Advice You - Business

If you’re starting your own business or currently work for a start-up, you wear a lot of hats. Any disruption in your business can eat up hours of your time and kill your productivity. Many start-ups are so focused on getting their business off the ground

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

, that they overlook technology considerations that can help increase their productivity and enhance their efficiency. Unlike mid to large corporations that have dedicated IT personnel, start-ups typically do not have in-house IT resources to evaluate and

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

Examples of combination products may in

eploy new technologies to pre-empt unforeseen issues, such as virus attacks, and streamline processes to increase efficiency gains. This is due partly to time and partly due to budgetary constraints. Small businesses want to focus on the next sale, not th

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

next purchase. Largely for this reason, many small to medium businesses (SMBs) are categorized as laggers on the technology spectrum -- classified as conservative IT buyers and slow adopters of new technologies. This profile make it seems as if SMBs are

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

isk adverse, when in actuality, SMBs are more risk takers than corporate employees – after all, they’ve started their own business or are part of a start-up where the P&L is felt throughout the company.

So why are so many SMBs behind on the technology spec

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

Combination pro

trum? As mentioned, without dedicated IT personnel making system recommendations, SMBs are on their own in terms of finding out the latest and greatest products. They need small business solutions that are affordable and scalable, and most importantly, do

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

not disrupt business operations. Without the luxury of having dedicated IT resources, SMBs do not have time or the desire to seek out the latest gadgets or attend tradeshows featuring next-gen products.

This begs the question: how do SMBs stay on top of

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

ew technologies that can help them run their business more effectively? The technologies have to come to them: bring the new products to the SMB community.

The big trend with major hi-tech vendors in the past 2-3 years has been building marketing initiati

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

es to tap into the SMB market. To many companies, the SMB space is still a gray cloud: how do SMBs behave and what are their demographics? Each company has its own definition of an SMB: ranging from less than 100 employees to less than 1000 employees. M

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

any hi-tech manufacturers have beta programs, usability tests and focus groups to collect feedback on how SMBs react and behave. Many of these programs offer very attractive incentives such as free product, cash, corporate branded giveaways “tchotchkes” in

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

exchange for some form of market validation: user feedback, quotes for a press release, or customer references to serve as real world proof points. These exchange opportunities are always available – one just has to know where to look.

Here’s a testament

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

Following aspects would a

to the kind of exchange opportunities that are available all around us: in the July 2005 edition of Runner’s World, there is an ad from Factory Outlets (http://www.factoryoutlets.com/) promoting its pre-launch site. Factory Outlets needs traffic to test i

dd to the challenges in developing combination products:

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

s ordering, fulfillment and customer service systems and is giving away $350 worth of free merchandise in exchange for time. If you don’t believe it, pick up a copy of Runner’s World to get an authorization code into the site – and shop your heart out (the

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

merchandise is limited, but it’s free).

Manufacturers invest millions of dollars into marketing to the SMBs and yet there has not been a centralized place where SMBs can get an aggregated listing of exchange opportunities offered by manufacturers. Until

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

ow.

SMBxchange, Inc. is a new technology community geared to providing exchange opportunities to SMBs, including useful tools and resources to help them run their business. By this, we don’t mean resources on how to get a loan, where to get legal advice,

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

tc. There are plenty of small business portals that do the job. The tools, resources and exchange opportunities featured on www.smbxchange.com are around useful technologies that can improve the way SMBs work -- perhaps even introduce products that people

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

Professional from academic institutions, pharmaceutical industries, health care indust

never knew existed. SMBxchange is a relatively new community and exchange opportunities are in the near horizon. Types of “exchange opportunities” will include: focus groups, beta programs, whitepaper campaigns – where there would be some type of incentiv

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

e (free product, cash, etc.) in exchange for user feedback.

Membership into SMBxchange is free and there is no obligation or commitment. By joining, members get access to SMBxchange newsletters and a secure members-only site where there will be a listing

.

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

f opportunities that match the member’s product interests. Members only participate in programs for products they’re interested in. SMBxchange is the first community that bridges these two audiences (SMB and manufacturer) into a symbiotic environment. Th

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

Companies that provide selfless information through particip

s is a community that brings the technology to the SMB, and aggregates opportunities and offers tailored to the SMB’s product interests.

To join SMBxchange, complete the online form at www.smbxchange.com

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

Looking to take a business trip to France? Here are some helpful tips when visiting this wonderful city. Advice about the airport, proper etiquette, what to see and how to get around the city are some of topics discussed in this article.

Best-selling author, popular keynote speaker, sales and customer service coach, and President of Customersatisfaction.com, Dr. Gary S. Goodman, sayswhen you run into a string of bizarre customer service encounters it may be the universe's way of saying, change your routine!

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