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.