Advice You - Business

Turning an idea into a business

Ideas are like sparks -they fly off in thin air. The challenge would be to convert the idea into a full-fledged project and commercializing it into a revenue generating business. When Google started off, they had an idea - one to make it easier for an internet surfer to find precise information in the least possible time. Until the Search engine had a lot many users, the company didn't know how it was

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

going to generate the revenue to earn profits. Let alone profits, there was no business model in place to recover the costs! The idea struck to display advertisements next to search results. Google-owned sites that display ads generated revenues of $1.63 billion, or 60% of total revenues, in the third quarter of 2006. Additionally, its partner sites which also display Google Ads generated 39% of its total revenue - $1.04 billion. You may have an amazing idea to

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

Examples of combination products may in

hange the world or to serve a consumer gap, but where is the money? That's the million dollar question to ask.

Superior Technology - Quality matters

Google as a brand wasn't built over a million dollar advertising budget. On the contrary, they did not advertise at all for their products & services. The fact is that Google is superior. When they ventured into the Herculean task of downloading the entire internet and making the infor

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

mation available via a search engine query, they wanted it to be precise, easy-to-find and return exactly the information that a human would look for. No. They weren't pioneers. There were other search engine technologies at that time, but they were simply not that good with the results they got. If you are venturing into a business - quality matters.

Having things your own way

As a startup, Google had a major advantage - control o

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

er the business along with the required seed capital. Most businesses lose their liberty to venture capitalists. The control and focus of your business at its early stages is as important as the funds that the business needs at that time. Larry and Sergey, as founders cracked a winning deal with two of the most renowned Silicon Valley venture capitalist firms. They had the advantage of having things their own way when it came to decision making since they didn't

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

Combination pro

ire a CEO for long, thus, allowing the founders of the company to stick to their idea of commercializing the technology. As a startup, by getting to have your own way with the business itself gives you an edge.

Word of Mouth publicity

Marketing Guru, Philip Kotler gives reference to a study while emphasizing the effectives of Word of Mouth marketing for a product. More than 60% of the consumers in the study agreed that they made th

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

e purchase because one of their close relatives or friends had had a positive experience with the product. Google has never ventured into full-fledged mass media advertising of its search engine technology. For that matter, even the latest products are first tested by opinion leaders and then brought to the public through viral marketing tactics where a satisfied user invites another to use the service. Harnessing the power of word of mouth is indeed challenging

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

onsidering the fact that tracing its success is a difficult task. In the internet age, this too is not a problem though. Most companies fall prey to extravagant marketing budgets for mass media publicity with a marginal ROI. Why not interact with the consumer directly? Get your product/service tested and improvise it and let word of mouth marketing handle the rest.

Nurturing Innovation

Innovation sounds

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

ood in management books. Practically speaking, it loses its luster when the innovative idea starts to become a hindrance in the organization's focus. Google introduced a policy where an employee could spend 20% of his/her work time on his own ideas. Although, it sounded bizarre initially to traditional efficiency-hungry managers, it proved productive indeed. Some of the best products by Google came from the minds of its employees themselves - Google News, Orkut (

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

an ever-growing online community) and many more. This was possible through nurturing of the project in its nascent stages by the founders. As the top management and decision makers of the organization, Sergey and Larry spent time looking at innovative products that could help them achieve their goal - Make information available to users. Unlike many bureaucratic procedures that would hinder innovation in many organizations, it didn’t take a lot of time for a proj

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

ct to get recognized as a fruitful one and gain funding by Google. As a business, the goal is not just in making profits, but also to innovate continuously in your field of expertise. Do you have a pet project? Are you up to date with the latest technologies that can help your business's future? In this age, it's not hard to get beaten up by competition because an innovative idea struck before you know what's happening! The message is clear - Innovate and make it

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

Following aspects would a

work for your business.

An honest brand image works - 'Don't be Evil'

Google is loved by users. The honest brand image they project is of an organization which is here to do good to the public at large. This has worked for Google. The very idea of projecting such a brand image makes them sound like a technological behemoth that is here to help the world in this age of 'Information overload'. Such a brand image allows them to still

dd to the challenges in developing combination products:

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

sound clean regardless of the number of lawsuits it’s struggling with for all the wrongs it has done. Also there are other courtroom proceedings for copyright infringement which many of its users are not aware of. Moreover, it's not easy to give out all the information to the entire world – even that revealing strategic defense locations of a country! But still, Google is loved by the end-user because of the brand image it carries. Think of the PR that your brand

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

does just by projecting its purpose!

Focus

Al Ries, well-renowned management guru, says, “Focus is Revolutionary. It goes against conventional thinking although it is extremely simple”. At the end of the day, it's the focus of your company that matters. Google has a focus. The focus is Information. To narrow it down further, the focus is to provide accurate information in the least time possible and as accurately as possib

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

e. It follows its revenue

generation model and seeks its feasibility in newer pursuits it ventures into. The Google Ad network gets greater exposure with its increasing partnership with external publishers (websites), so also its own pursuits - like Gmail. The focus remains the same here, in terms of generating revenue for its ever growing passion to provide information. If you have a focus in your business, you know what you want from a particular resource and

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

you can chalk down a plan for an expanding business and yet retain its focus.

Company Culture

Employee Stock Options, Free Meals, 20% Work time for something you are passionate about. To work in an organization like this is like a dream come true. It not only suffices the basic needs of the employee, but also gives him the time to explore with his own ideas! In fact, this very thing has helped Google gain more attention in the med

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

Professional from academic institutions, pharmaceutical industries, health care indust

a. The culture at Google has followed the founders' philosophy. They wanted Google to be the best place to work at. There is a lot that once can learn from Google's Human Resource Management practices - including placing strategic locations for placing food and refreshments!

Beat yourself before the Competition beats you

Competitive Benchmarking as a management practice of the traditional business. In this information age, you can

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

ot stay at the top for long with cut-throat competition. Google states that it does not have competition. The statement implies that they work as per the needs of the user. They improvisation of products at Google gain more value by adding more features as per user feedback. The 'beta' version of most of its products are less for the purpose of measuring the performance of the product and more so for improvising the product as per user feedback. You can be the be

.

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

st in the industry if you listen to the end user rather than the competition. Improve your products even when you are at the top, before the competition pulls you down with something better for the consumer.

Think Big

To put it simply, Google is doing has brought a revolution in this Internet Age not only for users but also for businesses across the world. The very reason why the Google Phenomenon is so hyped up is because it has c

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

Companies that provide selfless information through particip

anged the way people use the internet. When you think of it, this revolution started as a University project by two Stanford students! Thinking big and achieving it are two different things. But initially, it all starts with a thought doesn't it? So, think big, think something revolutionary. You ought to make money, if you can change the habits of people for using your products. People don't search for information now-a-days on the internet, they simply Google it

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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Companies have been branding their collateral materials such as letterhead, envelopes, business cards, etc. for years. In fact, we often identify a company by its familiar logo or special color scheme. Branding works!! At the same time, many companies send customers and vendors large files, proposals and presentations on CD-Rs. Since CD-Rs have become the “new and more efficient” way of exchanging important information, it would seem that more companies would find it valuable to brand their CD-Rs also.

George Orwell's vision of a world where Big Brother is watching and listening to everything we do seems to becoming more and more a reality as technology enables all sorts of people and organizations to monitor the activity of others. Although this may be disturbing in some aspects, for a business trying to keep tabs on what staff are doing and how well they are doing their job, these new technologies are a godsend.

You've been working with a potential client and you think that you finally have the future project all worked out – then they ask you for a proposal. You've seen this great potential project but you need to bid for it. So how do you write that proposal that is going to win you the business?

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