Success isn’t about having a perfect idea. It’s about executing, staying focused, and building something that people really want.
When my twin brother Eli and I first decided to build Bask Health, we didn’t have a healthcare background, but we had a lot of confidence. We thought launching a telehealth brand would be like any other e-commerce business. But it wasn’t.
No matter how hard we tried, no matter how well we planned, we quickly failed, and gave up more than once. But through that chaos, we discovered the ‘Five Business Truths’ that helped us build a SaaS platform that now powers over 100 telehealth companies.
If you’re building a SaaS platform or launching an app, I’ll reveal to you five of the most important things I wish someone had told me earlier.
(A SaaS platform is a cloud-based delivery model where users access software applications over the internet rather than having to purchase and install them on their local devices. Essentially, it allows businesses to use software solutions on a subscription basis. The service provider manages the underlying infrastructure, security, and updates.)
- Launch before you’re ready
I thought we needed a perfect product before launching Bask Health. That mindset almost bankrupted us. Initially, we built a telehealth platform focused on eyelash enhancement. We spent months developing the website, obsessing about the design, solving regulatory issues, and then realized we had no customers. The worst part was that we didn’t know if our idea would work, so we didn’t get anything done.
In the end, we threw away perfection and came up with a clear demonstration of our new vision—an all-in-one SaaS platform for launching telehealth companies. Within a week, we had customers, real feedback, and a clear path forward.
If you’re going to build something, get it into the hands of users/customers as soon as possible. You can learn a lot more from one real user than you can from months of developing plans on paper.
- Differentiate and simplify
The first business we tried to launch failed miserably. We built a good platform, but we underestimated how difficult it would be to compete in a crowded market without anything unique.
That experience taught us to focus on alternative opportunities. We didn’t want to be just another “telehealth tech” provider. We wanted to be the Shopify for telehealth—to build a platform that is simple, customizable, and beneficial for startups like us. We also realized that the more complex a solution is to launch, the less competition you face. This is your chance!
We built Bask to take the pressure off. We did it through self-service onboarding, drag-and-drop tools, and API integrations. We no longer require a developer, and no prior healthcare experience is required.
SaaS is competitive. If you don’t solve a very specific problem better than anyone else, you’re just another tool in a sea of tools.
(Shopify is a Canadian multinational e-commerce company headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario. Shopify is the name of its proprietary e-commerce platform.
Drag-and-drop tools are intuitive user interfaces that allow users to interact with applications by selecting and moving items using a mouse or touchscreen. They are widely used in various software, including website builders, app builders, and even some operating systems, to simplify data creation and manipulation.
API integrations are the process of using APIs to connect two or more software systems to facilitate the seamless transfer of data.)
- Do one thing extremely well.
Early on, we tried to say ‘yes’ to every feature request. We exhausted ourselves by promising simple, buildable tools that we couldn’t maintain, and customizations that we didn’t have time to support.
Eventually, we realized that our core product was enough. The more deeply we focused on that one thing, the faster we grew. Word of mouth spread, and customers were happier.
To get noticed, build something that solves one pain point better than anything else. Once you dominate that space, you can work on a few more layers.
- Work seven days a week (at least at first)
This isn’t a cultural tip. It’s just a reality. If you’re competing with companies that work 40 hours a week, you’ll outpace them if you work 70 hours.
Throughout Bask’s first year, Eli and I worked every day. There were no weekends. There were no breaks. And we were still behind. But that intensity helped us ship faster, adapt faster, and serve customers directly while we built in real time.
The window of opportunity you have to work nonstop for your startup doesn’t last forever. But if you’re not willing to outdo everyone early on, you’re gambling on luck instead of effort.
- Building and scaling are two different games
Building a product is about focus, creativity, and agility. It takes structure, systems, and delegation to scale.
We learned this the hard way. As our customer base grew, support tickets exploded, hiring became uneven, and our team of three couldn’t keep up. We thought that product alone would solve these problems, but it didn’t.
Things didn’t work out until we started hiring—slowly and deliberately. We hired successful, technically-savvy reps. We invested in internal tools. We realized that scaling is about focusing on infrastructure, not just code.
Understand this early on! Your first 10 hires aren’t just filling positions. They’re laying the groundwork for the next 100.
Building Bask was the scariest journey I’ve ever taken in my life. We’ve gone from a near-collapsed eyelash startup to helping companies launch telehealth brands that serve millions of patients. But it wasn’t because we were lucky. It was because we learned from every mistake, listened to our users, and kept going when things looked hopeless.
If you’re building a SaaS product, know this: it’s not about having the perfect idea. It’s about relentless execution, staying focused, and building something people actually want.
When in doubt, launch, talk to users, keep shipping!
Editor’s Note – This article was written by Zach, the co-founder of Bask Health. He and his twin brother Eli started the company to create a Shopify-like platform for telehealth. With Zach’s engineering expertise and Eli’s background in biomedical engineering, they aim to empower non-healthcare entrepreneurs to innovate in the telehealth space.
This article was provided by the Hector Kobbekaduwa Agricultural Research and Training Institute / HARTI under the ‘Promoting Business Opportunities and Industry Connections through Capacity Building and Networking among Women Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises’ program, implemented with funding from DevPro Guarantee Limited.
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