The Great Recession that began in 2008 was a time of massive disruption. Stock markets around the world were dropping hundreds of points a day. Banks were failing. Many, including John Moore, thought the world might be ending.
Moore is the founder of 3D4Medical.com, a company that created three-dimensional models of the human body, photographed them and licensed the images to textbook publishers. When the Great Recession of 2008/9 hit Ireland, Moore’s business took a significant turn for the worse, and he realized he needed to re-invent the company.
Moore decided to offer an application that students could use to learn about anatomy. Instead of focusing exclusively on textbook publishers, they started selling their app directly to students, teachers and medical professionals. The business began to hum as more Universities – including the likes of Stanford and Cambridge – signed on.
By 2019, 3D4Medical was up to 75 employees, including a reliable management team. Moore was making plans to continue to grow the business when one of the biggest textbook publishers in the world made an offer to buy 3D4Medical for $50.6 million.
Keep Your Partners Close: Elsevier, a book publisher, enjoyed a great relationship with 3D4Medical and Moore for years leading up to the acquisition. The idea of an acquisition came up during the course of a friendly business meeting. Sometimes your best acquirer is an existing partner where there is already a bank of trust built up on both sides.
Create Recurring Customers: 3D4Medical growth stalled for a few years leading up to the decision to move to a subscription model. Moore credits the introduction of a subscription service with transforming his business into a growth company again.
Know and Protect Your Crown Jewels. Moore had created the most extensive library of stock medical images in the world using some of the most sophisticated 3D technology available. Elsevier could have created a bank of images for their textbooks. Still, they knew Moore had a 15-year head start, and the technology would be hard to replicate, which is one reason they decided to buy Moore’s company, rather than compete with it.
Know What Makes You Tough To Compete With? Moore’s library of images is difficult to replicate, which made 3D4Medical an attractive acquisition candidate. What makes you tough to complete with?
Should your business pivot to new customers and/or new services/products?
Contact Kirk W. McLaren, CEO, MBA, CPA, IFM, and Georgetown University lecturer at kirk@foresightcfo.com to learn how the eight drivers help you grow with clarity.