Start Me Up Profile of the Month: Enrique Coronado '08
Enrique Coronado '08 talks about his business, Por Ti, Familia, the key to working with family members and the power of social networks.
1. How did you come with the concept for Por ti, Familia (PTF) and how has it evolved since School?
It all started while getting my MBA at Columbia. During my first year, I got involved in an International Development Club project to write a case study on enabling good health in Mexico’s low income communities through pharmacy franchising. Over a decade ago, Mexican pharmacy chains had started to integrate doctor consultations into the traditional drug store model and it had worked really well in low-income communities where the presence of government hospitals was limited. However, in the Mexican business model the pharmacy remained at the forefront of the model giving more importance to medicines consumption than to doctor consultations. As a result, the model increased self-medication in the communities generating a higher risk to the proliferation of drug resistant bacteria.
I saw an opportunity to improve the model and take it to Peru, my home country, which also had a large and underserved healthcare market. To reduce the impact in self-medication Por ti, Familia’s (PTF) concept was developed around the doctor consultation and not the pharmacy. At PTF, a sick patient sees first a qualified primary care physician for a minimum price and then has access to our discounted medicines and laboratory testing services.
Our first facility is larger than we expected when compared to the initial plan. However, this change has proven to be beneficial in terms of business operations and brand image as our newly renovated building houses our administrative offices and medicines warehouse. In terms of the concept, PTF has maintained its policy of providing high-quality and low-cost consultations while integrating affordable laboratory testing and pharmacy services. So far the model is proving successful as we have already acquired over 2,000 patients that have generated over 2,800 consultations in the first six months of operations (52% compounded monthly growth rate).
2. What have consumers or the media said about Por ti, Familia?
At the moment PTF is still a very local business so positive consumer perception is key to ensure PTF’s success. For that reason, at PTF we have developed processes to measure customer insight and word-of-mouth. Currently, 30% of our patients come to the clinic through word-of-mouth and 99% of our customers have said that would recommend our services to their family and friends. Furthermore, at the moment there is a 46% chance that a customer that came in today would return at least one more time within the next five months.
Most of the comments in our customer satisfaction surveys are around increasing our supply of specialized medical services and opening longer hours, which tells us that we are in fact fulfilling an existing need. Also, ‘Semana Economica’ the main business magazine in the country has labeled PTF as ‘easy access clinics for the emerging middle class’. Read article.
3. Is anyone in your “familia” involved with the company? What role(s) do they play? If you have family in the business, what advice would you give someone thinking of working with family members?
My brother Ian and my cousin Juan Manuel are co-founders of PTF and hold the posts Chief Operating Officer and Medical Director, respectively.
I have had a great experience working with my brother and my cousin. We have gone through tough times since we started the company but have always been able to resolve our problems. Communication is key to avoid the presence of hidden agendas in teams that work towards the same goal. Every Saturday we sit around a round table I have in my office and discuss past and current work problems and strategize for the future – it works well!
My advice would be not to base your decision on how well you get along – good or bad, with the family member you are considering to start an endeavor. First think about the core competencies needed for the project and then evaluate the person’s skills and potential coupled with their level of excitement for the endeavor.
4. How do you use the internet and/or social networks to promote your business?
Social networks have played an important role in expanding PTF’s business. In fact, we used a social network called Angelsoft, an on-line deal-flow software system that helps you collaborate with investors, to raise our first round of VC funding. Check out PTF's video entry.
Two months ago we created a Facebook page to promote our services through our family and friends. Only two weeks after creating the page, I was contacted by a good friend from high school who needed occupational health care services for his employees. A couple of weeks after we got in touch, PTF was closing its first corporate sale.
Nowadays, we use social networks to keep PTF’s followers current on how our business evolves through time as we have realized that social networks are full of potential clients, business partners and even investors.
5. What has been the most challenging aspect of the current economy for your business? What are you doing to prepare for the next market phase?
We raised venture capital and launched PTF during a very challenging economic environment. At the beginning of the second quarter of 2009, Peru’s economy which seemed immune to the world financial crisis was hit by both, the financial crisis and the AN1H1 influenza virus. Consumer spending immediately decreased in the private health care sector as the government institutions were the only ones prepared to treat people infected by the virus.
Given the current environment in the country, we decided to reach out to our potential customers at their homes. We designed a community outreach marketing program in which our healthcare professionals visited patient’s homes to provide information on preventative health care subjects including the AN1H1 influenza. This way we gained patient’s trust, which today has translated in rapidly growing levels of patient flow and share of wallet. To prepare for the next market phase we are attempting to gain customer’s trust by providing our customers with information that teaches them to take better care of their health.
6. What impact has your Columbia MBA education had in the way you approach business today?
If I hadn’t gone to Columbia, PTF would not be running at the pace nor level of sophistication it runs today. Many of the classes I took at Columbia have been extremely beneficial during my work at PTF. Prof. Schorer’s Launching New Ventures class taught me how to write a killer business plan, Prof. Kheener’s Entrepreneurial Finance class gave me the notions on VC valuation, which helped me obtain VC funding, and Prof. Biggadike’s Top Management Process class provided me great insight into the General Manager’s job or what he calls ‘The Top Job’.
7. How do you stay connected to the Columbia entrepreneurial community?
Starting a new venture leaves you with very little time, but it is a must to keep in touch with other entrepreneurs. I stay connected to the Columbia entrepreneurial community mostly through professors. For example, we have kept in touch with Prof. Fraiman who is providing PTF tremendous support by putting us in touch with top-notch consultants looking to work in pro-bono projects.
8. What tip would you give to a Columbia student with entrepreneurial aspirations?
There is one particular inspirational thought I like very much: "Whatever you do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it." (Goethe)
9. Where do you see Por ti, Familia 5-10 years from now?
PTF seeks to break old paradigms in the provision of health care by instituting differentiated health care policies, integrating cutting edge technology and decentralizing its infrastructure. PTF aims to become the clinic around the corner where the combination of quality, affordability and convenience is present in every location.
However, all of the above cannot be accomplished without creating a strong company culture that ensures the patient high-quality consistent health care products and services, and at the same time, a unique customer experience throughout the chain. For this reason, establishing strong training processes are necessary to overcome existing paradigms present in the employee’s mind set and create a strong company culture that will be passed along to the patients they serve every day.
In Peru and most likely in many emerging markets, highly prepared health care professionals are not only costly but also scarce. Therefore, if PTF seeks to maintain a lower cost structure and be able to compete in a market where price remains a barrier to access, we need to create and perfect PTF’s training processes to allow ordinary employees to provide an extraordinary service. And this has to be done in the short term during the penetration phase.
In the next five to ten years, I see PTF expanding its operations internationally, and with it, its own differentiated culture. However, human resources are different in every country as each market faces unique paradigms. Therefore, training will remain key to ensure the existence of a consistent culture that not only crosses geographical borders but also cultural identities.
Do you know someone we should write about? Tell us about them! Read past alumni profiles