Santosh Sahu is the founder of Charac, a patient relationship platform designed to empower community pharmacies through digitisation. He has over 20 years of experience in banking and retail, and for the last six years has been working in the last-mile delivery logistics markets to solve strategic and tactical business problems using digital processes and technology.

There’s always a lightbulb moment before the beginning of a new venture. What was that moment for you?

As a diabetic patient, I constantly had to call my pharmacist for prescriptions, which I also struggled to properly track, which is worrisome when you depend on having access to this life-saving medication. With a background in entrepreneurial technology, I was aware that empowering pharmacists through digitisation was the solution to this problem. Since the UK's high streets are the beating heart of its towns and cities, I too wanted to contribute to their survival.

What are your thoughts on failure?

If you fail at something, it means you have tried in the first place. Failure is but an obstacle to success. Sometimes we need to experience it to push ourselves beyond what we thought our limits are. If you’ve never failed at anything, have you ever really tried hard in the first place? I embrace failure because it teaches me what I need to do to succeed.

What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learnt so far as an entrepreneur?

It has to be to listen to your audience and put them at the heart of your product design. When I first launched Charac, I developed the platform without input from pharmacists. I quickly learnt that without their wisdom, experience and knowledge, the product would not fit their needs. It is only through working directly with pharmacists that we have been able to deliver an offering that truly meets their needs and provides an excellent user experience, for both pharmacies and patients.

How do you set yourself apart from other businesses in your industry?

Charac is the only platform on the market today that is truly dedicated to supporting community pharmacies. Through technology, we empower these trusted cornerstones of the community to deliver the services that they provide in the most efficient way. Many of these pharmacies lack the resources or expertise to implement technology on their own, but by connecting patients to pharmacies through our platform, we can make it much simpler for them to schedule appointments or order repeat prescriptions, as we were able to do last year thanks to our integration with NHS IM1. We’ve also just recently teamed up with Royal Mail to provide prescription delivery services via the postal system.

If you could be in a room with four entrepreneurs, who would they be and why?

Richard Branson, because of the fun culture he has created across his businesses, alongside his commitment to the success of British businesses and relentless passion to innovate, despite his already hugely successful career and consequent wealth.

Jamsetji Tata, the founder of Tata Group. I had a poster of him as a teenager and have been inspired by how he managed to build an enterprise truly trusted by his employees, customers and the wider population in India. 

Bill Gates: I am in awe of how he built the Windows platform and quickly made it part of everyday life, in record time, with a global population behind it. His work ethic and the speed in which he executed his plan was inspiring and is hard to follow.

Steve Jobs: His desire for slick engineering was infectious, coupled with his admirable passion and drive to bring all the stakeholders at Apple together to develop new innovative tech.

What plans do you have for ‘your business’ over the next two years?

In the coming year, Charac plans to sign up over 1,000 UK pharmacies in London, Manchester, Birmingham, and other cities to support the survival and growth of independent community pharmacies. Nearly 40% of all the pharmacies in the UK are either very small chains or independent stores. We will concentrate on helping pharmacists deliver millions of consultations that they can record on our platform to offer a very necessary service to communities which have struggled to access healthcare as a result of the pandemic and NHS pressures.

What are your top tips for entrepreneurs wanting to get their business out there?

Identify a gap in the market, speak to those in the industry and come up with a plan for how to solve it. Passion comes first – you have to really want to fix a problem. A business plan doesn’t evolve overnight, but through time, counsel and advice, you can come up with something that can really make a difference. It’s important to be patient – there will inevitably be struggles along the way, or challenges you did not anticipate, but if you are determined, you will get there.

What are your thoughts on ‘no sleep’ culture as an entrepreneur?
No sleep doesn’t work – sleep is essential and without enough, you just don’t function to your best ability. I try to get at least seven hours a day so that I feel refreshed each morning and ready to conquer another day!

How important is company culture and what is your top tip to get it right?

You need to surround yourself with people that believe in your vision for the company and are motivated to be part of the journey to success. I may be the founder of Charac, but I don’t operate alone – I have a great team of people behind me who are determined to drive forward our business, which is defined by its purpose. We are all passionate about supporting community pharmacies so that they can really help those in the local communities in which they serve. The culture at Charac is open and honest – everyone has a voice and is empowered to use it. We all listen and share ideas because we know this is the only way a business can really progress.

How do you believe the evolution of tech will impact your industry over the next 10 years?

Tech is essential to the pharmaceutical industry and has been for a long time – but for smaller businesses, they often don’t know where to start or do not have the tools or knowledge to incorporate it into their business. Charac alleviates this issue entirely, by providing a platform that is easy to use. With many patients now looking to do consultations online as they navigate an increasingly digital world, Charac opens this possibility for pharmacies which would otherwise not have the means to do so. Over the next decade, we expect to see more and more pharmacies undertaking virtual consultations and prescriptions as people look healthcare solutions on demand.

Describe your business in three words.

Innovative. Purposeful. Compassionate.