In this episode, you'll learn the three mindset mistakes that quietly kill international MedTech expansion, even when the product, clinical evidence and your distributor all look sound. And more importantly, I'll give you a simple framework to spot those mistakes early on and fix them before they cost you time, money, and market momentum. Welcome to Clinician to CEO, the podcast helping clinicians simplify your go-to-market strategy so that you can stop guessing and turn your working prototypes into international MedTech businesses. I'm your host, Hakeem Aade. Let's get started. So firstly, what do we mean by mindset? Because when I say mindset, I don't mean positive thinking or any of that stuff. Mindset is simply how you see the situation you're in now and what you do next. So, mindset will then determine the decisions you make, the actions you take, and ultimately whether your product ever gets used in international markets. So two companies can face the exact same export challenge and respond completely differently because of which mindset they have. One assumed that the market will behave like their home country. The other assumed it probably won't, and then goes to find out exactly how it works in that new market. That difference in thinking mindset changes almost every decision that follows. And that's why mindset matters so much when companies expand internationally. So I know some of you listening may well be thinking, uh, now if a MedTech fails to export effectively, it's got to be the product or clinical evidence or the distributor. And sometimes you're absolutely right. Sometimes the product genuinely isn't ready. Sometimes the evidence isn't strong enough. Sometimes the distributor partner really isn't the right partner. But from working across multiple markets with different MedTech companies and seeing how different products land in different systems, I've noticed something very interesting. Very often. The real barrier isn't one of those things. It's the way the company is thinking about the market IE mindset. And the three main mindset traps that I see companies fall into. So mindset trap, number one, assumption over curiosity. Or to put it another way, don't trust your first explanation to yourself of what's going on, because when something isn't working in a new market, the instinct is always to assume that you know why, and then act upon that quickly. But what I want you to do from now on. It is actually take the view that that first explanation to itself may well be wrong. So lemme give you an example. A team enter the new market and early conversation. They're slow, and the immediate reaction is we need more activity. So they push harder, more emails, more meetings, more pressure. But another team looks at the same situation and asks themselves, are we even talking to the right people? Does this problem matter in this system, this specific system in this country? Are we positioning this product in a way that makes sense here in this market? Not the way we did it before, the same situation, but two completely different responses. Now, one assumes. And the curious one is at least likely to diagnose the problem correctly and then start to implement the appropriate solution based on reality and not assumption. So always be curious and don't assume. And then moving on to the mindset trap, number two, that's all around expecting that the export market that you're moving into works exactly like your home market. So imagine a UK MedTech company expanding into Spain. The product works, the clinical evidence is strong, so naturally. They appoint a distributor and start running training sessions, but the slides are in English. The training video are English, the clinical paper, they're in English, and then when adoption is slow, the reaction is often, ah, clinicians here just don't seem to get it. But here's the reality. They actually do get it. They just don't want to translate the value proposition in their heads while trying to evaluate a new device. And this is what I call the colonial mindset. A colonial mindset assumes the market will adapt to us, and we just do everything that we've done in our home market, and the new market will accept it, and we'll start selling. That's the colonial mindset. The alternative mindset, what I call the global mindset, assumes that we need to adapt to the market. They ask different questions. They ask if we were a Spanish company launching a device in the uk, would we train British surgeons in Spanish? Probably not. So they adapt, they translate the training, they deliver the sessions in Spanish. They adjust the messaging for how hospitals in that country evaluate new devices. Now it's the same product in both cases, in both the colonial mindset example and the global mindset example. It's the same product, it's the same market. But you get a completely different outcome, and that's the difference between a colonial mindset and a global mindset. And obviously I'm suggesting that you employ a global mindset if you want to see adoption when you move into new markets. And this is all around just different assumptions, because a colonial mindset assumes the market will adapt to you, as I said, but a global mindset assumed that you need to adapt to the market. So ask yourself now, which mindset do you have before you go any further, because you should be really focusing on the global mindset. So how do you spot this trap early? You simply want to ask yourself, where am I assuming that this market works exactly like the one I know, IE home market? And be honest with it. Are you assuming that the buying process is similar? That the clinical workflow is the same? That the way value is judged is the same? Because if you are, you're going to try and solve the wrong problem, and if you're solving the wrong problem. No amount of sales effort is going to fix it. So, ask yourself that question. That picks up both trap one and two. And then the third mindset truck that I see regularly is waiting for perfect information because this then leads to procrastination, so you don't actually really get anything done because companies want certainty before they act. Perfect regulatory clarity, perfect market research, perfect distributor selection. But international expansion rarely works like that. And a useful way to circumvent and get over this challenge is something called the 40 70 rule. And the way this works is basically to say that if you have less than 40% of the information you need. Don't act a 40% of the information to make the decision, don't act yet. And if you have more than 70% of the information that you need, to make the decision, then act. But most good strategic decisions happen somewhere in between that 40 to 70%. So you're not making decisions without any data, but you're not waiting till you've got a hundred percent of the data before you do anything because that's gonna lead to procrastination and missing opportunities. You're not going to be reckless. and You're going to be decisive. So what you want to be able to do is gather enough information to move forward. And then adapt as you learn. And then here's a simple tool that you can use after this episode, and I call it the three minute export mindset check. Because when something isn't working in an international market, you have to decide what the problem actually is. And the way you see the situation. Is based on your mindset. So I want you to pause and ask yourself three questions. Firstly, what am I assuming is the same as my home market? And then go and check how it actually works in that market. Because if you get that assumption wrong and you start assuming that it's the same with your home market. Everything that follows your messaging, your training, your sales approach will probably be wrong. And then the second question I want you to ask yourself is, am I assuming what the problem is or am I actually going to find out what it is and analyzing what it is, for example, if people are not responding, not engaging, not taking meetings, that's usually a sales problem. IE it may be activity, it may be sales training, but if people are interested, they're asking questions and they may be even trialing the products but not moving forward. That's usually an adoption problem. So if you're treating it as a sales problem, 'cause that's what you've assumed it is, you'll probably increase activity or train the sales team but that won't fix an adoption problem. IE, the problem is the workflow, the economics, or how the value is understood in that system. And if it's a sales problem, then focusing on adoption issues is not gonna fix that problem either, because you're gonna be doing the wrong things. So. That's the second question. And the third question I want you to ask yourself is, do you actually need more information or are you waiting for certainty before acting? Because at some point more thinking doesn't help, only action does. And remember the 40 70 rule, if you have less than 40% of the information, don't act yet. But if you have more than 70%, you've probably waited too long. And then hopefully those three questions alone will often reveal the real constraint and, you'll find out that it's probably not technology and it's not the market, but it's the way that you are approaching the problem. International expansion rarely fails because leaders don't work hard enough. More often than not, it stall because of the way we're thinking about the situation, and that quietly leads us in the wrong direction. So next time something isn't working in a new market, pause for a moment and ask those three questions from the three minute export mindset check. And It's very likely that you'll find out that the real solution is a change in mindset. 'Cause mindset will then change the decisions that you make and the decisions will then change. The actions that you take and the actions that you take are the things that are gonna drive your international business forward or not. So onto the decision scenario for this episode. Which is you've entered a new international market and you're getting good initial interest meetings with the right people. You're even getting a couple of early trials, but nothing is converting. So your team reviews the situation and says, we're close. We just need to push a bit harder and build momentum So here's the decision that I want you to make. Do you a increase sales activity and double down on the current approach? A more meetings, more demos, more follow-ups, or do you B, invest in strengthening your clinical and economic evidence to remove remaining objections? C, stay consistent. Keep learning and give the market more time to respond. Or D, pause and reassess to see whether the issue is actually how the product fits into this specific market. Now, in the next episode, as per normal, I'll break that down and show you which choice reflects the right mindset that is most likely to lead to adoption. And if you're building a MedTech business and you're not sure whether your next move should be around evidence, market access, commercialization, distributor strategy, or adoption. Don't guess. Booker Healthcare export accelerated diagnostic Call with me. Use the link in the show notes and in that session I'll help you identify the specific constraints blocking your momentum and the commercial move, most likely to unlock your progress. Because all of this mindset decisions strategy only matter if it leads to one thing, and that's real world use because if it doesn't get used, it doesn't matter. Until next time. Thanks for listening. Keep challenging your assumptions and keep growing.