When we survey the innovation landscape in African healthcare, there are actually a lot of exciting new technical innovations, from drones-powered logistics and mobile MRIs to AI-enabled diagnostic platforms and hand-held imaging devices. Yet historically, many new tech innovations never scale into mainstream African healthcare.

There are a lot of reasons why a new technology may not scale, but one of the big ones is the lack of a sustainable business model. Technology innovation drives product development, but your business model drives distribution. 

Building your business model

Whether you are a for-profit, non-profit, or a government entity with an innovative product or service, you have to find someone to pay for your product/service and also ensure reoccurrence, growth, and predictability of your revenue. That is your business model.

Business models have a lot of components, and you’ll likely need to test out a few before finding one (or more) that can drive distribution for your innovation. Below are some questions to consider as you build your business model.

• Who is the end consumer of the product or service? E.g. individual patients, hospitals, businesses, government agencies

• How do they discover your product or service? E.g. Digital channels, physical retail, through partner organizations (like insurance providers or companies), 

• Who is the payer (or payers)? Individuals, Businesses, Government, NGOs, etc.

• When do they pay? E.g. Up-front, at the end of a contract, recurring monthly, quarterly, or annually, freemium

• How do they pay? E.g. Fee for service, membership, percentage of transaction fees

• What are they paying for? A physical or digital product, service, or consultancy

Of course, figuring all of these out is not always easy, particularly given the fragmentation in the health sector, lack of distribution channels, low income levels of customers, and other challenges. So finding creative ways to serve your customers and ensure reimbursement for services rendered becomes a puzzle you also have to solve as an innovator.