Goodlife: Profit with Purpose

Goodlife Pharmacy launched in 2014 with a vision to provide good-quality and affordable pharmaceuticals to all socio-economic groups in Kenya. With a strong strategy and operations focus, the leadership scaled up from 19 stores in 2016 to approximately 120 by 2022 in East Africa. They broadened the offering, introducing non-pharma products, a range of healthcare and wellbeing services, and different store formats depending on location. By 2022 Goodlife had grown from a pharmacy to a “health hub” with ambitions to open over 250 stores by 2025 and serve 8.5 million people (half of them living on less than £10 per day). The case explores the founding and early growth of Goodlife, which initially targeted middle-to-high-income earners in urban settings, having entered the market through the acquisition of an existing pharmacy chain. Two years later, a private investment firm saw the potential to realise its original mission and scale to other demographics and beyond Kenya.

The case allows students to explore the role of pharmacies as a key touchpoint within the "health as a service" framework in service operations management. Focus areas include: Service interface: Analyzing the interaction between customers and the firm, and the role of pharmacies in this dynamic. Service triangle: Understanding the relationship between front-stage activities, organizational operations, and the customer experience. Service operations alignment: Aligning products and services with target segments and operational strategies to enhance efficiency and customer satisfaction. Process, product, and market alignment: Illustrating the integration of process design, product offerings, and market segmentation to pivot a service model and stay competitive. Disrupting traditional care: Exploring how a comprehensive healthcare model can disrupt the traditional care process and offer innovative solutions. Scaling a healthcare organization: Strategies for scaling operations while maintaining service quality in the health system in East Africa.