| 1.
easyLab has developed through a combination of organic growth
and acquisition. What have you learned from the two different
routes ?
These are quite different routes for growth and they have their
own set of specific challenges. One cannot dismiss market research
for in-house product development. The better you know your market,
the higher the chance of success. Also, there are government sponsored
grant schemes out there – and I find it peculiar that not
many entrepreneurs know about these – which are of great
help to start-ups, particularly in the high-tech sector.
As
for acquisitions, again, you have to do your homework. Do not
underestimate due diligence and be prepared for surprises. There
will always be more work than you originally envisaged. Although
we are a small company, we have a large company mentality. That
is to say, we have processes and analysis tools in place that
are of similar calibre as those used in large corporations. We
knew that our systems and processes blueprint could be applied
to the other companies we have acquired to date. This has been
instrumental in the, remarkably early and successful, integration
process.
2.
Has the local availability of specific skills been a problem in
growing your company ?
If anything, so far, being located in the South-East of England
has helped us in that aspect. We advertise locally and had no
major difficulties in recruiting. Perhaps we have been lucky.
Our offices being located in a well connected part of the region
is also a plus as the ease of commuting is an important factor
for existing and potential future employees. The drawback is that
salaries and rents here are higher than elsewhere in the country.
Moving forward the challenge might reside in finding specialists
in our technology which may mean broadening our search.
3.
How is South east England as a location for high-tech start-ups,
particularly instrumentation companies? Are technology clusters
important in your business?
As I said above, it is mostly a plus being in the South-East.
We haven’t benefited from any technology clusters. However,
the higher density of technology based companies in this region
makes it somewhat easier to find specialised local suppliers,
which in turn gives us a competitive advantage in our supply chain.
4.
How useful have you found links with universities, particularly
Royal Holloway, and support bodies such as Surrey Enterprise Hub
?
Working with Universities can be both very useful and extremely
frustrating. We have links with several higher education institutions
in the UK, Europe and North America. So, these comments don’t
apply just to Royal Holloway. We find that the expectations of
these institutions, in terms of revenues that could potentially
be generated from a piece of IP they may license, do not match
the realities of the market. Yet, Universities are under extreme
pressure to commercialise such IP. It is easy to see where the
problem lies.
The Surrey
Enterprise Hub has been instrumental in our success. For example,
without the Hub making us aware of such government schemes as
the Research and Development Grant, we would probably not be here
today. They also assisted us in getting export help from the DTI
and many other initiatives. We thoroughly recommend the Enterprise
Hubs to start-up companies.
5. Do you see the growth of China and other emerging
economies as a threat or an opportunity, especially with regard
to instrumentation ?
Places like China, India and Russia are becoming more and more
important for us. We are seeing steady growth in sales of our
products to these territories. We are in a highly specialised
niche market. As such, these economies are more of an opportunity
than a threat to us.
6. Finally, can you give an example of a tough period in easyLab’s
development and how you got through it?
Our hardest period was during the first 12-18 months of the business.
That is why the Research and Development Grant was so important
for us. We knew there was a market for the products we wanted
to develop – we had done our market research. We just needed
funding to see us through this development phase. Having the R&D
Grant and a Small Firm Loan as well saw us through that period.
In fact, we were vindicated as we were able not only to repay
the Loan, but also to do so 3 years early.
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