: clients
Healthy Entrepreneurs
Healthy Entrepreneurs
For-profit
Year launched: 2011Program Website
Country of Operation
Approach
Target geography
Target Population
Target income level
- Bottom 20%
- Lower-middle income (20-40%)
Health focus
- Family planning and reproductive health
- Malaria and other vector borne diseases
- Maternal, newborn and child health
- Nutrition
- Pharmacy services
- Primary care
Summary
Healthy Entrepreneurs distributes high quality and affordable essential health products, services and information enhancing the health of people in developing countries. HE organizes an end-to-end supply chain to local entrepreneurs, who run a pharmacy or drugstore, and health facilities.Program goals
Essential medicines and health products in developing countries are too often not available, and if available of bad quality and/or too expensive. Moreover, people lack the information to make good decisions about their own health. Healthy Entrepreneurs aims to offer access to high quality, affordable essential medicines, health products and information to enhance the health of people in developing countries. We do this by setting up an innovative, fair and reliable franchise concept, where local entrepreneurs run a business and have a stable income. Moreover, we establish our own logistic chain to supply the entrepreneurs, but at the same time supply medicines and medical supplies as wholesaler to public and private health facilities.
Key program components
We work with local entrepreneurs, who invest money in order to enter the business. The entrepreneur invests upfront 25% of the expenses and pays back the remaining part of the investment within one year. This is a very important aspect since there is a clear commitment of the entrepreneur and loyalty is high. Entrepreneurs either run a (mobile) drugstore or pharmacy. They receive training in health issues and business. The franchise includes a container, a complete range of products, a tablet computer including solar charger and the use of the HE applications. The mobile franchise also has a bicycle. The applications on the tablet are used for providing health awareness, stock management and data collection. Entrepreneurs receive a regular replenishment. On average, entrepreneurs reach approximately 3,000 people in their designated area.
The product portfolio of the entrepreneurs depends on demand, type of franchise and national regulations. The products we distribute have a proven health impact.
1. Essential medicines (antibiotics, malaria treatments, deworming pills etc. )
2. Health products
a. Preventive (bednets, micronutrients)
b. Reproductive (contraceptives, pregnancy test)
c. Hygiene (soap, diapers, sanitary pads)
Some medicines can be sold over the counter; others need a prescription. Commercially interesting products can be added to the portfolio to ensure profitability for the entrepreneur.
All entrepreneurs are using offline tablets with four applications:
o The sensibilisation application provides awareness information on Sexual and Reproductive Health, Nutrition, WASH and Maternal and Child Health, including 54 short movies in seven languages.
o The consultation application provides counseling on products (e.g. a selection of contraceptives, malnutrition).
o The product catalogue provides an overview of all products including the fixed sales prices in the local currency.
o The stock management application supports the entrepreneur in all business operations and documentation, including replenishment of stock, stock position, turnover and online ordering etc.
Educating the target audience with a tablet, in their own language, proves to be very effective. Information about the users of the applications is registered and is regularly synchronized with a database. In this way, HE can produce detailed reports and analytics about users of the applications and the customers of the franchise shops.
A key component of establishing franchises is the successful storage of goods in country. HE creates warehouses in countries themselves to assure the continuous availability of the products for the franchise entrepreneurs. The portfolio on stock in our warehouses is far more comprehensive. It covers the full list of medicines and medical supplies to supply public and private health facilities in the region.
Scale
Technology
Financials
Reported Results
Affordability:
Availability:
Financial Sustainability:
User Satisfaction:
Health Output:
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Healthy Entrepreneurs (HE) distributes high quality and affordab
Parent Organizations
- Healthy EntrepreneursFor-profit
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