BT天堂

I realized things needed to change. Karachi deserved a dependable pharmacy chain that would prioritize consumer health and counter the misconceptions fueling the counterfeit medicine industry. Inspired by my experiences in France, Pharmacie Plus was born. We began as a single brick-and-mortar pharmacy that emphasized consumer health and well-being, centering on transparent procurement, climate-controlled medicine storage and top-notch service. In order to do this, we followed appropriate cold-storage methods, tracking batch numbers and expiration dates, and communicated the importance of genuine medicines and proper storage methods to our consumers. To provide better service, we even had an in-house nurse with a custom-built consultation room to conduct diagnostic tests and provide vaccination services, which later evolved into a small clinic for medical practitioners.

Our goal was to start a dialogue with consumers about their health needs and educate them about the many problems in the Pakistani pharmaceutical industry. Our priority was not to focus solely on sales but to develop long-term relationships with loyal customers and brands. We were the first business to reach out to many local organic cottage industries in order to retail their products in areas like health and beauty, homeopathy or diet. We brought the issues of genuine medicines and medicine storage to the public and highlighted some of the corrupt practices prevalent in the industry, differentiating ourselves from our competitors by promoting health and well-being.

Today, our biggest challenge continues to be consumer behavior regarding discounts. Medicine prices have been artificially restricted by the government, meaning there have been no price increases in line with inflation since 2001. As most consumers are accustomed to purchasing medicines at stores that offer large discounts, a terrible 鈥渄iscount culture鈥� has saturated the market; it is common to see recommended retail prices slashed by as much as 20%. At Pharmacie Plus, we only purchase medicines from licensed distributors, which means our margins are limited; other retailers purchase low-quality, fake, expired or repackaged medicines at a cheaper rate and turn those savings into 鈥渄iscounts鈥� for consumers. The expectation of a discount is a challenge that plagues us daily, but it鈥檚 not possible to cut prices without compromising our business integrity. That鈥檚 simply not something we are willing to do.

Our strategy has聽therefore聽been to聽challenge these expectations as much as possible, creating a brand that reflects our聽legitimacy. We have聽invested聽in comfortable shops that are climate-controlled, thereby聽displaying聽our seriousness toward storing medicines appropriately in a clean environment.聽We ensure customers can browse an聽additional聽inventory of health聽and聽lifestyle goods, cosmetics and specialized items聽to聽increase the value of the in-store experience. By focusing on good customer聽service, we聽ensure聽brand loyalty and聽keep up聽with聽our聽lower-priced competitors.聽Though we聽have聽faced resistance, over time customers聽have聽begun to tell聽us how much they appreciate what we聽do;聽they often emphasize聽how the medication they鈥檝e聽purchased from us聽is聽an聽improvement over what they聽were buying聽before. It聽is gratifying when friends and family commend me on聽our work聽or laud their聽latest聽shopping experiences聽in our stores.聽

Competition has increased聽now that聽other pharmacy chains聽have entered聽the market. It is聽satisfying聽to see how聽much聽of their brand positioning聽is聽鈥渂orrowed鈥� from ours聽(often verbatim). This is an immense source of pride for us as we聽were the ones to raise聽the issue of genuine medicines in a country where a lack of knowledge and information聽had聽led to unhealthy practices.聽Similarly, we聽were also able to bring the issue of medicine storage to the forefront聽in a city mired by heat and humidity聽鈥撀燼n aspect聽our competitors are聽starting to聽embrace聽more and more.聽

Launching a聽company聽from scratch forced me to聽consider聽how I wanted my brand to be perceived by consumers聽鈥� it enabled me to prioritize聽the聽values聽I聽wanted to represent and how聽I聽wanted customers to appreciate聽that聽ethos.聽The聽best聽advice I can give to other BT天堂 students is not to be聽daunted聽when entering a new space; oftentimes,聽challenging market norms and daring to be different is enough of an聽edge to聽create聽consumer awareness.聽I am exceptionally thankful to my family, my friends and,聽ultimately, my team for pulling through these past years, which haven鈥檛 been easy, but have聽definitely聽been聽fulfilling.聽