Archivo de noviembre/2014

Author: Luis Arimany

Evolufarma: Multichannel Marketing for retails

A unique platform that allows to perfectly know the client and to do communicate with him when is not in the shop to increase business turnover through customer knowledge, engagement and direct marketing.

Treats the client as unique person, regardless how he interacts with the business. It Integrates automatically with pharmacy ERP (or any retail software), Ecommerce, provides additional CRM capabilities and with mobile application.

With the combined integration it provides in the shop a profiling of the client and allows doing customer segmentation mixing any information of the different databases, for example mixing on life style from the CRM and consumer behaviour in the shop.

Finally it provides a Multichannel Marketing a Communication tool allowing to get to the client through emailing, sms, post, website, mobile application and Social Media.

Where did you get the idea?

Luis Arimany, our CEO have been in the Pharmacy industry for over 8 years and he detected there was a lack in the community pharmacy Industry of tools for marketing and they had not yet embraced the digital world. The reason is because pharmacies had a profitable business model of just dispensing drugs and therefore there was no need to take care of the customer.

He detected that there industry was having a structural change sifting from a business model of just dispensing drugs to selling products and services. And it was not technologically prepared.

He then contacted Daniel Garzón (CTO), a former friend from IE specialized in the digital world with his own company and together they created the product.

How long have you been working on the idea?

We started working in the idea in Summer 2012 and founded Evolufarma in December 2012.

We came to market without a final product in March 2013 in order not to lose the opportunity of the annual Pharmacy fair.

Who are your current or potential competitors?

We have competitors in our different modules but so far there is nobody offering a technical solution as complete as ours and integrated with existing pharmacy systems.

Some companies are offering solutions but not integrated in a unique platform and they are overcoming some technical deficiencies though consultancy.

What features would provide further differentiation?

We are working in a whole solution, joining IT sysmetms (SQL, Oracle, Access), with Marketing tools (emailing, sms, post) with ecommerce and with mobile application. We have many specific solutions that integrate all digital channels that provides added value for customer and for the pharmacies. Our main competitive advantages are the complexity of the solution and the speed of development and added value features we have.

What is your business model?

So far our client is the pharmacy and we charge a setup/consultancy fee and later a SaaS monthly fee

Shareholders

The company is own by 4 professionals that left their “C-level” positions to work full time to the project and put 320.000€ social capital

Luis Arimany, CEO.

• Experience: General Manager at ARX-Rowa, Country manager at Hepco Slide Systems, Strategic Consultant and Teacher
• Education. Industrial Engineer, Executive MBA at IE, MSc

Daniel Garzón. COO

• Experience: General Manager at Onaline and Teacher at UC3
• Education: Technology Engineer, Executive MBA at IE

Rafael de Federico. CCO

• Experience. Sales and Marketing Director at ARX
• Education: Enginer, Master in Production and Quality

Iván Rivera

• Experience: Project Manager at Telefonica and IBM and Teacher at UC3
• Education: Technology Engineer, Master at Telefonica for high performance people

Do you have a prototype? How many iterations took it from the initial idea to the current product?

The product is 100% functional with customers working with it.

It took us around 3 months to get to the idea as it is and the concept of the product has not changed but we are iterating technologies, different ways of doing the something, etc.

What are the most difficult of the experience as entrepreneur?

Main one is the lack of resources (human, time, money). There are many things to be done and very few resources. You have to learn to leave with the frustration of not being able to deliver what you want and to make decisions that involve balance between many variables like cash flow, product, urgency, client, strategy, long term, short term.

The other one was formal direction. Initially the 4 shareholders worked very efficiency in their own areas without a formal direction and making decisions in their own. As time passed, the complexity of the product and of the company grew and the initial management structure was no longer efficient and turned out to work against us. We realised that despite we all are shareholders we needed someone to have a higher rank in order to coordinate and managed us. Also we realised we needed a more structured Board Directors Meeting.

In your opinion, what are the most important personality traits to be a successful entrepreneur?

In the team the following skills are needed, but they can be provided by different team members:

• Flexibility
• Vision, strategy (long term work)
• Being Practical (Short term work)
• Communication
• Humanity
• Cope with frustration
• Leadership
• Focus

Is there anything you would go back and do differently if you had the chance?

Being more structured since the beginning.

What advice would you like to give to potential entrepreneurs?

Entrepreneurship It is a beautiful world but it is also very hard. You have to be able to give time, money and be able to leave at least 2 years without income.

What is your experience with Area 31 and IE?

The two founders of Evolufarma are former Executive MBA of IE Business School. We have experience in our bones the entrepreneurship culture of IE, first as students and later being at Area 31.

Area 31 gave us space, free services of top companies, mentoring, being part of the entrepreneurial network of Spain and access to very interesting people.

Being part of IE-Area 31 it is also a very good business plan.

At IE Business School we’re looking forward to hosting the new intake of startups selected for our Incubator in Area 31. They were chosen from a pool of very competitive applicants. Congratulations to those who made it! We hope to see all the other teams that applied at the multiple open events hosted in Area 31.
The teams that will join the fifth edition of the Startup Incubator in Area 31are:

• Thebambiniboom.com
• Lingbe
• Valigo
• Worktoday
• Cuaquea
• Pentagrom
• Encontrart
• Queryday
• The Mice World
• Drive Gum
• Kehko
• Kinder 360
• Koiki
• Gremyo
• Acuérdalo
• Kuorum
• Cropti
• Veertex

They will be joined by selected teams from the fourth edition who, due to their achievements during their time in Area 31 and commitment to creating a strong network within Area 31, have been granted another 6 month stay in the incubator. Their role is to ensure the transmission of the culture of Area 31 on to the next edition. These top teams from the fourth edition are:

• Bee Bee Babies
• E-nlaza
• Evolufarma
• Inminute
• TripMenu

See you soon in Area 31!

Author: Ignacio Diezhandino

How and when did you start working on this idea?

We are not the usual entrepreneurs who had an idea and decided to act on it. Instead, we seized the opportunity when it presented itself. The actual founders of Kidiverso.com decided, for personal reasons, to close business by the end of 2013, only a couple of months after launching, and then we saw our chance to step in, buy the company and relaunch it in our own way, in a process that took a few months. Thus, in February 2014, the new Kidiverso.com was born!

How does the business work? What is the business model?

Kidiverso.com is an ecommerce site that sells discount coupons for services and products for families and kids from 0 to 16 years old. Thus, we offer our customers quality products and services at discount prices and we act as an online marketing website for our Collaborators, who get their businesses promoted and only pay for real customers who buy and try their products/services.

Do you have a specific app for mobile platforms?

We don´t have an app at the moment. Our website has a responsive design and works great with mobile devices. Until the time comes when we can offer a real and distinctive value to our clients with a specific app, we won´t work on it.

What kind of investors does the company have?

The foolest of all, the partners!

At what stage is the project now?

We recently launched our newly designed website and we can say we are at the product-testing stage. In our case is doubly challenging because not only we need to concentrate our efforts in growing our user base, but we also have to do a tremendous effort in attracting quality Collaborators who offer their services/products through our webpage.

What role do the members play in the company?

The two partners are the only full-time “employees” of the company right now, handling the day to day as well as the strategic decisions. We also have hired two freelancers to help us with our commercial and marketing efforts

What are you most excited about right now in your project?

In the next few months we will validate our business model and our growth in all key metrics will be key to go look for our first financing round, so this time will be defining for our project, which is very exciting and scaring at the same time!

What are the hardest challenges of being an entrepreneur?

It depends a lot on the business itself and the market it is in, the experience and know-how of the partners, the kind of funding you need and you can easily get to start with, your personal situation, etc.

In general, I would say that the hardest challenge is to be able to handle the pressure of earning little or no money while working your ass off for the possibility of a future reward which is, in general, highly uncertain.

But, as I said, it depends a lot on your personal circumstances. If I was a young recent graduate out of IE, I probably wouldn´t care about that!

Is there anything you would go back and do differently if you had the chance?

We decided at the very beginning to discard the old website and develop a new, better one. We thought we could do it quite fast and be able to launch in April-May and we ended up launching in October.

Looking back now, we probably wasted precious time and it would have been better to use the old website from the get go while developing the new one at the same time so that we could have validated and improved our business model from the get-go.

Since you started, what has had the most impact on your original plan?

The reality check of the market. You may have an idea on paper, with every response to every possible problem or set back, and once you go live the market will pull you back to the ground!

What advice would you give to potential entrepreneurs?

Not only you need to have a great product or service, but also people need to perceive it as such. What you might think is no-brainer, many times is not seen as such by the market, which often is stuck in its old ways. So once you decide to pursue your idea, market-test it as soon as possible.

–       How and when did you start working on this idea?

We are not the usual entrepreneurs who had an idea and decided to act on it. Instead, we seized the opportunity when it presented itself. The actual founders of Kidiverso.com decided, for personal reasons, to close business by the end of 2013, only a couple of months after launching, and then we saw our chance to step in, buy the company and relaunch it in our own way, in a process that took a few months. Thus, in February 2014, the new Kidiverso.com was born!

–       How does the business work? What is the business model?

Kidiverso.com is an ecommerce site that sells discount coupons for services and products for families and kids from 0 to 16 years old. Thus, we offer our customers quality products and services at discount prices and we act as an online marketing website for our Collaborators, who get their businesses promoted and only pay for real customers who buy and try their products/services.

–       Do you have a specific app for mobile platforms?

We don´t have an app at the moment. Our website has a responsive design and works great with mobile devices. Until the time comes when we can offer a real and distinctive value to our clients with a specific app, we won´t work on it.

–       What kind of investors does the company have?

The foolest of all, the partners!

–       At what stage is the project now?

We recently launched our newly designed website and we can say we are at the product-testing stage. In our case is doubly challenging because not only we need to concentrate our efforts in growing our user base, but we also have to do a tremendous effort in attracting quality Collaborators who offer their services/products through our webpage.

–       What role do the members play in the company?

The two partners are the only full-time “employees” of the company right now, handling the day to day as well as the strategic decisions. We also have hired two freelancers to help us with our commercial and marketing efforts

–       What are you most excited about right now in your project?

In the next few months we will validate our business model and our growth in all key metrics will be key to go look for our first financing round, so this time will be defining for our project, which is very exciting and scaring at the same time!

–       What are the hardest challenges of being an entrepreneur?

It depends a lot on the business itself and the market it is in, the experience and know-how of the partners, the kind of funding you need and you can easily get to start with, your personal situation, etc.

In general, I would say that the hardest challenge is to be able to handle the pressure of earning little or no money while working your ass off for the possibility of a future reward which is, in general, highly uncertain.

But, as I said, it depends a lot on your personal circumstances. If I was a young recent graduate out of IE, I probably wouldn´t care about that.

–       Is there anything you would go back and do differently if you had the chance?

We decided at the very beginning to discard the old website and develop a new, better one. We thought we could do it quite fast and be able to launch in April-May and we ended up launching in October.

Looking back now, we probably wasted precious time and it would have been better to use the old website from the get go while developing the new one at the same time so that we could have validated and improved our business model from the get-go.

–       Since you started, what has had the most impact on your original plan?

The reality check of the market. You may have an idea on paper, with every response to every possible problem or set back, and once you go live the market will pull you back to the ground!

–       What advice would you give to potential entrepreneurs?

Not only you need to have a great product or service, but also people need to perceive it as such. What you might think is no-brainer, many times is not seen as such by the market, which often is stuck in its old ways. So once you decide to pursue your idea, market-test it as soon as possible.

Evolufarma ha recibido el Premio João Cordeiro en la categoría de Herramientas de Gestión como la más efectiva de la actividad farmacéutica. El galardón, entregado por la ANF (Asociación de Farmacias de Portugal), empresa propietaria de Consoft (Farmatic) y Pulso (Nixfarma), a través de Glintt, está destinado a aquellas empresas cuyo proyecto y espíritu de innovación tienen como objetivo promover el desarrollo de las farmacias.

Este premio, que celebra durante este año su primera edición, reconoce a aquellas empresas que recogen el testigo de João Cordeiro, fundador de ANF en 1974, expresidente de Glintt e histórico emprendedor farmacéutico, cuyo carácter llegó a estimular el desarrollo del sector en el país luso.

Este reconocimiento se produce tan solo unos meses después de que Evolufarma pasara a formar parte del Área 31 del IE Business School, dirigida a empresas innovadoras, donde ha podido trabajar y desarrollarse en una escuela de prestigio internacional con acceso a una comunidad de más de 6000 empresarios de todo el mundo, y tras haber recibido los siguientes reconocimientos del mundo empresarial: finalistas de Wayra (Aceleradora de empresas de Telefónica), Partner de IBM, semifinalista de SmartCamp (IBM) y semifinalista de BStartup (Banco Sabadell).

If you are a business student with entrepreneurial attitude, if you would like to contribute in the development of a real business model in cooperation with high level Information Communication Technologies (ICT) experts and mentors with international reputation, a chance is offered for you within ICT2B, an expenses paid pan-European tech start-up programme funded by the European Commission. The first step is to apply online at [www.ict2b.net]. The second is to spend two days full of creativity at the Lufthansa Training Centre

ICT2B is an innovative programme designed to foster entrepreneurial creativity and innovation by bringing talented business students with entrepreneurial aspirations to join forces with the brightest technological minds in the field of ICT and digital research. We are looking for leading business school students to spend a weekend working with leading researchers to develop big ideas for a new generation of tech start-ups.

The next tech launchpad event will be held at the Lufthansa Training Centre near Frankfurt, Germany from 19-21 February 2015. The most successful tech startups will be mentored and invited to a takeoff event in Halkidiki Greece in Summer 2015.

Participants can expect: high-level industry mentors, top-notch co-founders and a once in a lifetime sponsored activity in the unique Lufthansa facility. Participation of management and business students is limited to 50 funded places for those who apply before December 1st 2014.

Please register through ict2b.net. There is a 100 EU deposit that will be refunded if you register before December 12

For any questions, contact us through info@ict2b.net, read the FAQ section or interact with the project through Facebook.com/ICT2B or Twitter.com/ICT_2B