Bosses were told that to succeed they should be paranoid by a guest speaker at a gala dinner.

They were probably unsurprised when Melissa Morris, boss of Lantum, told them that listening to customers, understanding what they want and using this feedback to drive the business agenda is the starting point for any successful business.

But she went on to say her mantra was ’only the paranoid survive’.

She was speaking at the Barclays gala dinner at the Villa Marina, Douglas.

The event is held annually to highlight some of the key issues affecting businesses in the Isle of Man.

This year’s theme was entrepreneurial businesses and why the island should support innovative companies and help them to grow.

Lantum is an online platform that helps healthcare professionals manage temporary staffing across the UK’s healthcare industry.

Ms Morris discussed her time as an entrepreneur and the lessons she had learnt in growing a new company.

After getting feedback from customers, she decided to try to meet their needs better.

Instead of introducing health providers to new clinicians, the focus switched to better connecting them with those they already knew.

The business has seen huge growth as a result.

’As a business your starting point has to be - where am I not serving my customers and what can I do to adapt and change?’ said Ms Morris.

’I stuck to my guns when it came to changing the mission of the business because I knew it was what the customer wanted.

’I live by the mantra "only the paranoid survive". My theory was that if we don’t do this someone else will and we won’t have a business.’

Lantum collects and analyses customer data to identify areas for innovation.

The latest is the introduction of payments as part of their offering so they can pay doctors the next day for their work. The team worked with Barclays in the UK to develop the new payment solution.

’One of the most valuable things you have as a company is your own data. If you can use your own data and find out where you are failing before others then you’ll continue to have a defensible position,’ said Ms Morris. ’Barclays saw our vision and they could see that there would be other organisations with a similar need so they changed the way they operated and we built a new product together.’

Ms Morris highlighted the importance of finding and nurturing relationships with the right partners to help your business grow and overcome obstacles.

’My key lessons from my first years of innovating are to be really strong on your vision, bring the right partners on board to support you and be paranoid, because if you don’t do it someone else will.’

Simon Scott, country head for Barclays in the Isle of Man, also spoke at the event and provided an update on the Barclays Eagle Lab, which is part of the bank’s drive to help entrepreneurs, businesses and the local community to create, innovate and grow.

’Melissa’s story is a really inspiring one and it was great to hear how she took an idea, developed it and created a very successful business as a result,’ said Mr Scott.

’Our goal is for the Eagle Lab to play a pivotal role in the business community by fostering innovation, creativity and increasing digital empowerment.

’This will help make the Isle of Man one of the best places to start and grow innovative businesses.’