relationships, you can discover volunteers who want to work and learn with you. 

You can find partners, and even sponsors and investors. 

Networking is a way of free and cheap marketing for small businesses and entrepreneurs. 

Learn as a generalist

Most entrepreneurs start as generalists. 

They run the show alone until it gets to a time when they begin to attract more talents that can handle certain aspects of the business. 

So, you will be the web developer and manager, the finance guy, the content developer, the copywriter, the graphic designer, and everything else. 

Or if you have a Co-founder who has the same passion as you, you both can share the burden [it’s very difficult to get a good co-founder these days].

You should know a little about everything concerning your business. 

As time goes by and as your business expands, you will have the financial muscle and experience to get more people to join the team. 

Working With Contractors and Partners

Things have really changed in the world of business and entrepreneurship. 

Nowadays, small and medium businesses don’t have to build a big team before they can get the work done. 

Instead, they focus on small teams and do a lot of outsourcing. 

As I mentioned earlier, it’s wise to work with freelancers and trusted agencies.

If you have got a big client who brings a big project, reach out to freelancers who have the skills and expertise you need and get the job done.

It’s all about getting the job done.

Bonus Points:

Understand The Legal Aspect of Entrepreneurship

There’s a legal side to things. Don’t neglect it. Seek the professional advice of legal practitioners who have experience dealing with small and medium entrepreneurial outfits. There will always come a time when you will need their help.

Understand Financial Principles

This is one aspect many young entrepreneurs get wrong. They don’t understand financial principles. Especially when it comes to dealing with investors and partners.

Build Community

Community building is cheap and pure marketing.

Nowadays, people interact differently with brands. They know when they are being manipulated through manipulative copywriting, evil psychology, and emotional marketing. They spot the trick from a mile and run far away from it.

But there is something no one will ever resist. That’s community. A family.

Take the time to build community around your ideas, services, and products.

The big brands know this truth. They spend billions of dollars on making sure their communities remain strong. And this is the first and most important principle of marketing.

Marketing is first about communication and relationship. It’s that simple. Take communication and relationship building out of marketing and all you have is “You trying to shove your shinny ideas, services, and products down the throats of already distracted, itchy, and busy online people”.

There’s a lot I want to write. But let me stop here for now. I will continue either in a second part or from an entirely new post.

EvolveHealth Media

“Healthcare media re-imagined.”

That’s what we are currently building…

Over the past months, I have been doing some personal research, and I have discovered that healthcare and health-tech brands and companies [especially in Africa] do not pay attention to their digital marketing.

They do well when designing their products and in all other aspects, but when it comes to marketing, they are doing it the wrong way.

It’s either they aren’t doing enough of it or they aren’t consistent, because of the workload and many other commitments.

So, I am putting a team together to help them.

Our focus now is on small and medium healthcare and health-tech brands in Africa.

We want to HELP them.

If they don’t already have a marketing team, we become their marketing team. If they have one, we will gradually merge our team with their team, I call it an organic process.

We’ve decided to build it separately from Care City and Carecode so that we can focus on it. Though we will use the online traction and credibility Care City and Carecode already have to pull it through.

I see it as an adventure.

And we haven’t fully launched [I don’t even have a logo or website yet]. But we are about to start taking clients.

And we are giving massive discounts to our first five clients [plus one month free for our first client].

If you feel you can work with us, just send us a simple message here: evolvehealthmedia@gmail.com. Introduce yourself and tell us what you do [we want to keep it really simple].

We will reply to you, send you a small form to fill out, organize a small meeting with some of our team members, and if you like our faces, we get to work. Simple.

Send the mail now, and let’s create magic together.

If you have healthcare entrepreneurial friends, you can share this opportunity with them. Let’s help them grow.

Or you can head to our landing page here to find out more about Evolvehealth Media, fill out a detailed initial client assessment form and our team will be in touch with you.