Advice You - Business

Dear Fred and Lyna: For the past 20 years I have worked as an account executive for a major soft drink company and frankly, I am sick of it. I have been 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

ooking into owning my own business and have run across several franchise opportunities. Do you think a franchise is the way to go or should I start out on m

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

Examples of combination products may in

own from scratch?

Fred: In our last blog we looked at the importance of evaluating whether you have the characteristics of an entrepreneur. Now we'll ans

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

wer the writer's question about franchising vs. starting your own business.

Lyna: Let’s take two people we know who started similar businesses. Brad opene

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

a Deli franchise in Ohio, and Doug started his own deli business in Virginia. They are both happy in their choice, as well as successful.

Fred: One of th

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

Combination pro

e things we hear from clients we coach is that they don’t like the idea of being so structured that they can’t utilize their own ideas. Yet Brad found a fra

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

chise where the parent company is flexible enough to let him try new things. Brad feels like he’s part of a big family. Although there are things he cannot

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

do per his contract, he also has a lot of support from them.

Lyna: Doug steered clear from franchises because he doesn’t want to be restricted – he wants t

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

have the final say in all aspects of his business, from creating the logo to having fun, funky promotions. And he had money set aside to open his business,

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

so he didn’t have to look for funding.

Fred: That‘s another plus for franchising – most banks have no problem giving loans for a business that already has

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

a proven track record. And the business can open pretty quickly.

Lyna: Although it took time for Doug to build a customer base, he felt he had a larger pop

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

Following aspects would a

lation to work with. He realized that although franchises have a proven brand and consistency that can bring in customers from day one, at the same time thi

dd to the challenges in developing combination products:

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

s kept away those people that didn’t care for their products.

Fred: And Doug doesn’t have monthly royalty fees to pay. On the other hand, the best franchi

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

es, such as the one Brad is with, offer continued training and support. They realize the more successful the stores are, the more money the company makes.

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

Lyna: So the bottom line is that Brad works well owning a franchise because he was able to get his business up and running quickly and smoothly with the pro

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

en franchise brand. He received a loan with little effort and has the support and expertise of a successful team to help him succeed.

Fred: Doug, on the ot

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

Professional from academic institutions, pharmaceutical industries, health care indust

her hand, would have felt stifled and frustrated as a franchisee. What makes him thrive is the freedom to make his own decisions. He is a great networker an

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

builds alliances with other businesses in the community.

Lyna: So should you buy a Franchise or start from Scratch? The realiy is: Do you want to be in bu

.

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

siness for yourself or by yourself?

Fred: If you are considering buying a Franchise, we recommend you do some research, ask a lot of questions and talk to

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

Companies that provide selfless information through particip

ranchisees of the companies you are considering.

Some resources are:

International Franchise Association
Franchisepick.com
Franchiseupdateinc.co

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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Is it hard to deal with the public. I am the public and I also deal with the public on a daily basis.

Richard Robbins, Founder of Richard Robbins International shares his secrets to success.

The big challenge for business owners is how to evaluate if they’ve made a good choice when it comes to hiring a designer – how can they tell if they’ve picked up a gold nugget or a lump of coal. I am going to share with you 5 quick things you’ll eventually think and feel that indicate you made the right choice in hiring your designer.

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Advice You - Do You Want To Be In Business For Yourself Or By Yourself

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