7A: Testing the hypothesis

1. Opportunity:  “Mobile-Pharmacy” across the United States.

2. Three W’S:

·        Who: ill or indisposed individuals, nurses, doctors, nursing homes, pharmacists.

·        What: inability to provide convenience and efficiency when it comes to medicine and prescriptions

·        Why: operations and management science failure to make drug deliveries cost-effective.

3. Hypothesis:

·        Testing the who: I believe a significant part of the people who share this need is listed already; however, the share of this need could expand beyond limits to everyone who would just have the necessity for their medicine or prescription to be delivered right at their doorstep.

·        Testing the what: there are definitely boundaries of the need. For instance, some individuals might not find inconvenient driving to the closest pharmacy when they are indisposed or need a prescription. In addition, the extra cost this service might generate could not be worth paying for some individuals.

·        Testing the why: the “why” I have identified does not hold for everyone, but I believe a substantial reason is because it’s difficult to make drug-deliveries cost-effective. Others might blame the operation management to make deliveries of its product more effectively.

4. Interviews:

·        One of my interviews was with my grandmother which is 70 years old.  I asked her about who would be in need of this of this product and she mentioned that people who are incapable of driving to pharmacies. In addition, she stated that nursing homes will be a place where the high demand for this service will be needed.

·        My second interview was with my aunt which is a general doctor and owns a drug business in Victoria, TX. She told me that this service could be implemented into her business to make her customers’ experience more convenient. I asked what are some of the issues for this service to not work and she mentioned that she didn’t know anybody that would be available to drive around and bring the medicine to her clients’ homes.

·        My third interview was with my roommate which was sick about a month ago. I told him about this service and if would have used it when he was sick. He stated that he would’ve had because the last thing he wanted to do was to leave his bed. Also, He said that he wouldn’t pay more than $5 for this delivery.

·        My fourth interview was with one my friend’s friend. We were talking about how Uber was such a genius idea and I mentioned my “mobile-pharmacy” app. He said that could work but he believed it wouldn’t work because there are pharmacies all around. He also mentioned that he could just have an Uber driver bring him his medicine if he ever felt like not driving to the pharmacy. In addition, he said he also wouldn’t pay more than $5 for this delivery since he lives pretty close to a Walgreens.

·        My fifth interview was my father. I told him about this opportunity and he mentioned that it would require plenty of logistics to make this service cost-effective. I told him about how other people have told me that they wouldn’t pay more than $5. He stated that when people are in need of medicine and indisposed to even get out of bed, they would definitely pay more for this service. Additionally, he said that the max he would pay for medicine to be delivered would $10 depending on how much medicine is and how far is the closest pharmacy.

5. What I found:

·        The information I found from interviews is that the main target would be nursing homes. As baby boomers ages, I believe that the demand for this service could increase. In addition, I found that for this service to work, it must join pharmacies such as Walgreen and CVS to make it cost-effective. Each pharmacy must have an assigned driver for its deliveries to make it efficient and effective. To join forces with these pharmacies would be a crucial part for this opportunity to succeed. Also, I found this service would be targeted to high-income individuals such as retired baby boomers. Finally, I believe that people would not pay more than $10 per delivery.