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Getting out of the weeds: Simplicity is the key to scale startups

startups

Look up, out of the weeds, and open yourself up to external help. You never know what simple advice can alter the way you run your company.

I am proud to say that Reach52 (formerly Allied World Healthcare) has now helped 50 communities access healthcare in the Philippines and Cambodia.

But while our goal to deliver low-cost digital healthcare to underserved communities was always clear, our pathway to this point wasn’t always as straightforward. Four years on, reach52 today is barely recognisable from the platform we first launched.

Our story started in 2015. I had worked with the UK Government’s National Healthcare Service (NHS) on various programmes to support the design and delivery of low-cost primary care digital services, so I understood the power of digital technology to deliver healthcare support to those underserved by the traditional healthcare system.

I believed that the same principles could support communities across Southeast Asia that lack access to care, so I left for Singapore with the idea to deliver essential primary care support in rural communities through digital apps, and new financing through private sector engagement.

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I gave myself six months to get the venture off the ground and invested the majority of my savings. The aim was to fill the gaps in existing government health support by providing access to a marketplace of affordable products and services (working with health businesses that wanted to create a new kind of impact, in heavily out-of-pocket paid markets).

At the end of six months, we had launched in the Philippines and had started to deliver this vision to address the need for affordable, accessible healthcare.

Version 1.0: A project out of control

Three years later, the simple idea that inspired the creation of reach52 evolved into a thriving social enterprise partnering with some of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world. But while the team had grown to fifteen people, we were still bootstrapping and growing with no proper investment capital.

As the company founder, I was very much involved in all the day-to-day activities because we did not yet have the systems or team in place for me to be able to step back and release control of the detailed operations and look at the bigger picture. It felt like a project that – albeit a successful one – was out of control and with an uncharted future. It needed better governance, and I knew this need could impact our ability to scale if not fixed.

I recognised reach52 had a lot of responsibility to those we had been helping and that, should we cease to exist, they wouldn’t have the tools to plug the gap we would leave. This sense of responsibility drove me to do everything I could to ensure the sustainability of our business.

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We had an almost existential need for better, lightweight processes and structure, regulatory compliance, accounting, and onboarding programmes. It was clear for the future success of the business that I needed to look for external support and guidance. This was key if we were going to reach new markets and fully realise our ambition. It was clear we needed help to ‘level-up’.

External support

Recognising the need to focus my energy on learning how to scale reach52 sustainably, I began reaching out to other startups and looking into mentorship programmes in the region that could improve our internal operations, as well as give opportunities for new partnerships and scale-up channels.

In early 2019, we joined Facebook and IMDA’s accelerator programme. The six-month accelerator programme based in Singapore, offered direct feedback to startups and access to methods and structures to help companies like us level-up.

The programme included business and product training, mentorship, and opportunities to meet potential partners and customers. Alongside ten other startups, we went through three intensive weeks of training aimed at helping us build the necessary foundation for a sustainable business, including building human resources processes, creating effective branding, capturing consent and enacting compliance standards.

Out of the weeds

While being part of the accelerator programme on a whole was valuable, I could not have foreseen that one three-hour course, in particular, would fundamentally alter how I run the company.

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The course was about product management road-mapping and showed me a really simple and effective way to sort through the seemingly thousands of tasks and responsibilities and prioritise steps to reach the core objectives for our product. I learned methods to map out clear steps for setting targets, templates for reviewing our business, and steps to iterate our product. And importantly, the course showed me the importance of linking business value to results.

I could see clearly how to get out of the weeds to reach my target goals. It had all clicked into place for me. Armed with a few simple techniques learned in the span of just a few hours, I had refreshed calmness and confidence in how to execute my ambitions.

The lesson

While the business model of reach52 is unique, I am sure that I’m not the only business founder who has found themselves so bogged down in day-to-day tasks that they are unable to clearly visualise their business’ future; sucked into low-value tasks instead of strategic priorities.

I imagine there are hundreds of people across the region who are in a similar position – as it’s a phase many businesses go through, and while some work through it, others are unable to ever progress.

My recommendation to startup founders who find themselves overwhelmed is to be realistic about what your company needs to grow and don’t sit idle waiting for clarity. Seek out external guidance or learning opportunities and apply for programmes that will help you achieve your ‘aha’ moment. Couple this with working insane hours, being visionary but ruthless when needed, relentless enthusiasm, and a good sense of humour — startups aren’t so hard.

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