There’s something quite liberating about founding and running a science-led business instead of being a scientist in someone else’s organisation. Naturally, the additional responsibilities carry a burden, but the freedom to control priorities means that I can march to the beat of my own drum.
Since starting RAPIvD in 2018, I have considered several ways to develop the company. I’m fortunate enough to be able to do this without a financier breathing down my neck, so I’m not under external pressure to deliver unrealistic returns. I can shape the company to suit the needs of the market and I don’t have to chase business that either doesn’t exist or isn’t a good fit for the services that we provide.
I’ve also considered expanding the scope of RAPIvD to become an IVD turnkey provider. From a commercial perspective, it’s appealing. We would be able to provide a full suite of services from concept to completion without outsourcing a penny’s worth of business. The clichéd ‘one-stop shop’ can seem appealing from a customer’s perspective too. However, I’m still not tempted to turn RAPIvD into a generalist service provider. Here’s why.
The pressure to win business and investment to fund a full-service company would be immense. That would rachet-up the pressure on finance and in turn, can lead to a host of decisions that are neither science nor customer-led.
Obviously, I want to run an efficient and effective business, but I want to be focused on the right things so that (with careful management) the finances look after themselves. Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric was a supporter and corporate poster boy for ‘maximising shareholder value’ until he realised that it was interpreted in Board Rooms everywhere as prioritising profit and growth as a strategy. After this, Welch described it as the ‘dumbest idea in the world’ reaffirming that shareholder value should be a result of successful strategies, not the main goal of a company. That’s the way I see things – financial returns are the result of success, not the main objective.

Furthermore, the executive time required to administer the vertical expansion of the business would draw me (and others) away from our core business and key strengths. This is another potential weakness of being a generalist. The development process will only be as good as the weakest link in the chain and a business with a broad scope might not provide the focus required to be at peak performance at every stage, all of the time.
The current business model for RAPIvD is to focus on our field of specialisation AND offer our customers the option of concept to completion services. The key difference is that we utilise a strong collaborative network of other specialists who we trust to deliver exceptional performance, service and value. There’s no pressure to use our ‘chain’, but it’s there if required. We don’t have to over-sell anything or force anyone to ‘lock-in’ to our processes.
I’d like to think that we deliver the best of both worlds. All the benefits of specialisation with the option of utilising a full suite of services with our expert partners. If the market changes, or I get struck down with a severe dose of megalomania, things might change. Until then, I’ll make sure that we focus on what we do best.
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Rob
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