What happens when technology meets healthcare? One of the results could be a range of products that fuses smartphone technology with audiometry to drive one simple vision: healthy hearing for everyone, everywhere. That’s the hearX group in a very tight nutshell, and the CEO, Nic Klopper, sat down with us to take us through the brains of the business and, quite candidly, his own entrepreneurial journey.
“Entrepreneurship is one of those things you’re born with. I remember even as a child, I was always haggling something to my friends, even a LEGO piece. Or building PCs and selling them off when I was in University,” he says reminiscently. He even sold tomatoes off of a farm once. And to date, he has started 7 businesses, so it’s safe to put up the ‘serial entrepreneur’ banner.
Klopper has been involved with hearX for the past three years, a journey which he describes as “the biggest rollercoaster” he’s ever been on. The story, as briefly told by Klopper, goes thus:
Professor De Wet Swanepoel, now Lead Inventor and Co-founder of hearX, wakes up in the middle of the night to share a brilliant idea with his wife. “Wouldn’t it be amazing if we could put a hearing test on a smartphone?” he says. Sleepily, she agrees, but it’s shortly back to sleep thereafter.
By morning, he has not forgotten. In fact, he’s more persistent than ever. He picks up the phone to share the idea with another professor, who is convinced that it is simply impossible. When he reaches out to Herman Myburgh, however, they share in the excitement, and decide to give it a go.
One of Myburgh’s students at the time (who is now a hearX employee), began working on a part-time basis to try and make it work. A year later, he says, “I think I’ve proven that we can merge the concepts of an audiometer and a smartphone.”
This is where Nic Klopper comes in. He is approached to assist from a business perspective, and helps the team to look for funding for the idea. In 2015, the IP is commercialized.
Klopper’s role in the company is neither coincidental nor random. He really is business minded, and has been an entrepreneur all his life. “I think it’s something in which I’ve been able to use to fulfil a destiny and a purpose,” he explains. His first successful venture was a retail e-commerce distribution company, which he started from his garage. When he exited the company in 2014, it has a turnover of over R50 million.
With so much experience, then, it only makes sense to believe that Klopper has a lot of knowledge to share. Here are some key takeaways from our sit-down with him:
- You can’t do it on your own
Sometimes it’s an ego or a pride thing. We, as entrepreneurs, are inclined to think that nobody can do it better than we can. At this point, we [at hearX] have come to understand that partnerships are really the way to grow your business exponentially. Partner up as soon as possible and as much as possible. Partner with people and businesses that are larger and more successful than you.
2. Fail fast
I’ve been down so many rabbit holes in entrepreneurship, and there’s this small voice, deep down inside, that says ‘I don’t think you’re on the right track’. I think we all have that. And what do we, as entrepreneurs do? We persist, we try to milk it and get wine from the rock. But that’s not really the way to do it. Just fail fast, and move on quickly.
3. Get the first 5 right
Get the first five people in your company right. They form the basis of everything the company will be, it’s almost like they make up the DNA of the company. Don’t make mistakes early on with your team.
Vital Stats
Featured entrepreneur: Nic Klopper
Key players: Prof Dewet Swanepoel (Lead inventor and Co-founder), Dr Herman Myburgh (Co-inventor and founder)
Age: 33
Company name: HearX Group
Year founded: 2016
Turnover: R19 million
Start-up funding: R55 million