Building a Business Model Framework for Natural Herbal Products Businesses in Malawi: A Case Study of the City of Blantyre

The herbal product industry is undeniably a lucrative business in the world market today. The main objective of the study was to investigate the existing business model framework of the herbal products industry in Malawi. The sample was drawn from Blantyre City covering central business areas of Blantyre Main City, Chichiri and Limbe. Specifically, the study aimed at analysing the existing business model framework for herbal products in Malawi, identifying existing factors (value proposition) for herbal products business development in Malawi and determine the challenges faced by the herbal products industry in Malawi. The sample size was 96. The survey questionnaire was used to collect data. The data-gathering tool was pre-tested on 10 herbal businesses. SPSS 20.0 was used to analyse the quantitative data on existing factors affecting and challenges affecting the herbal business industry in Malawi using the Multinomial logistic regression while content analysis was used to analyse qualitative data. The study found that networking and strategic alliance, resource identification and inclusion as well as management in model improvement were all significant in positively influencing the herbal business model. Cost estimation, effective time management, having revenue streams and selecting appropriate pricing mechanisms also positively influence the current herbal business model. Lack of treatment protocols, a universally developed and unified terminology, medical ontologies and quality data were some of the challenges. This study recommends that the current herbal business model be improved based on the challenges and then be implemented in the herbal business industry in Blantyre only as the study was a case study of Blantyre.