A.R. Anand
The dwindling state of small pharmacies store is the topmost reason why our country isn’t registering great economic growth. People are devastated by the lack of basic healthcare facilities available at exorbitant prices. The most patient never recovers or survive due to burgeoning costs of medicines and self medications that consumes both the finances and the lives of many patients.
Maximum Indians are dependent on local small pharmacies stores but due to the low margins on branded medicines and heavy competition from online pharmacies and pharma malls, small pharmacies stores are becoming all-around wasted. To improve this dwindling state of small pharmacies stores, OyeCare is stepping up to tackle big-tier pharma companies that are selling medicines at inflated prices by calling them branded medicines and OyeCare is also giving standard primary care services to avoid self medications.
Mr. A.R.Anand is just nineteen years old but his foresight made him come up with a revolutionary start-up idea that would bolster the small pharmacies stores infrastructure while ensuring that patients get medicines at the bare minimum price and also standard primary care services. He works in tandem with eminent personalities of the pharmacy and medical field hailing from Patna, Bihar. OyeCare started as an attempt to bring down medicine pricing by sourcing generic medicines and not adding brand expenses as most pharma companies do, some time later clinics were added to avoid self medications through standard primary care services. OyeCare is a registered Pharma Clinics company that fully operates under the strict standards laid down by the Indian government.
Mr. A.R.Anand shares how the OyeCare came to life. He said I was in a hospital one day, where a patient had died. When I asked how it died, I came to know that he had brought some medicines, but some medicines could not be brought due to lack of money. Now when I went to the small pharmacy store to ask the same thing, I got the answer – “Almost all medicines are branded medicines, on which the retailer only gets a profit margin of 10-15%, as well as due to the increasing of pharma malls and online pharmacies day by day, there is a lot of competition, many small pharmacies stores are going to close. It is happening in reality, you tell me from where we can give cheap medicines by giving huge discounts in this condition.
At the same time, I felt that some new startups should be started so that the patient is also benefited as well as small pharmacy stores can also survive in such a competitive market. Because the closure of one store affects the whole family. I started doing research. In research, I came to know that there is not one or two such patients, but 60% of the Indian population is facing this problem. It was also learned that about 10 lakh such small pharmacy stores are also facing the same problem.
When I did more in-depth research, I came to know that 85-90% of the medicines in India are cheap generic medicines, which are marketed by the companies by “branding and marketing” them as expensive medicines by calling them branded medicines. This emerged as one of the main reasons why small pharmacy stores get very low-profit margins, as well as the constant competition from pharma malls and online pharmacies, they are unable to provide cheap medicines to the patients.
I started talking to Govt. Approved and WHO GMP Certified pharma manufacturing site, then there they were told that the actual price of medicines is very low. Now I started feeling that the company would have to be started. I decided to take the risk. In the beginning, without informing anyone in the house, after convincing a relative, I took 17 lakh rupees and finally started the company which was named “OyeCare”.
He introduced OyeCare into the franchise system by explaining our model to a small pharmacy store. Where he gave OyeCare brand, technology, and franchise facilities to those small pharmacy stores by taking franchise fees in some amount and started providing cheap medicines there. Due to which the patient started getting cheap medicines at a huge discount there, as well as those small pharmacy store owners also started getting good profit margins.
The idea became successful at the grassroots level, but I noticed that our franchise owners were increasingly dependent on outside prescriptions, which was affecting the business, and also found that many people were doing self-medication in the absence of standard primary care, which makes them more unhealthy. So I again started researching what should be done now.
Now I started feeling that I will also have to start a clinic that will give special focus on standard primary care, which will not only benefit the patient but also our franchise owner will be greatly benefited.
I formed a team of doctors and made an SOP and got them collaborated directly with OyeCare franchise outlets. Now the patient started getting all types of standard primary care. OyeCare franchise owner also started benefiting a lot.
In this way, a successful Innovative Pharma Company as well as an Innovative Clinics Company i.e., combining both, the Pharma Clinics Company “OyeCare” was formed. The efforts of the youngest Bihari CEO in the pharmacy industry have been applauded by many personalities including the founder of the renowned Super 30 founder, Mr. Anand Kumar.