Starting a pharma franchise business is less about one big decision and more about a dozen small ones made in the right order. Get the order wrong and you end up with a licence but no products, or stock with nobody to sell it to.
Here is the sequence we suggest to people who contact us while they are still at the planning stage.
Step 1: Be honest about your starting point
Before anything else, write down three things:
- Your contacts. How many doctors and chemists in your area do you already know by name?
- Your capital. How much can you put in for stock, licences and six months of running costs without stress?
- Your time. Is this full-time, or alongside another job or shop?
Someone with ten years as a medical representative and fifty doctor contacts can move faster than someone starting cold. That’s fine. You just need a plan that matches where you actually are.
Step 2: Study your market
Spend two or three weeks on this. Visit chemists and ask what moves. Notice which specialities are strong in your area: general physicians, paediatricians, gynaecologists, orthopaedics. Those specialities decide which product categories you should focus on.
A town with a large maternity hospital is a different market from one dominated by orthopaedic clinics. Your product mix should reflect that.
Step 3: Set up your firm and paperwork
You will need:
- A registered firm. A proprietorship is the simplest way to begin. A partnership or private limited company works too if others are investing with you.
- A wholesale drug licence (Forms 20B and 21B) from your state’s drug control department. Requirements include premises of the minimum specified area, appropriate storage (including refrigeration if you will handle products that need it) and a competent person as defined in the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules.
- GST registration for your firm.
- A current bank account in the firm’s name.
Processing times for the drug licence vary by state. Apply early, and use the waiting time to shortlist companies.
Step 4: Choose your franchise company
This decision shapes everything that follows. Compare at least two or three companies on product range, manufacturing details, monopoly terms, promotional support, dispatch speed and pricing. Get the important points in writing.
We have written a separate guide on how to choose a PCD pharma company in India that goes through this in detail.
Step 5: Start with a focused first order
The temptation is to order the whole list. Don’t. Pick a focused set of products that match the doctors you can reach in the first few months, typically a few fast-moving items in each of your main categories. You can expand once you see what sells.
A smaller first order also means less money tied up in stock and less risk of products nearing expiry on your shelves.
Step 6: Plan your doctor and chemist visits
The franchise business runs on visits. Make a weekly route plan covering doctors and chemists by area. Use the visual aids and product literature from your company, and keep your pitch simple: what the product is, the composition, the pack and why it is good value.
Keep all promotion ethical and within the guidelines that apply to pharmaceutical marketing in India. Doctors notice, and a reputation for honest dealing lasts longer than any gift.
Step 7: Build retail and stockist coverage
A prescription is only useful if the chemist near the clinic actually has the product. Make sure the chemists around each doctor you visit carry your products. In larger areas, appoint a stockist or two so retailers can reorder quickly without waiting on you.
Step 8: Track, reorder and expand
From the first month, keep simple records: what you bought, what sold, who paid and who is pending. Within three to six months you will know which products are your strongest. Reorder those, drop what doesn’t move, and add new products only when there is real demand for them.
A realistic timeline
For most people, the first three months go into setting up and introducing products. Orders usually pick up from the fourth to the sixth month, once doctors start prescribing regularly. It takes patience, but each relationship you build keeps paying back for years.
Healthkey Life Sciences has been working with pharma business partners since 2016. If you are at any stage of this process, whether still deciding or already licensed, send us your details and we will help with the next step.