Tuesday, 15 September 2015 10:12

Ziath & the Reason for our Existence!

Written by Neil
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My baby son recently broke my glasses; turns out that they don't bend backwards!  So I went to the opticians and while selecting my glasses the saleswoman (Denise) in the shop asked what I did for a living; I replied that we make specialist barcode scanners used in medical research (easier to explain than biobanking!).  She replied 'Why?' and I flippantly replied back 'to pay the mortgage and put food on the table'.  So Denise patiently smiled at me and said 'no, why do people need specialise barcode scanners.  I apologised and explained about 2D tubes and sample storage and Denise used this information to pick out a pair of glasses which are suitable for work (BTW until the glasses are ready I'm wearing sunglasses at my desk).

 After I humbly left I thought back to this conversation and realised that in all the work to deliver our products to our customers (thank you to each and every person who uses our products - it means a lot to us) I had forgot to state the purpose of our company.  We don't exist to make and deliver our products; no matter how great they are but instead to help people manage their sample collections using easy to use tools.

Ziath was established nearly ten years ago by myself and Tim Dilks (our technical director) in a pub in central London; we decided that the 2D rack readers available were not reliable or easy to use.  With my background in Sample Management and Tim's technical wizardry we decided to rectify this situation - our first product was born.  From the start there have been two main objectives:

  • Deliver products that are simply & easy to use - don't just say it but do it
  • Offer immediate and expert support; we've been in the lab where something breaks or you don't know how to work it.  You need help and you need it quick!

We still keep this at the core today and I would like to say thank you to Denise of Specsavers, Walthamstow, London for reminding me that we need to say this to each other in addition to living it daily.

Finally; if you are starting up a company yourself - I would recommend putting those principles at the core of your business.  You won't be an overnight success because it takes more work to achieve these lofty goals but you will be a company that sticks around for ten, twenty and thirty years.  I believe we are a company people can rely upon and in marketing speak the brand stands for reliability and innovation.

Read 9502 times Last modified on Tuesday, 15 September 2015 11:43
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