Growing in Granite

How does a plant grow from a rock?  I was wondering this as I looked at the black birch seedling sticking out of the hunk of granite.  Looking a little closer I could see that it had a toehold in a small crack, where it was able to summon the ingredients for growth.  This is similar to what happens with many businesses in the life sciences.  If there is a crack or gap in the business or in the customer’s situation, all kind of effort will result.  These cracks are the opportunities for growth.

Granted many of the gaps are self-imposed, but they are still responsible for guiding people’s efforts.  So let’s take a quick look at a few.

• Revenue gaps – If the corporate goals are on the other side of the void, then an acquisition, development of a new product, or improved sales channels will get you across.  If there is a gap at that business unit level, then more near-term, tactical activities will result – increased marketing, sharpening the product strategy, or more hands in the field.

• Customer gaps – When companies determine that their customers are facing a hole in their process, they have a great starting point for new product development.  Often the customer has gaps in their workflow in terms of efficiency, costs, time or performance that can be addressed.  Just look at your favorite new product, and it becomes obvious what gap it is trying to fill.

• Organizational gap – Sometimes the gaps are internal and relate to the company’s’ ability to get its products completed and in the market.  Or maybe they are having trouble getting to the right customers.  Here they can add personnel, partner with a complementary organization, or sometimes they just stumble along, knowing they have this gap.

Though understanding the gaps in and around your organization or marketplace is not the whole picture, it is responsible for putting the fine point on many of your efforts.  Here are a few recent examples

• ThermoFisher acquired Proxeon to fill a gap in their offering for LC/MS, which in turn addresses the customer’s gap in efficiency

• BioMarker Strategies will receive $1 million from the National Cancer Institute to fill its funding gap.  This will enable them to develop their live tumor cell testing system.

• Ireland’s National Institute for Bioprocessing Research and Training partnered with Waters to fill a gap in people’s ability to characterize glycans.  They will create a database of glycan information to help enable the production of effective and safe biotherapeutics.

So to focus your efforts, take a look at your organization and your customers to see where the cracks and gaps appear.  That is where the opportunities lie, just waiting for you to take hold of them.