How A female engineer took over a failing medical company

Maria Francesca Aceti

Deltha Pharma Societa a Responsabilita Limitata

Italy

I graduated from the university and started a career in energy engineering specialized in coal.

Back then, my father, together with some fellow doctors and medical representatives, managed to get a start-up fund and started this company producing supplement for breathing. But these doctors knew nothing about running a business, consequently the company was near bankruptcy and the then CEO was walking away. So, my father showed me the balance sheet and asked me to take over.

There I was, at the age of 27, an engineer, had to learn everything about pharmaceutical business and deal with the debts. The first couple of years was tough. Firstly, our business model was to sell through local distribution channels, namely medical representatives and pharmacies. Speaking from Italy, where businesses and channels were mostly run by elderly men, nobody was expected to listen to a young woman like me then, so I had to learn the nuts and bolts to win trust. Then, I had to speak with the Italian bank for a payment plan. It took us nearly 2 years to walk out of debt.

Apart from all the hardship, I have always had faith in our products, that’s why I was in in the first place. I noticed that our first batch of 7 products were actually taken quite well in Italy. So, when I pulled the business back on the right track, I decided to invest in new products that would completely change our business model.

Onboarding Alibaba.com with direct-to-customer products.

When I looked at our manufacture side, we have partnered with labs in Rome and have been strong in R&D. When I looked at the buyer side, I’ve noticed an increasing demand for quick-to-get medical supplements not requiring prescriptions from doctors. Meanwhile, people are also in need of supplements catering to their specific needs, such as anti-fatigue，liver-detox，etc.

With these market insights, my next moves were quite clear: 1) we were to make direct-to customer, prescription-free products. 2) we needed to find a more efficient channel.

That’s when Alibaba.com came into sight. The year was 2018 and the bank staff told me there might me a possibility called Alibaba.com.

The first month onboarding was not easy. There were a lot to do from establishing the mini-site, uploading products to handling RFQ, and back then it was all in Chinese Probably what’s why I still remember our 1^st client so vividly. He was a Libyan who was then running a small company and was looking for ODM supplier. Even though the first order was just about 5,000 euro but it was not easy, more of a learning journey for both of us, as we were from two different cultures, navigating together on a Chinese e-commerce platform.

Following this deal, Alibaba.com opened a whole new market for us. Now we are a proud ODM supplier to many developing countries.

E-Commerce creates a flexible and friendly environment for Italian working women

Over the years, we have grown into a business with 60 employees, most of whom are women. We are a member of the UNHCR program which strives to provide equal treatment for women and men.

In Italy, as when empathizes so much on sustainability, on instilling passion and motivation into our employees, I think e-commerce helps create a flexible environment for Italian working women. Many of our employees are mothers. E-Commerce offers allows them to pick up their kids after school and work from home when necessary.