In today’s world we have very little patience for things. We want everything good, and we want it now. It’s hard to resist the desire to keep up with the Jones’ and rush to the finish line. I get it. I get impatient as well and want to see Insanitek grow faster and make an impact for more lives.
There are a lot of pros to having your own lab:
- Work when you want to
- Don’t work when you want to prioritise something first
- Be selfish with the Sharpies
- Not worry about equipment being available when you need it
There’s a few cons to having your own lab:
- Equipment is expensive
- You don’t have others to bounce ideas off of as readily
- Maintenance of expensive equipment is either time-consuming or expensive
- Finding a suitable place to rent can be daunting
But having your own science business is where it’s at. Entrepreneurship is in vogue, you get to keep the profits, and you get to serve your community. Wanting to grow fast so you’re stable logical. Wanting to grow fast so you can throw pictures of your vacation while lab rats run your labs is not. It’s a bit egotistical, but it’s not smart.
And that’s the point in business ─ to make smart decisions so you can provide for yourself and help the most people possible. The goal is to serve while doing something meaningful with the knowledge and skills we have. (Perhaps that’s because we’re human.)
To do this you need to alter your mindset a bit. You need to be smarter, more adaptable, and more determined. Not more determined than anyone else, but more determined than what you are on good days when everything is going right. This is so when things aren’t looking so bright you can find a creative solution to whatever problems you have in front of you.
You also need patience. Building a company, let alone a lab, takes time and dedication. Some people shuffle every day ─ you’ll need to hustle every day. Whether you’re educating people on what you do and why it matters, handing out flyers, or straight up working in the lab, it’s a lot of hustle to keep things going forward.
And who has money for that?
Um, unless you’re living on a trust fund, you probably don’t. Your choices would be to be smarter with money, save while you work a second job, or go in debt. (And no one wants to go in debt.) But you can’t grow without gear.
Here are some great places to save some money on gear:
- LabX – an auction site that often has bigger things.
- PapaMed4 on eBay and others on eBay for smaller gear.
- Check your university and schools for sales and auctions.
Next up you need to consider tools. There are a lot of good free tools out there. However, there is one area where you want to spend a little money right off: an email service provider.
When I first started with Insanitek, we had no money. Literally. I looked into free email list options and started with one. Then, I switched to another with different features and tools for me to use. Then, I switched again finally settling on Aweber. Each time I switched I lost potential leads and customers.
I recommend with any tool you spend some time researching how you can use it, then look at the different providers. This could apply to schedulers, email service providers, things to organise your data, things to organise your leads, etc. Take your time to learn about options, decide on what will serve your mission, then start perusing the software options. It might take longer, but it saves you money in the end.
Now, I’m going to immediately refute that. If you find a way to use free software and it doesn’t impact your customer service, it’s OK to start with it and switch later. That won’t impact your bottom line and it will give you the flexibility to grow sooner.