Business plan : the research of the target market , the market potential and the competition - Essay Example

They could be foreign nationals who are residing or studying in Canada, just like the Thai and Chinese players who enrolled in the camp during the second year of operation. The hockey training company will not only limit its market to local hockey players, hobbyist and would be players but will also target the same market segment outside Canada. It will cultivate the market in Russia where Ms. Svetlana came from and where the company has an existing market. Hockey teams abroad especially from China, Japan, South Korea which have created their own ice hockey league (Asia League Ice hockey, males age 10-19) will also be among the target market abroad (Statcan, 2011) Potential Market The primary target market of Summit Camp Inc.

are able bodied boys aged 10 to 19. This segment of the market has shown to be growing over the past five years indicating a growing market base to develop and thus a potential for growth for the company (McBee, 2012). It also helps that the Canadian government is cultivating this market segment to engage in sport by encouraging Canadian youths to allocate at least an hour of physical activity daily. In 2009, it recorded that only 7% of Canadian youths attained this kind of activity indicating there is still huge untapped segment of the local market (Survey of players, 2012).

Hockey originated in Canada with its rules laid down by Canadian J G Creighton (Historyof hockey.net). It goes without saying that Canada would have the largest local following of the sport. In the survey done in 2012 of registered hockey players worldwide, the report showed that Canada has the largest registered players with a total registered player of 617,107 where 31,572 were males who are the target market of Summit Camp Inc. indicating a huge local market base (Survey of Players, 2012).

In the same survey, it also showed that other countries have a huge following of the sport of jockey. United States has a total of a whopping 511,178 hockey players where 66,692 were male. Other emerging economies can also be tapped and cultivated to widen the market base of Summit Inc. Hockey affecionados and hobbyists also present an opportunity for Summit Camp Inc. to tap because this segment of the market is underserved. In reviewing the services offered by the competitors, their programs barely serves this market because their training programs are mainly aimed towards the youth and teenagers.

This segment of the market is growing not only due to the number of adults who are interested in the sport of hockey but also the growing consciousness among adults to engage in sports to keep themselves fit. Factors such as the lowering of price of hockey equipment due to the removal of its tariff also encourages people to take up the sport thus increasing the scope of Summit Inc’s potential market (Austen, 2013). Competition Summit Camp Inc. has direct competitors in Canada which offer hockey training.

These hockey schools are Stanstead International Girls Hockey Camp, Ecole de Hockey de la Capitale, Christian Hockey Camps International, Can/Am, Adult Hockey Camp – Montreal, Andrews Hockey Growth Programs. In Eastern Canada, there are four direct competitors who offer hockey schooling and four of them, except Can/Am, Adult Hockey Camp, are located in Quebec. The four hockey camps provide various kinds of services around Hockey. They mainly focus hockey training to adolescences whose age is between 9 –