When I decided to build a business from scratch, I knew it would require not only the introduction of technology, but also an iron will to tackle the persistent inefficiencies within the sector. Outdated and fragmented practices in the pharmacy industry were a source of my frustration, as they brought unnecessary inefficiencies to both pharmacists and patients. I was driven by the belief that there had to be a more efficient way forward.

Throughout our journey, we realized that embracing change and refining our approach was essential to our growth and its overall impact on the pharmacy landscape. Three steps significantly impacted this—steps any company can take to effectively run and identify new avenues for revenue and impact.

Here's what we did.

1. Fail fast, roll faster

Don't fall into the trap of thinking your go-to-market plan is perfect. The biggest advantage of being a startup is flexibility. You need to use that agility to your advantage and recognize when your plan needs tweaking. Further, as a rookie, your runway is limited, so make sure you make team decisions quickly.

After launching our initial B2C business in 2017, we encountered gross margin challenges that eventually forced us to reevaluate our go-to-market strategy. In 2019, we took a step back as a team and analyzed the pharma industry Total addressable market (TAM) and the broader B2B landscape. We ultimately realized two key ways forward.

First, a significant portion of the market share of the pharmaceutical industry was attributed to it specialized pharmacy. Within the specialty pharmacy landscape, pharmaceutical manufacturers need digital infrastructure to help navigate the challenging patient journey. Second, health plans are hyper-focused on so-called clinical metrics quality measures but lacks the scalable digital infrastructure needed to clean data and automate clinical processes at scale. These realizations became the foundation for our transition to B2B.

Related: How to recover from a failed start

2. Brutally honest conversations

I have always believed this tRANSPARENCY is the best way forward, which means keeping both your internal team and investors fully informed. As a team, we mapped out all possible avenues forward, including possibly shutting down the company. It's okay if your initial thesis doesn't pan out, but it's not okay to keep trying to make it work when the metrics tell you otherwise.

Preparing to have unpleasant conversations it is among the toughest elements of rotation. Early on, it was clear that we needed to change course, but it was not an easy decision. We were lucky to have a team that wasn't afraid to express different views. Our collective input helped us bring down a few rotation paths this, in hindsight, would have led us in the wrong direction.

If your go-to-market strategy isn't working, admit it quickly and transparently. Don't shy away from input or feedback from your team and investors. Laying all your cards on the table helps ensure everyone is aligned on possible next steps, maximizing opportunities for brainstorming. This energized our team and investors, allowing us to rally behind the new focused path.

Related: How Brutal Honesty Saved My Business From Collapse (Twice)

3. Listen to your customers

One of the golden rules in business is to get real customer problems. The emphasis of your change of approach should be on uncovering the pain points of your customer base and presenting your business as best suited to solve them.

During our journey, we noticed growing needs for digital infrastructure across the various verticals we operated. By listening to our customers, we learned about some of their most obvious challenges, which helped guide our roadmap. On that note, it's important to remember that while listening to your customers is essential, you should be careful about letting a single customer dictate your entire product roadmap. Prove over and over that their needs are universal across the industry. The key is finding a repeatable solution that can be scaled to multiple customers.

Related: How to handle difficult customer conversations

The impact of these steps

Looking back, these three difficult but necessary steps completely transformed our business. 2019 saw us transition from a B2C digital pharmacy to a thriving B2B digital pharmacy platform. Our success came largely from our capacity to move at the right moment and show total transparency to all stakeholders. Throughout our journey, we also preached the value of frugality, giving us the longest possible runway to navigate our early challenges. We took action early while we still had an opportunity to thrive; we didn't wait for things to come to an end before making a change.

Embrace change with confidence, but do so with careful consideration. Ensure that reliable data, deeper insights and a well-defined vision for the future of your business drive the changes you pursue. It's not just about adaptation for its own sake—it's about making intentional, informed decisions that will lead to sustainable growth and success. Be strategic, thoughtful and intentional in your approach, aligning each change with your broader goals and values ​​to create a positive and lasting impact.