HAPPY FATHER’S DAY (yesterday)

We’ve received requests from listeners on topics to cover. This episode will hit on a few of them.

We’ll explore how your lab can achieve its goals. We’ll start by helping you set specific goals. Then, we’ll identify common obstacles that might be slowing you down. Finally, we’ll offer practical steps to overcome these hurdles. Whether you’re improving processes or expanding your lab, you’ll find useful tips here.

This episode is AUDIO ONLY. To listen on the go:

1. Spotify

2. YouTube Podcasts

3. Amazon Music

Or, keep reading below…

1. What are my goals?

   DO NOT be general. Be VERY specific.

   These are examples of general goals that will NOT help you:

   1. Improve efficiency.

   2. Ensure compliance.

   3. Reduce errors.

   Instead, your goals should look something like this, for example:

   1. GOAL 1: Cut my sample process time by X minutes per sample. This will reduce my operational cost to $Y, and improve my per sample margins to Z%. With this data, I can better set my pricing to max sales and optimize income - short-term

      NOTE: Measure each process. Set goals. Identify opportunities that are driving unnecessary, additional time.

   2. GOAL 2: Add a new instrument or cert to cut contract lab volume worth $X in revenue monthly - mid-term

      1. How do I acquire?

      2. What are the cost and acquisition options?

      3. What are the external factors I cannot control?

   3. GOAL 3: Open/acquire a second lab in location X to support my growth plan of Y - long-term

      1. How would that impact my market cap and/or total addressable market (TAM)?

      2. What is the competitive landscape in that location?

   Each goal should have a target to completion, timeline, and statistical justification. You can’t improve what you don’t measure.

2. Now that you know your goals, what’s keeping you from achieving them?

   Pinpoint the specific obstacles that are holding your lab back. 

   Let’s use the short-term goal (goal #1) as an example:

   Employee A has a cost of $35 per hour. They have incredible talents and have been with you for 6 years. They are a great cultural fit. What are you leveraging their talents to do?

   1. Mundane, redundant tasks that can be automated or completed by a more affordable option?

   2. Management, training and performance of other team members?

   3. Value creation like marketing, sales, content, customer support/upselling?

      Let’s say its #1 (But I hope not!). You have the worst case scenario: Highly skilled talent doing tasks that are driving up your sample processing time, killing your margins, and not creating value. EEK!

      Don’t fret! I have good news: YOU ARE NOT ALONE. Most labs have these problems. Here’s why:

      1. Poor process creates chaos in the lab. Chaos leads to extra work. Extra work costs money and leads to frustrated employees. Chaos requires talent to lead the operation - OR - you risk poor quality of output.

      2. Lab owners/execs are forced to spend time in day to day processes to maintain operations. The more time they spend on that, the less time they spend creating strategies that will enable their goals. 

         EXECS: Lead don’t labor!

         It is incredibly easy to get bogged down by the work. As a leader, it is your responsibility to ensure adequate time to work ON the business instead of IN the business. Make sense?

3. If you are at STEP 3, you are in good shape: You are ready to identify how to remove the barriers keeping you from hitting your goals.

   Classify the issues you have identified into 3 categories, and ask yourself the questions aligned:

   1. Automation

      1. Can we enable our goals with technology? 

      2. Would the improvement outweigh the cost?

   2. People

      1. Can we enable our goals with talent? Maybe it is a hire(s), an org change, or something else. 

      2. Would the benefit outweigh the cost?

   3. Process

      1. Can we enable our goals with improved process?

      2. How so? There is likely no cost here and is usually the place to start

   Once classified, tie the objective back to the appropriate goal you set in the beginning. Do the math. What is the benefit?

   Finally, ask yourself: What would it feel like if I do not overcome the challenges one year, two years, and three years from now?

We are ready to start solving!

Let’s say the barriers to your goals fall into category 1: Automation.

How do you find the options and the right partner? The answer depends on your specific needs.

Here is a list of things to consider:

1. Is the vendor working hard to understand your challenges? Or are they just showing off their features and making promises?

2. What value are they bringing to you before you even enter an agreement?

3. What type of customer would you be in their eyes? This will dictate how they serve you.

   Here’s an example:

   Many LIMS companies out there built their tools long ago and for different industry. Could a system built for pharmaceutical labs serve your environmental lab? What is unique about QC processes for environmental, and why should they assume we are all the same? Once I sign and pay are they really going to support me or will I just be a small fish in a big pond to them?

4. What technical talent do I need to hire and employ to:

   1. Maintain the system?

   2. Truly achieve the benefits I was sold?

   It is the vendor’s responsibility to articulate these specifics. Don’t forget to ask. Don’t become another BURN VICTIM.

5. What is the timeline to delivering on the promises? What is the accountability if those timelines are missed (Raise your hand if you know someone who was expecting a solution in 90 days and here they are a year later without the solution)?

   Purchasing technology for your lab is the creation of a partnership. It must be approached from a place of mutual understanding of goals. And a clear plan on how they will help you go from where you are to where you want to be. 

   Speed bumps may come up. If/when they do, who do you want your partner to be?

SUMMARY

You have the tools to set clear goals and identify what’s holding you back. Now, let’s take action. The right partner is out there, ready to help you lead more and manage less. Interested in how to start? 

We are offering a FREE lab audit to help you complete the steps outlined above. You’ll be ready to set your lab on a path to success.

REQUIREMENTS TO ENTER:
1. Annual revenue of $2M or more
2. At least 8 employees in your lab (this does not include part-time employees or collectors)

CLICK HERE TO APPLY:

Let’s make your lab work as hard as you do—without the extra hours.

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