Starting a business or growing it when things are going well: there are challenges on all sides of entrepreneurship. How do you achieve your ambitions as quickly and efficiently as possible? Often it helps to get support and feedback from people with experience and expertise in this area.

Growth, what does that mean for your employees? Or: at what point in your business do you need an extra set of hands to work on your goals? Lizanne Jakobs, founder of Brilliant Work, answers questions like these every day. “We don’t advise on your area of expertise – we’re obviously not going to tell a pharmaceutical company how to develop medication. We are here for short- and long-term business strategies.”

Partner at Briskr

Brilliant Work recently became an official Briskr partner, but has been available to entrepreneurs for a long time. “We have known Briskr for a long time. We have been coming to meetings and giving workshops in collaboration with Briskr for years now. We just formalised the partnership to make the collaboration more intensive.”

Briskr member companies are of interest to Brilliant Work for a specific reason: their growth potential. “We help companies that are looking for change, in the form of business growth and internationalisation. The start-ups and scale-ups in the life science and high-tech sectors are excellent examples in this respect. These companies not only have tremendous growth potential, but often do so at a fast pace. Most of the time they do this internationally, which is one of our areas of expertise.”

Most business owners are not trained to be entrepreneurs but excel in their profession. “As a scientist, you use a completely different skill set from that of an entrepreneur, and that is where as experienced coaches we can help avoid pitfalls.” Ultimately, the goal is to help all Briskr-affiliated entrepreneurs to get the true and full potential out of their companies.

Coaching and advice

Coaching with Brilliant Work always starts with a good intake. “It might seem obvious, but it is crucial to the advice you get”, says Lizanne. “We need to have a good understanding of where you are with your business. What is going well, what do you want to keep this way, and what do you want to change? Once we know that, your ambitions are the next step.”

Not all entrepreneurs have those written down. “It always works well to write them down in a specific and measured way. But having ambitions is not enough; you must have a clear plan of how you will get there and have enough money to do so and obviously we help our clients write the right plans, pitch decks or budgets to do so. Subsidies are also an important area that is overlooked to help grow the company without capital dilution. Coaches who know which subsidies to use when, help you to make the right decisions.

“Brilliant works tailors their coaching, advice and training to fit the company. For most clients, including start-ups, we offer one-on-one sessions. For larger companies, sometimes we train the entire office staff at once. Our sessions are often about two hours long, but vary on the client’s needs. Our engagements normally result in an action plan to realise your ambitions and we connect you to the right people and government officials to help you carry it out.

Her own experiences

Before Lizanne founded Brilliant Work, she worked as an SME coach in the UK. “Before starting my work as a business coach, I had worked as a sales and account manager for multiple European companies. I enjoyed always being on the road, but at that point it was not compatible with family life any more. As a coach, I could work from any location.” In a group with 50 coaches, she gained an incredible amount of experience. When she moved back to the Netherlands in 2014, she missed an agency that offered advice with an eye for both sides of a business.

What does that mean? “On the one hand, you have your goals, your KPI’s, and your processes. Those are all tangible things, the ‘hard facts’. But there also is your customer focus, communication, leadership and other skills. That is the ‘soft side’ of a business. A good consultancy business helps you get both to the right level, because you want a balanced business.” Lizanne’s solution to the lack of coaching companies with a broad vision? Starting her own agency!

“Of course, I was in a unique situation. I had already owned a coaching business in the UK, and had done so in a setting where I felt very supported and had lots of people I could ask for advice. . Starting a business by yourself is not easy. The most important tip I give entrepreneurs? Not losing yourself in your day-to-day work. Your daily and weekly workload can slowly eat up all your time, leaving you with no time to work on the things that will really grow and transform your business. That is a missed opportunity! By blocking out time with us, you will make huge steps towards having a business that works well, grows nationally and internationally and where you enjoy your own role.”

More info at: www.brilliantwork.nl

On the 5^th of October, over 100 scientists, investors and entrepreneurs came together at the second Radboudumc Investment Day. The event, jointly hosted by Radboudumc, Oost NL and Briskr, aims to accelerate innovation in healthcare by creating new business opportunities and forging strong public-private partnerships.

This years’ edition featured an inspiring line-up of speakers with broad expertise in (bio)medical innovation, med tech and AI. Together, they touched upon the main challenges and opportunities that scientists and entrepreneurs face when they try to bring their research to the market. One key takeaway was the importance for scientist and (potential) investors to get in touch early on in the research process. That makes it easier to align applied research with societal needs and lowers the chance of promising start-ups folding in the infamous ‘valley of death’.

In addition to the plenary sessions, attendees had ample opportunity to partake in one-on-one meetings, some of which were pre-arranged via a digital match-up platform.

The spirit of the event was aptly summarized by Constantijn van Oranje, special envoy at TechLeap, during the panel discussion at the end. He emphasized the importance of creating a culture at academic institutions that actively supports and even celebrates entrepreneurial scientists. For while the academic pursuit of knowledge is a valuable endeavor in itself, translating the fruits of research into market success and societal impact is equally important and that’s why we will organize the event next year as well.