Advice You - Business

An article in the Atlanta Journal & Constitution on July 19th featured Eddie Turner, owner of the small business, Footwhere, which sells dirt from various l

According to USFDA, a combination product is one composed of any combination of a drug and device; biological product and device; drug and biological product

ocations in the form of keychains. Turner discusses how the 1996 Olympic Games provided a boost to his business, but noted that “the devotion of so much tim

; or drug, device, and biological product and fixed dose combination would include two or more combinations of drug.

Examples of combination products may in

e to those projects sometimes alienated longtime customers,” according to the AJC.

Sometimes in small business, we can throw ourselves into a new project o

lude drug-coated devices, drugs packaged with delivery devices in medical kits, and drugs and devices packaged separately but intended to be used together.

market, a method of attracting new clients. Enthusiasm is good, and customers are necessary to growth and profits, but we don’t want to run the risk of los

here is enormous increase in the number of combination products entering the market in the recent years. Combination products have proven advantages but fixe

ing established customers in the process.

When you embark on some type of project or marketing scheme, whether it involves preparing for a trade show or fo

d dose combinations are still in the process of convincing regulatory authority on their advantages over the single ingredient formulations.

Combination pro

the Olympics, make sure you compensate by continuing to maintain contact with your old clients. This is especially true for projects that focus on out of t

ucts have become life saving products for the pharmaceutical companies who doesn’t have many innovative molecules in their product pipeline and have been inc

own customers (such as the Olympics). It does no good to make five or ten times your profit for one year if you have lost nearly all of your customer base a

easingly used in the product life cycle management. Even the companies having product patents are trying to extend their product life cycle through the combi

d must focus the following year or two rebuilding what you already had. Better to focus instead on branching out while maintaining contact with past and pre

nation products and maximize the revenues. But the companies involved in this practice are overlooking that they are burdening the patients both economically

sent clientele.

As a small business owner, you probably have a lot on your mind. You already wear three or four (or five or ten) hats. However, make sure y

and physically. They need to rightly judge the benefits of the combination products and they have to even look at the risks involved when combining the produ

u keep your customer service hat firmly in place at all times, even if it means temporarily hiring someone to wear it – or to take care of another part of t

ts. Some of the combination products were well accepted by physicians while others suffered. Companies involved in development of combination products are fi

he business so that you can keep that hat snuggly on the head of someone you know will keep your customers as priority #1. If you plan to be out of town fo

ding difficulty in defining their combination products and facing various challenges from selecting a combination to marketing it.

Following aspects would a

r an extended time, or plan to focus your attention on bringing in new customers, make sure you are keeping your older customers happy.

It can be infuriati

dd to the challenges in developing combination products:

Which markets to tap where the combination products can do fairly well?
Which combination prod

g to grow your business slowly, especially when a ‘fantastic’ marketing opportunity comes along. Sometimes we want to put more on our plate than we can hand

cts are meaningful and rational?
Which therapeutic categories to select?
Which Combinations can address unmet needs of the patients?
Do combin

le at one time. If you plan to make a sudden jump in business – or to work towards that jump – make sure you equally plan to keep in touch with your custome

tions increase the patient compliance?
What would be the developing cost?
How to tackle the risks encountered during combination product developmen

s. Perhaps you can contact them before the event and offer them a ‘special deal’ before that date. Then you can contact them again afterwards with a ‘thanks

t?

As combination products don't fit into the traditional categories of drugs, medical devices, or biological products, the USFDA is in the process of devel

for being patient’ special offer. If you will be distracted for awhile – such as over the Olympics – offer several special ‘just for customer’ deals midway

ping new procedures for reviewing their safety, efficacy and quality.

Professional from academic institutions, pharmaceutical industries, health care indust

through; perhaps you can open your store ‘by invitation only’ to special customers, offer them a discount, or take the time to go the extra mile just for th

y and representatives from various regulatory agencies are working out to design the regulatory requirements for manufacture and sale of combination products

em.

Whatever we do as small business owners, we must always remember that attracting new customers costs, on average, five times as much as maintaining old

.

As there is an increasing trend of the combination products companies manufacturing such products should be able to tackle the problems involved in the de

relationships. That means that, as you focus on new projects, you could be doing 20% of the work to maintain your existing customer levels. By all means, do

elopment. They need to be wiser in analyzing the market trends and the regulatory requirements.

Companies that provide selfless information through particip

n’t cut back on bringing in new customers – just remember that with a fifth of your effort, you could be maintaining your old ones while bringing in the new

tion in industry events and feedback to regulatory authorities would be able to face the challenges and will be successful in developing combination products

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Key Indicators allow you to track the health and growth of your business. By deciding what values are critical, then measuring them over time, you can determine exactly where you are in your progress towards your business development goals.

Finding a part-time job can be very different than finding a full-time job. You will need to use different job searching skills. Just as there are many online sites to search for full-time jobs, there are also a few sites dedicated to searching for part-time jobs. At some sites you can choose to search specifically for part-time work.

Once a company has come out of the ‘intensive care’ stage, it is of paramount importance that it can continue to nurse itself to health through long-term programs in recovery and strengthening.

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