As small businesses bring their product design to new heights and complexities, testing has become a priority for consumer assurance. Consumer trends show that products that have been rigorously tested and brought up to a high standard of performance and care, are more likely to be purchased. Many large businesses have their own testing facilities and professional teams to conduct all the experiments they want. However chemical laboratories are still contracted by all sizes of businesses to conduct finite tests. For example, a car manufacturer might wish to see the strength of their crumple zone designs. However they would send off the material they use to chemical testing labs to become aware of what the flammable qualities might be. This is important to them because they want high survivability in car crashes for customers to buy their cars. Chemical labs are a great business venture as the need is only set to grow higher as the entrepreneur boom continues. They must be created in a certain way so you have the best chance of fulfilling the needs of various businesses and industries.
Define your purpose
There are so many things a chemical lab can be set up for, but due to the specific equipment you will need, you have to choose a type of service you will provide. There are lots of different styles of chemical lab such as for cancer research, vaccines, heat treatment affects, bacteria study, blood testing, drug designs, disease research etc. There are many many avenues you can choose from, but it’s very rare that hybrid labs work efficiently, so it’s best to pick a path and stick with it.
You’ll also need to define what your aims are. For example if you were to make a lab for testing cancer treatments, then you’ll have to choose a sector within cancer research such as lung cancer. You might be trying to cure diseases, but what kind? Your technical staff will require niche equipment that is purely made for their testing needs and industry standards. Therefore the space you’ll need and the working environment you’ll be offering to workers will be determined by your answers to those challenges. The overall size will need to be considered also not just where the work happens. Employees need to get changed and take showers to clean themselves of outside germs. The lab will need fresh supplies of water and air conditioning to keep the room temperature optimal to the research needs.
Identify potential partners
Chemical labs provide so many services for all kinds of entities. Governments work with chemical labs because they do a lot of testing regarding healthcare and military needs. The latest military hardware will always be given it’s long test session in a chemical lab. Professional armed forces want to test their designs for heat resistance, harmful aspects to the earth, biological lethality, chemical compounds and protective equipment performance. Other entities also include police forces which may not have the specific high-tech equipment or highly trained professionals in a specific area within their own forces. Therefore they will often contract a private chemical lab to conduct their tests for them. Environmental groups also use chemical lab services quite heavily as they have teams to go out and collect substances but no infrastructure to test those substances themselves.
By identifying who you potential customers could be, you can focus on building your lab to provide the services those partners may require. It’s a good idea to snoop around and meet with entities that you want to provide services for. When you know you have a large viable customer base ranging from the free market to the government, you can begin to set the framework ambitions of your business.
The equipment purchasing phase
Just like all businesses that purchase their equipment for their needs, you’ll need to buy specific equipment that will allow your chemical lab to work to a high proficiency. One of the first things you’ll want is a vaccine fridge. You have three main options, those being freestanding, ultra large and underbench. The freestanding is slender and tall allowing for many different levels of storage. The ultra large is double wide with varying sizes of compartment, which allows for broad storage. The undebench is the smaller type which can be placed in confined quarters and small labs. This stores vials at very cold temperatures so as to keep the chemical balanced and increase its longevity. Speaking of vials, you’ll need liquid containers such as flasks, test tubes, conical flasks, glass jars, U tubes, beakers and droppers.
The other equipment you’ll need is for your employees. Contamination is one of the highest concerns which can ruin an experiment and set back a research paper. Therefore hair nets are paramount, even the slightest bit of foreign DNA in a substance can drastically alter the result. Protective lab goggles will protect your employees from violent chemical reactions in flasks and tubes. Wearing lab suits is also standard practice so buy white lab sheets that can be put on in a few seconds. Plastic gloves are also something that is the norm in all chemical plants so as to avoid bacteria from spreading and keeping safe from substances that are being handled.
Hiring Scientists
The c-suite is something that needs its own focus but hiring the scientists that will work in the labs day in and day out is another task. Hiring biologists that have different expertise allows you to have a broad intellectual base. Biologists that specialize in viruses are in their own niche section of biology. Biologists that focus on the human immune system are also a niche that you need. Chemists will make up the bulk of your employees as they will be handling the substances. Biologists will do the testing on living tissue or seeing how your substances will fair on the desired subjects, while the chemists will study the chemicals you create and how they react to changing circumstances.
The c-suite tree
Much like other businesses, a chemical lab company will need to set a hierarchy so an orderly managing of the business can occur. The c-suite is where the most powerful employees will reside. The CEO shall be the business owner or appointed leader, and then you have the Senior Researcher. This role is directly linked to the bulk of the employees and the experiments you are doing. They head the research development, pretty much like the R&D director would in other businesses. Laboratory assistants then need to be placed under the head researcher role as they will be those that practically run the lab everyday. The customer care director is then next as they will be communicating with your partners, clients and customers on a daily basis, updating them about progress made in the lab. The sales and marketing manager roles will also need to be filled with mainly business-minded people. They don’t need to know a lot about the industry, as their main job is to sell and they can learn as they go along. As ever financial accountants will play a huge role in your business as they will balance the budget and make sure your business is net-profiting from its activities. Hiring a risk analyst is also crucial to seeing a clear pathway into the future as they will monitor the market environment and consumer trends.
Pitfalls in the road
Like any other business, a chemical lab will have pitfalls in the road which you will need to avoid. Firstly, map out the list of your competitors and why they could usurp your services. Maybe they have a larger fund basket, maybe they have more employees, are they snapping up all the talent in town, and do they simply have better methods for achieving results in their experiments? Secondly, you need to figure out how many projects you will undertake at once. Chemical lab companies often find that their research goes on for a lot longer than they expected since they may have uncovered new reasons to explore or improve their result.
Working with pharmaceuticals is to your advantage as these type of partnerships and clients will be the bulk of your income pathway. Making medicines and doing research to improve current medicines is highly lucrative. Healthcare companies all want to give their customers the latest and beast treatments which allows them to raise prices while improving the care they provide. Rather than going your own way, you should include pharmaceutical communications in your business. The other pitfall is retaining employees. Many chemical lab companies will find that larger corporations try to snatch scientists from their business to go and work in their own. Working conditions and salary are therefore something that should evolve as your research activities begin to bear fruit.
Chemical laboratory companies are amazing businesses to start. You’re working in a very academic field however, so making sure you have amazing employees is one of your top priorities. Safety in such environments is paramount as you will be working in closed spaces with sometimes volatile chemicals.
