This is How MedTech Startups Gain a Competitive Advantage

If MedTech companies want to gain a competitive advantage, a Market Opportunity Analysis is the first step toward creating a product, value proposition, and growth strategy that markets and investors will align to.

The journey in bringing a new medical device to market is rarely a simple one. What begins as an idea to answer a market need slowly transforms into a tangible device that has the potential to impact thousands of people. But the reality is that even the most beneficial devices don’t sell themselves. In order to raise capital and compete, MedTech companies need a strong identity. They need to have a product story that aligns investors, stakeholders, and their own teams and clearly articulates why their product matters and why it will succeed.

MedTech executives understand that the beginning of that story is rooted in market research. They purchase market research reports, have their team produce an analysis, and make decisions based on market assumptions. Yet, market research reports might not answer specific, key questions related to the individual product. They may not provide enough insight to help executives decide the best strategy for launch and subsequent growth.

It is for this reason that executives often begin their journey believing that they need market research but, through experience, understand that they actually need a Market Opportunity Analysis (MOA). They don’t just want numbers – they want context so they can understand how those numbers apply to them. They want to understand the competitive landscape, reimbursement options, and a clear roadmap that lays out what markets to target and when.

Importantly, they also need clear and compelling diligence that helps them raise funds and grow the company. Every MedTech leader knows that the competition for investment money is fierce. Even if your product or market opportunity is one-of-a-kind, if another group tells a better story, has better diligence, or delivers a better ROI, investors may pass on your product in favor of theirs.

Here are the top three ways a robust MOA answers these needs and more, giving medical devices a path to gain a competitive advantage in the MedTech marketplace.

Reason #1: You Can Craft a Value Proposition that Sells

For novel products, crafting a value proposition can feel like a catch-22: you need to know what the market demands, but it’s difficult to get that information without putting your product into stakeholder hands.

An MOA can act as the crystal ball you need to accurately predict a market’s reaction before you launch. It’s the combination of hyper-specific data, insight, and analysis that allows you to see into the future and understand how your product will be received.

Stakeholder feedback via primary research is one of the most valuable parts of an MOA, as it offers customized, specific insights into the market. It allows startups to literally speak to their audience, understand what is necessary for them to adopt a new product, and identifies what they are willing to pay for.  And critical to conducting actionable primary research is asking the right questions that provide insight into behaviors, not just preferences.

Once executives have these insights, they are better able to iterate what makes their product special, and why people should care. They may also gain insights into product changes that need to occur to give the product an advantage in the marketplace, using critical feedback from the MOA to influence the product. With an MOA, now you have a product that you aren’t just selling, you have one that is customized for the opportunity itself, both in terms of market approach and – potentially – product design. You: 1. Competitors: 0.

Reason #2: You Have the Intelligence You Need to Map a Successful Growth Strategy

While a successful launch is critical for any novel product, fostering healthy, long-term growth is necessary to develop a thriving company.

An MOA not only gets your initial strategy off on the right foot, but it creates a roadmap for your company to follow to a scalable future. It helps companies predict the behavior and demand of the market over time, which enables them to design a long-term go-to-market strategy.

An effective growth strategy requires more than assessing customer reactions and the competitive environment in real time. That approach will leave you trailing the competition instead of leading into the future. An MOA provides a market analysis and outlook that enables you to see where potential success lies now and in the future.

An MOA explores two important factors when creating a long-term growth strategy:

• Market segmentation. Not everyone is your target audience. The more you can separate the market to find the right customers for you, the more you will find exactly where the opportunity is to discover your product penetration and calculate revenue potential.
• Market growth. By seeing exactly where the market is growing, you can make plans to expand beyond your initial market segment target.

An MOA can find, for example, adjacent market opportunities that you haven’t thought of and that have not been explored by competitors. You also might find that targeting a smaller segment of the market will provide better returns or an easier pathway to FDA approval. In any case, an MOA gives you fact-based, objective evidence that allows you to optimize your launch and growth strategies to gain a competitive advantage and pioneer new approaches.

Reason #3: You Will Convince Investors

For many startups and novel medical device teams, attracting the right investors to fund their future can be challenging. However, it doesn’t need to be. Investors are in the business of investing. They don’t want to hold onto their cash, and in most cases, they are mandated to invest and produce returns. By using an MOA to craft a compelling product story, you give investors a powerful incentive to put their capital into your company’s growth.

For investors, an MOA provides a clear narrative that describes the market need, how you are solving it, and why your company will be a profitable venture. It gives them the assurance that you have clear, unbiased due diligence and real evidence that you are on the right track. It shows them specific numbers related to sales projections and their own ROI.

An MOA gives investors the confidence that you have a future laid out that will make the most of their dollars. And that level of diligence and demonstration of positive returns enables you stand out among the other companies vying for the same capital.

Gain a Competitive Advantage with a Market Opportunity Analysis

A Market Opportunity Analysis enables MedTech executives to gain a competitive advantage and advance confidently with the product-specific data, insights, and strategy necessary to create a thriving brand and company. No matter what new and exciting innovation you are bringing to the healthcare world, there is no doubt that an MOA is the best platform for your company to stand on.

Jaunt combines our expertise in MedTech with comprehensive, customized research and analysis to create a Market Opportunity Analysis that predicts the future of each of our clients’ products.  Contact us today.