The biggest mistake in my career was also my biggest blessing… just that I didn’t know it back then.
From the year 2006 till 2009, my entire focus to build Synapse as a leading healthcare and pharma agency was pinned on serving one company. Yes, there were 17 divisions in that company, almost 50 brands within that company we worked with, and over 30 different points of contact – but the billing was all from one large client.
This account had become so comfortable for us to manage that I had almost decided to open an office near the client’s HO, and keep a dedicated team only to service them. In my head I had also planned to rent an apartment close by so I could reduce travel time etc.
But it took one unforeseen calculation, to go from shimmer to shatter.
Our position was challenged and we had to take a hard decision to exit all our accounts there. A huge loss financially and mentally.
Three months post the exit I was clueless on how to take things ahead. I was so demotivated that I hardly even moved a finger on days I visited the office.
One day, out of the blue, we got a call from a client who we worked with in ‘that’ company, but he had moved on, joined another company and wanted us to work with him there now.
One thing led to another and we managed to pick up more accounts from that new company. But this time we were wiser. We were not going to put all the eggs in one basket.
One by one we built clients in all top healthcare and pharmaceutical companies.
Today we are proud to say that Synapse works with the A to Z of the Pharma industry, and we also work on almost every category right from common antibiotics to rare diseases.
Today this sounds like a great story, but trust me it was the toughest phase of my professional life.
As they say, there is no growth in comfort and no comfort in growth.
