How solving a Personal Problem
Can Trigger the Recognition of a
Promising Business Opportunity
Case 2.2
Tsatsral Dorjsuren
Amarzaya Nasanjargal
Louis Bohan
Jesslyn Goh
Introduction
Many entrepreneurs create business
opportunities in response to personal
problems they have.
◦ Financial issues
◦ Recreational problems
◦ Family problems
 family problems are urgent
 need a quick solution
 useful to other families
 a feasible business idea.
Introduction of FLAVORx

FLAVORx is a health care company devoted to
helping people and pets take their medicine.
It was founded in 1994 by Kenny Kramm, and now it
has 42 FDA-approved flavorings for both over-thecounter and prescription medications
 And it is available in over 35,000 pharmacies
worldwide.

FLAVORx: the founder’s backstory
In 1992, Kenny Kramm’s second daughter, Hadley
was born premature.
 As an infant, she developed a medical disorder and
she needed to take awful tasting medicine. Every
time she took the medicine, Hadley could not keep it
down, and her condition
worsened.

In home R&D of FLAVORx?
Hadley, Kenny and his father (who worked as a
pharmacist) started experimenting with concentrated
flavors that could be mixed with Hadley’s medicine
to hide its bitter taste.
 Finally they produced banana flavor concentrate that
they were able to safely mix with the medicine.

FLAVORx: a solution and business idea

Hadley started taking flavored medicine without any
problems, and her condition stabilized.
Through solving his daughter’s problem, Kramm
created a business idea which can help other people
who cannot stomach bitter tasting medicine.
 He then started his business by partnering with one
of the largest flavoring companies in the U.S.

Introduction of CarePages

Eric & Sharon Langshur were in a difficult situation

Matthew
◦ Born with heart defect
◦ Needed a series of surgeries

Langshurs found a way to keep friends and families
up to date on Matthew’s progress
The CarePages Website
Sharon’s brother created it
 It resembled a modern day blog
 It also allowed people to respond and give words of
support
 By the time of Matthew’s last surgery, the site was
receiving several thousand unique hits a day

The Website (cont.)





Eric saw it as a business idea
In 2000, CarePages was born
It was marketed to hospitals, which could make it
available to patients & family members
Hospitals could also promote the service as well as
their brand name.
Other benefits were to improve patient satisfaction
and make families more at ease because of the
support they were receiving through their CarePages
community.
CarePages Benefits
Allow updates and replies, post a photo gallery, and
view the “About Patient” section, which provides the
details of the patient
 A running tally shows how many times a site has
been accessed and how many messages have been
left
 Website visitors can “Invite Others”

◦ Even a person who doesn’t know the patient can visit the
page and offer support
CarePages
The pages are very touching, as parents share updates
about a child who is facing surgery or treatment, or a
serious medical condition
 Families, Friends, and people the patients don’t even
know post words of encouragement and support
 The “CareCompliment” section
◦ Allows patients, families, and others to leave
compliments for nurses, doctors, and hospital staff
◦ This aspect of CarePages is very popular with
hospital personnel

CarePages





Over 700 health care facilities are CarePages clients,
and offer the service to patients
No advertising in CarePages page
Health care facilities pay CarePages and offer it to
patients for free
Health care facilities benefits through improving
customer’s satisfaction
Patients who use CarePages are more emotionally
healthy during their stay in hospital, because of the
support they receive through their CarePages
network
CarePages
In early 2007, CarePages was acquired by
RevolutionHealth
 CarePages’ strategy and mission are not expected to
change
 Now, CarePages generates 30 million page views per
month

Question and Answer
Question 1
In This Chapter, an opportunity is defined as
being (1) attractive, (2) durable, (3) timely,
and (4) anchored in a product or service that
creates value for its buyer or end user.
To what extent do FLAVORx and
CarePages meet each of these tests of an
opportunity?
Answer 1: Test of opportunity
FLAVORx
CarePages
Attractive; helps
founder’s child
 Durable; long-term
demand not based on a
trend
 Timely; solution to
“icky” tasting medicine
is urgent
 Consumers need better
tasting medicine


Attractive; helps
founder’s friends show
they care
 Durable; satisfies
human need to connect
 Timely; hospitals using
CMS can add CarePages
to improve PR
 Value in connectivity
and social capital
Question 2
Why do you think the idea of FLAVORx wasn’t
developed by a large pharmaceutical company
long before Kenny Kramm came along, and
the idea for CarePages wasn’t developed by a
hospital long before Eric Langshur came up
with the idea?
Answer 2 FLAVORx




Pharmaceutical companies don’t have
children that won’t swallow their meds
Laws in the US require meds to treat or cure
illness, but not to taste good
The average time it takes for a new drug to
pass R&D, and be certified by US Food and
Drug Admin. (FDA) is 12 years.
Only 1 in 5,000 drugs invented survives
R&D testing and makes it to market
◦ Good taste is not a priority
Answer 2 CarePages



The hospital priority is patient satisfaction,
treating illness and saving lives, not social
networking
Doctors and nurses are worried about
giving correct patient care, and avoiding
mal-practice lawsuits
Some hospitals only recently installed
information management systems
(EES,CMS, EMS), so managing a social
networking site is troublesome.
Question 3
Why do you think CarePages markets its
product to hospitals rather than directly to
consumers, like MySpace and Facebook do?
Answer 3
He made this carepage because he felt
that every patient's family needs
emotional support
 Instead of clients visiting the hospital's
web page they choose the hospital based
on the past patient’s satisfaction and
experience


Generating this carepage provides him
with a profit opportunity to introduce his
hospital through this carepage and attract
future clients.
Question 4
What similarities do you see between
FLAVORx and CarePages? What does each
company teach you about the opportunity
recognition process?
Answer 4
 Both were faced with difficult situations
 Both found creative solutions
 Finally, both their ideas turned into
businesses
 From both situations, I have learned
that any new idea can become a
business idea.
 But the issue is how to make it work
and how to turn it into a real business.
Application Questions
Question 5
How could FLAVORx & CarePages effectively
use focus groups to Strengthen their existing
products & solicit suggestions for related
product ideas?
Answer 5



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First, the two companies can collect service
comments from the patients, patient's family,
friends, relatives and all staff.
Second, the focus group can discuss these
patient comments and suggestions.
Thirdly, the hospital can implement a new
process
Finally, hopefully, the next round of patient
service comments will show improvement.
Question 6
What other situations that people are
in might make sense to set up a Web
site or blog that allows a person to
provide frequent updates and receive
notes of encouragement and support
from friends.
Answer 6
What’s new
◦ Facebook, MySpace, blogger
 Personal health and fitness site
◦ Endomondo.com
 Club or sport team event site
◦ Sportlobster.com
 A website to organize team dieting, to share
exercise and nutrition goals
◦ Socialdieters.com
 Book club site
◦ Goodreads.com

Problems = $
1. What’s
your problem?
2. Solve it!
3. Sell the solution.
4. Be rich.
The End