This study proved instrumental to investigating the market landscape, strengths, as well as meeting requirements, to ensure successful first revenues from the proprietary technology. The Feasibility Study showed that a new business model and commercialisation plan was needed to approach the market, and achieve higher rates of market penetration and sales. As such, first commercial entry has been identified through the interest of e-health retailers. The main achievements reported in the study were:
• Upon further in-depth market analysis through investigations and meetings with key market players, we found that the problems and needs in this market aren’t being adequately met by the current personal self-BP monitoring devices. These current BP devices are difficult to use, cumbersome, can’t measure accurate BP data, are only used every few hours, and have made it hard for all to be able to afford it with their high margins of profit from each device.
• The market demand was validated through discussions with potential customers, GPs and doctors in hospitals and clinics, and hypertension societies and their members. This showed that the all stakeholders desired more cost-effective, more accurate, easier to use, and non-invasive or cumbersome methods of monitoring BP continuously by themselves.
• As a result of the above, we found that the most beneficial business model to approach the market would not be to sell the solution through GPs and physicians by offering the solution to their patients but instead to the consumers through e-health retailers. The reasons behind this included:
o Selling through retailers means a much wider market can be reached due to the presence of retailers in many different countries and even continents. This will create a more viable method of scaling-up our solution and selling it to our future markets. This is in comparison to GPs and physicians who affect a smaller segment of the market only from patients seeking direct consultation help for hypertension. Instead of just accommodating these patients who need to visit their GP or physician due to BP related health issues or concerns, we also target any other consumer by selling through retailers. If a person is concerned of their BP or are experiencing high BP or hypertension symptoms, they can purchase the BP24 solution and assess their BP before consulting a doctor;
o GPs and physicians have been found to recommend the solution to their patients, even if we don’t approach them as a distributor of our solution, as it is a highly effective solution that will help to save their patients’ lives and keep them healthier.
• The self-monitoring e-health market is showing in continued growth recent trends due to the continued exposure and reduction in prices of other health monitoring solutions. This technology has also been introduced into some higher models of mobile phones meaning a larger market is becoming aware of the technology advancements. The desire from medical professionals and health conscious citizens for personalised and preventative healthcare will help this market to grow even further.
• The MVP of the BP24 solution was finalised through stakeholder feedback, the majority of which came from the potential customers. Our solution is designed to accommodate and solve all of their problems witgh current devices, while also accounting for any needs they have as users of the solution. This resulted in the use of easily accessible components as part of the MVP, and a definite list of features to be present in the MVP.
• Due to the use of easily accessible components combined with our world-renowned subcontracting manufacturer, who has plenty of experience in e-health devices, smartwatches, and wearables, the industrialisation plan allows for a high level of quality when scaling-up to an international level. Our value chain was defined in this Feasibility Study, as we scouted all possible stakeholders and decided with the ones that suited our predetermined requisites.
