Onthia Business Consulting

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of Medicheck, a SaaS company specializing in healthcare. Our platform is used mainly for electronic health records and the administration of paperwork that hospitals and clinics use.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Onthia Business Consulting?

We were getting into a sensible and potentially risky industry with healthcare, and we didn’t want to make a mistake. We realized that our country has many lagoons in healthcare law regarding data management and data procedures, which we recognized as both an opportunity and a risk area. Although we could do many things, we could also easily make a mistake with laws related to privacy and data analysis.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

At first, we hired Onthia Business Consulting for a consultancy to understand the legal ecosystem in general and related to healthcare because none of our partners were familiar with the law. The scope of the engagement grew, and they helped us with our constitutive act, where we defined the stakes our partners would have in the company.

Then, they wrote our site’s privacy settings and terms and conditions for our app’s users. Through these contracts, our users acknowledge that the data they capture will be subject to data analysis. 

We also reached out to them for help when we opened a new income channel. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we started offering our service to enterprises, so we required Onthia Business Consulting to write a contract for that specific product.

What is the team composition?

We initially had contact with a former Onthia Business consulting teammate who helped us with the constitutive act. When we required knowledge related to healthcare, he jumped out of the equation, and another lawyer came in to help us.

How did you come to work with Onthia Business Consulting?

Though I don’t recall exactly, I believe one of our partners found Onthia Business Consulting when they were mentoring a business accelerator program.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $10,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together on a monthly retainer basis from June 2018–December 2019. 

Although Onthia Busines Consulting is still our provider, we use them more sporadically.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

Onthia Business Consulting’s work on our terms and conditions and privacy policy helped reassure us that we were doing things correctly and protecting ourselves. They also improved our procedure for closing contracts from a legal point of view.

When we started working with enterprises, there was a lot of bureaucracy involved, and their legal departments came into the equation. We were working with a mock-up for SaaS providers we found online. When the companies reviewed those mock-up contracts, they had many comments, and we had to go back and forth 5–6 times. Then, we asked Onthia Business Consulting to create our new contracts. With the next company we engaged, which was bigger than the previous ones, the process was really smooth and has been ver since. Our closing procedure is very easy now, and most of the time, we get zero comments apart from small name changes. 

Additionally, they were very honest when they didn’t have the knowledge we needed. The first lawyer we worked with took a couple of weeks to research and study some topics to give us the best advice. 

Onthia Business Consulting is also flexible when it comes to payment arrangements. They initially offered their services on a monthly retainer basis, covering all our legal needs over the paid month. We worked on the monthly retainer for a year, and once we stopped needing such close legal advice, they changed the model to an over-the-counter project fee. Currently, if we need something from them, they will give us a quote for that specific project.

How did Onthia Business Consulting perform from a project management standpoint?

At the beginning of the project, when they were still learning about our company, we had a lot of meetings where their partners decided who would be the most qualified to take charge of our account. After that, we had very few meetings and worked remotely, for the most part. We communicated through phone calls and emails.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Onthia Business Consulting was focused on the startup world. We appreciated that their service was affordable for entrepreneurs and small-sized companies. We’d worked with a previous law firm to create our privacy settings and spent a lot of money on them. Then, we realized those contracts were missing some points. Plus, healthcare laws were changing in regards to telemedicine and data management. Going back to the previous law firm would have been more expensive than getting Onthia Business Consulting to start from scratch. 

Additionally, they had a partner with expertise in each specific area without being super expensive. For example, our first lawyer from Onthia Business Consulting was specialized in mobile apps and fintech. Our previous firm, though very prestigious, didn’t have the expertise for technology. When we jumped to Onthia Business Consulting, we found the knowledge we needed — they were pointing toward this new world. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could have improved their follow-up. For example, we were the ones that reminded them of the yearly assembly board to get the documentation ready to present to the government. If we didn’t have someone on our side in charge, I don’t know if they would have been punctual in the follow-up. 

Although they were very good, they were a young company, and we encountered the pros and cons of working with such a new company. Follow-ups, meetings organization, and on-time delivery are things they could have improved three years ago. I’m not in such close contact with them now; I know they’re doing well, though.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I would advise having a person responsible for the follow-up on your side. In this case, one of my partners was in charge of the legal aspects and our relationship with Onthia Business Consulting.