COLLEGE OF PHARMACY

PHARMACY 403
PHARMACEUTICAL MARKETING AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP
First Semester, A.Y. 2018-2019

THE BUSINESS CONCEPT

A business concept is an idea that is the basis for founding or transforming a business. It typically describes how you
capture value and your unique selling proposition. Your business concept is what ties your business idea to a greater
core. It draws the relational inference between your potential business, the industry, and your targeted market and
customers.

Great forethought and consideration must be given to all the moving parts that are involved in a particular business
idea. The greater amount of time an entrepreneur spends on the conceptual component of the business, the easier it
will be to implement.

OUTLINE
The outline of the Business Concept, including the corresponding guide questions, is as follows:
OUTLINE GUIDE QUESTIONS
1. The Company THIS IS YOUR INTERNAL ENVIRONMENT.
1.1 Company Name 1.1 What is your company name?
1.2 Mission Statement 1.2 What is your mission statement? This is your core purpose – the
1.3 Business Type reason why you started the business.
1.4 Management/Organizational 1.3 Are you a service business? A merchandising business? A
Chart manufacturing business? Or a hybrid business (e.g., both
1.5 Location and Geographical manufacturing and merchandising)?
Information 1.4 What are the different departments in your company and their
functions? Who will be heading these departments and what are
their positions? You may assign these positions within your group.
1.5 Where will you operate your business and why? If it entails
nationwide operations, where will be your headquarters? Is it
strategically located?
2. The Business THIS IS YOUR BUSINESS IDEA AND EXTERNAL MICRO
2.1 Products or Services ENVIRONMENT.
2.2 Distribution Model 2.1 What is your product/service and what does it do? How different is
it from other products or services currently available in the market?
2.3 Revenue Model
2.2 How will your products or services reach the customer? Will you
2.4 Operational Model have intermediaries?
2.3 How will this business primarily make money?
2.4 To ensure proper and smooth flow of operations, what are the
different resources (equipment, supplies, human resource) needed
by your company? No need to budget, just list down and justify.
3. The Industry These are your EXTERNAL MACRO ENVIRONMENT.
3.1 Market Trends 3.1 What are the major trends affecting the businesses in the industry?
3.2 Barriers 3.2 Are there barriers to entry for new businesses? Only answer this if
it is applicable to you. (May be skipped)
3.3 Legal and Regulatory
3.3 What are the legal or regulatory considerations to start a business
Considerations in this industry?
4. The Target Market
4.1 Demographics
4.2 Psychographics
4.3 Problems and Unsatisfied
Needs
4.4 Solutions and Benefits
4.5 Obstacles and Objections
4.6 Importance of Target Market
5. The Competition
5.1 Direct and Indirect
Competitors
5.2 Unique Value Proposition
Email your final outputs in .docx format to dianaorolfo@gmail.com. The deadline will be at the end of your respective
classes. (i.e., PHAR 4-1: Thursday 11 AM; PHAR 4-2: Thursday 4 PM). Deductions will be made to late submissions.
FORMAT: Use 12-point font, single space, Arial. 5 pages minimum, 10 pages maximum.
GRADING DISTRIBUTION: 25 POINTS
▪ CONTENT – 22 POINTS
o The Company – 4 points
o The Business – 5 points
o The Industry – 4 points
o The Customer – 5 points
o The Competition – 4 points
▪ FORMAT – 3 POINTS
THIS IS YOUR CUSTOMER ANALYSIS.
4.1 Demographics can include things like age, gender, race (ethnicity),
household income, home ownership, disabilities, education,
employment status, marital / parental status, geographic location,
etc. Include as much information as possible, but only for the
demographics that are important to you.
4.2 Let’s get inside your customer’s head. What are their hopes and
dreams? Their aspirations? How do they think? Psychographics
include any relevant their values, their goals, what matters to them
in life, what their preferences are, etc. (ie they are ambitious, they
favor quality over price, they are a trend-setter).
4.3 What problems does your customer currently have? What are their
challenges or frustrations and why aren’t other products satisfying
those needs well? What’s their current situation and how do they
want that to change in the future?
4.4 What solutions or benefits does your product offer the customer?
How and why does it meet their needs. Think about it from a few
different angles of why this customer would choose you over
alternatives.
4.5 What mental or physical obstacles might prevent this customer from
choosing or using your product. Are they afraid of buying online?
Not sure the swimsuit will fit? Skeptical of the claims that you make?
4.6 Most businesses will have multiple segments that they could target,
so after we have done the customer profile think about some of the
pros and cons of targeting this audience, or how valuable it would
be for you. Think about how much will they spend, how defined the
audience is, how easy they are to reach (ie if you have access to a
Facebook group with thousands of stay at home mums then this
group is really easy to reach), etc.
THIS IS YOUR COMPETITOR ANALYSIS.
5.1 Who are your top direct and indirect competitors? Describe them
in terms of offerings, size, location, and reputation. What are their
major strengths and weaknesses?
5.2 Why would someone buy or get services from from you as opposed
to your competition?