Mike Wright, C.E.O. of Wellpartner
How would you define what it is to be an entrepreneur?
An entrepreneur must possess the courage to spark change. Entrepreneurs are individuals who are not complacent with what is. They are not necessary to carry out the status quo.
Instead, entrepreneurs thrive under conditions of uncertainty, possess an idea which is sufficiently strong to surmount obstacles, understand that they must stretch limited resources, and, above all, must possess sustained energy to pursue their vision and support their team.
How did you get started as an entrepreneur? What in life prepared you most?
One does not start life to become an entrepreneur. Entrepreneurship comes at individuals through a combination of timing, events and opportunities. Yet, there is a foundational element in the making of an entrepreneur that harkens back to one's childhood when all possibilities are real at that young age.
My entrepreneurial appetite was whet as a young child on a ranch in central Texas where one needed creativity and tenacity to help his family make a living from the hardscrabble Texas landscape. Growing up, we rose early, tended the livestock and took care of the land, and generally accomplished a lot before most kids my age got to school. It was hard work but it taught me a strong work ethic and a stick-to-it personality that I have used my entire life.
That attitude was enhanced through a career with Johnson & Johnson where I had the opportunity to buy, build and develop a number of businesses operating under the J & J brand. Each of those businesses presented challenges that required perseverance and creativity to ensure they could operate at their peak. It was the perfect training ground for an entrepreneur.
But what has prepared me the most in my development as an entrepreneur has been my interest in improving how things get done and recruiting the right type of people to help bring that desire to fruition. This ability, whether doing it on the fields of central Texas, the manufacturing facilities of J & J or in the creation of Wellpartner has served me very well and has helped me to develop and grow as well.
What is your philosophy and motivation as an entrepreneur?
Business success depends on creating and maintaining good relationships. My motivation for creating successful business relationships is the same as it is in all of my personal interactions: an unflinching adherence to honesty, integrity and trustworthiness. My adherence to these principals has aided me across the board, but has been most pronounced in my ability to find and attract good people to work with.
Wellpartner is successful today, not because of any special skills I possess as the CEO. Instead, it is a success because some very earnest people feel the same way about health care as I do and have dedicated a large portion of their lives to helping to build this organization and to serve the many thousands of people who use us today for their medication. My ability in this has been to create the environment where that inspiration can grow.
Given the OEN Entrepreneur Awards "rebel" or "renegade" theme, describe how you faced up to and overcame the challenges you faced as an entrepreneur? Can you provide examples?
These tend to be terms in the pejorative and have a bad-boy image. My entrepreneurial focus has, instead, been more oriented to doing good. Especially in the health care field, the focus of Wellpartner has been on building a better way to deliver medications to people who rely on them for their livelihood. This mission has certainly interfered with the status quo. But in the end, by adhering to a strong vision of what is possible and by remaining resilient and tenacious in our pursuit of this vision, we have achieved success.
Wellpartner's business model is transformative. Transforming an entire business sector takes time and is not how innovation typically works. Innovation dissemination takes time and in the early days we found ourselves frustrated by influencers and decision makers, even as they told us to keep up our effort. We faced these obstacles with a dogged determination and never let no deter us from our objective.
Combined with an openness and willingness to learn from our discussions with others has helped Wellpartner to evolve its business model in ways that fit the business requirements of our customers even as we remain focused on the long-term transformative elements of our strategy.
What advice do you have for someone who wants to be an entrepreneur?
Most people will agree that if you wish to be a successful entrepreneur, you must be: (1) knowledgeable about your field and love your business; (2) prodigious in your use of feedback; (3) divergent in your thinking; (4) comfortable with taking risk; (5) tenacious in the pursuit of your vision; and (6) enthusiastic and optimistic by nature. This latter element is probably the most important quality an entrepreneur must possess, since you get to experience a lot of no's before you get to hear a yes.
Beyond possessing these critical qualities, in order to achieve success, I believe that it is paramount that one focus on bringing the right people to your team, providing them with the correct amount of support for them to succeed and helping them to be entrepreneurial as they go about their business. That support creates a culture of innovation that feeds on itself and has been a key factor in the success of Wellpartner.
When you have assembled the right team and are clear about your product or service, seek advice often and don't oversell, clearly and accurately communicate your product and its value to the market, and allow your idea to be enhanced and improved by employees, partners and customers, you can achieve long-term success. This is fundamental to my belief system and is the path I have followed. While the road has not always been easy, it has ultimately been the reason why Wellpartner has achieved the success that we have had to date. It is my proudest accomplishment.