What’s the inspiration behind Find Care Compare?
The problem we’re seeking to solve is the huge (and growing) information gap between patients and the health system. Health inequalities are widening, and inaccessibility of services is one of the key contributors. Having worked in the NHS for several years, I saw this first hand and knew I had to do something. Find Care Compare is the UK’s only one-stop solution for finding and comparing both NHS and private care services. We help patients find services that meet their needs and allow them to filter and sort by waiting time, distance, price, language, and much more.
How has the King’s Start-up Accelerator helped you progress your venture?
The King's Start-up Accelerator has been instrumental in Find Care Compare’s success to date. The targeted workshops, coupled with ad hoc support from Experts-in-Residence, coaches, and mentors has provided a strong grounding in entrepreneurship and lean ways of working.
The most special thing is being part of a supportive and dynamic entrepreneurship community. I really value the kindness and generosity I have seen from fellow founders, as well as the Entrepreneurship Institute’s excellent communication of opportunities and championing of our ventures both internally and externally.
Two months into the King’s Start-up Accelerator, you launched your MVP (Minimum Viable Product). How did you reach this point?
Launching my MVP in the summer was one of the most rewarding and nerve-wracking moments of my journey so far. I had been through so many iterations of the MVP before deciding what to launch and how to do it.
The problem Find Care Compare seeks to solve is huge, and therefore launching our solution was daunting. The accelerator made me realise that I wouldn’t be able to do it all from day one. After one of our first workshops, I mapped out a phased approach to rollout and launched the MVP for mental health services in London three weeks later.
There are currently 2 million patients on NHS mental health waiting lists, with treatment for some conditions being up to three years. This, coupled with validation, demonstrated that this was the right fit.
You’ve recently left full-time employment to focus more time on your venture. What’s your advice to others who are balancing different priorities?
Getting the balance right can be difficult, but if you have a good strategy in place anything is possible. I am a big fan of time blocking, and always keep the following things at the forefront of my mind:
- Productive time is more important than total time spent on a task/goal
- Categorising and prioritising tasks in line with long-term strategic goals is a must
- Staying focused on the task at hand, and tabling it if it’s taking longer than it should is key
What impact are you hoping to create with your start-up?
Information is rapidly becoming one of the most impactful social determinants of health. My vision is for Find Care Compare to be the one-stop trusted source of accessible information to empower entry into the health system.
I hope and expect to see that the provision of high-quality information at speed, will have scalable population health benefit, and support the eradication of growing health inequalities.