Founder Story: Turning sales opportunities into a repeatable commercial process

The challenge

I started working with the founder of an early-stage HealthTech business that had developed a promising product and was beginning to gain commercial traction.

There was genuine interest from potential customers, encouraging feedback and opportunities to grow. But turning that interest into consistent revenue was proving difficult.

Like many early-stage founders, he was juggling almost everything. Product development, customer relationships, funding, sales and the day-to-day demands of running a business were all competing for his attention.

The challenge wasn't a lack of opportunities or effort. It was knowing where to focus, which opportunities were worth pursuing and how to build a business that could grow without everything depending on him.

What we worked on

Our conversations covered a wide range of challenges, but commercial focus became a recurring theme.

We explored how to distinguish genuine sales opportunities from encouraging conversations that might never lead anywhere.

Rather than simply asking how to generate more leads, we started looking more closely at what made potential customers progress. Who was making the buying decision? What problem were they trying to solve? Was there a budget? What needed to happen before someone would commit?

We also challenged how he was spending his time.

Some activities were valuable for learning about the product and its users, but weren't necessarily helping the business generate revenue. Others had commercial potential but required a more deliberate approach.

The aim wasn't to stop experimenting. It was to understand what each activity was expected to achieve and whether it justified the time involved.

As the business developed, we also spent more time discussing the practicalities of growth. Pricing, customer success, sales processes and which responsibilities could eventually move away from the founder.

Throughout, my role was to provide a combination of commercial experience, challenge and space to think. Sometimes that meant asking questions. Other times it meant sharing what I'd learnt from building businesses myself.

What changed

Over the course of our work together, the business continued to convert early interest into paying customers.

But commercial progress also exposed new challenges.

Winning customers wasn't enough. The business needed to understand how to find more of the right customers, help them realise value and give them reasons to continue buying.

Our conversations became increasingly focused on understanding the commercial process rather than simply managing individual opportunities.

He began exploring customer buying cycles more deliberately, researching potential customers before approaching them and looking for evidence of what made opportunities progress or stall.

We also started examining how he could spend more of his time on the work where he added the greatest value, rather than remaining involved in every aspect of the business.

This is still a work in progress. Building a repeatable commercial process takes time, particularly when customers have complex buying decisions and limited budgets.

But the conversations have shifted from how do we win the next customer? towards what are we learning that will help us win the next ten?

My takeaway

One of the biggest challenges for an early-stage founder is knowing when to move from pursuing opportunities to building a business that can pursue them consistently.

In the beginning, almost everything depends on the founder's energy, relationships and willingness to get things done.

That can create the first customers, but it doesn't necessarily create a sustainable business.

For this founder, our work has been about developing a more deliberate approach to commercial growth while navigating the many competing demands of leadership.

And perhaps that's the most important distinction.

The goal isn't simply to help a founder make better decisions today. It's to help them develop the thinking and structure that will make tomorrow's decisions easier.

If this feels familiar, my founder coaching and mentoring offers space to think about your business, your role and what needs your attention. We can begin with a free introductory conversation.

Cheers,

Duncan