The document discusses the importance of including details about the business behind a business model or plan. This business description helps stakeholders understand if the model or plan is a good fit. The business description may include the organization's name, type of business, mission, history, how it positions itself, key personnel, portfolio, and market served. These details allow others to assess if the model or plan is consistent with the business and increases the chances of stakeholders supporting it.

1. THE BUSINESS
DETAILS ABOUT THE BUSINESS BEHIND THE
BUSINESS MODEL/PLAN

2. David Holdford, RPh, MS,
PhD, FAPhA
Professor, Department of
Pharmacotherapy &
Outcomes Science
Virginia Commonwealth
University School of
Pharmacy

3. LEARNING OBJECTIVES
1. Know the importance of
the business behind the
business model/plan
2. List details about the
business behind the business
model/plan
3. Assess the coherence of a
model/plan with business’s
mission, history, people,
positioning, portfolio, and
markets served

4. THE BUSINESS (OR ORGANIZATION)
DESCRIPTION IS A COMPONENT OF ALL
BUSINESS PLANS AND BUSINESS MODELS

5. Organization's
Operation - Specific
background about the
organization where the
product/service will be
provided
Strengths, Weaknesses
- Your capabilities to
serve targeted
customers
Service/ Product – What
you are offering
Secondary Customers
- all other people you
may serve
Partners - People or
businesses who can
help you serve
customersValue Proposition - The
case you make to
customers
Opportunities, Threats -
Potential for success or
failure in the market
Competitors - People or
businesses who
compete for your
customers
Primary Customers -
People or businesses
you want to serve
Costs - Financial and
nonfinancial inputs
needed to serve
customers
Pricing & Reimbursement - Sources of revenue to sustain your value
proposition
Communication Plan -
How your value
proposition is
communicated to
customers
Implementation - Details about critical factors for success of business
Business Model Canvas for Pharmacy Services
Lean Canvas is adapted from The Business Model Canvas (http://www.businessmodelgeneration.com)
and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Un-ported License.

6. KNOWING THE BUSINESS BEHIND A
VALUE PROPOSITION HELPS TO
UNDERSTAND ITS POTENTIAL FOR
SUCCESS AND SUSTAINABILITY

7. A MISMATCH BETWEEN THE BUSINESS
AND THE VALUE PROPOSITION IS A
RED FLAG FOR INVESTORS AND OTHER
STAKEHOLDERS

8. The Business Description…
May describe just an element of the overall business. The ‘business’
may detail:
 a pharmacy department within a large hospital or other business,
 an individual pharmacy, group of pharmacies, or business unit within
a large business,
 a network of pharmacies or an association, or
 any organization or entity offering the value proposition.

9. The Business Section of the Business Plan…
Tells what the business is and wants to be
Provides its backstory
Documents the business's legitimacy and capability to
offer the value proposition

10. THE RATIONALE FOR THE BUSINESS
DESCRIPTION IS THAT…

11. PEOPLE DON’T INVEST IN
BUSINESSES.
THEY INVEST IN THE PEOPLE AND
STORIES BEHIND THOSE
BUSINESSES.

12. PEOPLE DON’T INVEST IN
BUSINESSES.
THEY INVEST IN THE PEOPLE AND
STORIES BEHIND THOSE
BUSINESSES.

13. THIS IS AN IMPORTANT POINT FOR
PHARMACISTS,
SO LET ME REPEAT IT.

14. PEOPLE DON’T INVEST THEIR TIME,
MONEY, EMOTIONAL CAPITAL, AND
EFFORT IN BUSINESSES.
THEY INVEST IN THE PEOPLE AND
STORIES BEHIND THOSE BUSINESSES.

15. FOR EXAMPLE…

16. A PERSON PITCHES AN IDEA FOR A
BUSINESS BEHIND AN INNOVATIVE
PHARMACY APP…

17. WITHOUT KNOWING ANYTHING
ABOUT THE APP, DO YOU THINK IT
HAS A CHANCE TO SUCCEED?

18. YOUR ANSWER WILL LIKELY BE
“I DON’T KNOW”

19. WHAT IF I TOLD YOU THAT THE APP WAS
DEVELOPED BY TOP PROGRAMMERS AT
THE AMAZON CORPORATION AND IT
WILL RECEIVE THE FULL BACKING OF
JEFF BEZOS, AMAZON’S CEO?

20. DOES THAT INCREASE THE
LIKELIHOOD THAT YOU THINK IT
MIGHT SUCCEED?

21. YES! BECAUSE…

22. THE PEOPLE IN THE BUSINESS AND
THE BUSINESS’S STORY MAKES A
DIFFERENCE

23. AND THE BUSINESS DESCRIPTION CAN
MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN THE SUCCESS
OR FAILURE OF A MODEL/PLAN PITCH
TO STAKEHOLDERS

24. Details about the business model depend on
whether the business is a:
Startup or an established enterprise
Single product or multi-product operation
Sole proprietor, partnership, or investor owned endeavor
Small, medium, or large organization
Local, regional, or global firm

25. WHAT TYPICALLY GOES INTO THE
BUSINESS DESCRIPTION?

26. The descriptive information of the business
behind the model might include:
1. The organization’s name
2. The type of business
3. Its mission
4. Its history
5. How it positions itself
6. Key personnel
7. Its portfolio
8. The market served

27. DETAILS ABOUT MOST BUSINESSES
CAN BE FOUND ON THEIR WEBSITES,
ANNUAL REPORTS, AND PRESS
ARTICLES ABOUT THEM

28. FOR EXAMPLE
WHAT IF YOU NEEDED TO DESCRIBE
FRED’S PHARMACY IN A BUSINESS PLAN
FOR A PHARMACIST DIRECTED
MANAGEMENT PROGRAM?

29. YOU MIGHT
LOOK ON FRED’S
WEBSITE

30. 1. organization’s
name
2. type of business
3. its mission
4. how it positions
itself
5. key personnel
6. its portfolio
7. market served
HOW MANY OF THE
FOLLOWING CAN BE
FOUND ON FRED’S
WEBSITE?

31. Mission

32. Type of
Business
General
Merchandise
& Pharmacy

33. History
Fred's Pharmacy traces its history back to 1947, when it opened its
original store in Coldwater, Mississippi.

34. How it
positions
itself

35. Key Personnel
The key personnel behind the diabetes management program depends
on whether the program is being offered at one store or company wide
This information may not be readily available on the website but can be
easily attained by contacting Fred’s

36. Portfolio

37. Market
Served

38. The business description allows
stakeholders to judge whether the
proposed diabetes management
program is right for Fred’s Pharmacy

39. Mission
Does it fit
its mission?

40. Does it fit a
General
Merchandise
& Pharmacy
Business?

41. History
Fred's Pharmacy traces its history back to 1947, when it opened its
original store in Coldwater, Mississippi.
It is consistent with
its history?

42. Is it
consistent
with how
it
positions
itself?

43. Key Personnel
The key personnel behind the diabetes management program depends
on whether the program is being offered at one store or company wide
This information may not be readily available on the website but can be
easily attained by contacting Fred’s
Are the people right for a
diabetes management
program?

44. Portfolio
Does diabetes
management
add to the
portfolio?

45. Market
Served
Does diabetes
management
fill a need in
the market
served?

46. If the answer is yes to all of these
questions, stakeholders will be more
likely to support the proposed diabetes
management program at Fred’s
Pharmacy

47. Summary
You now should be able to:
 List specific details about the business behind your business
model/plan
 Understand the coherence of your model/plan with business’s
mission, history, people, positioning, portfolio, and markets served
 Use that understanding to improve your pitch to stakeholders