Affordable and Practical Alternative to the Costly Medications - Business Plan Example

Executive Summary The product is a tissue/plaster infused with gel to aid fast recovery of surgical wounds. The s of this product will be patients who undergo surgery, especially those in hospitals and/or specialty clinics. The business’ company will be owned by the two partners, thus employing the partnership legal business structure. The future of the business seems lucrative as it takes the role of being a cheaper alternative to the costly medicines, treatments, and dressings of post surgery wounds and incisions. Its profitable future is due to the fact that it is advantageous to both the patient and the hospital. The gel in the product is filled with the necessary nutrients needed for the healing of the wound such as the required proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, phospholipids, mineral components, vitamins, and water. With all these incorporated into the plaster/tissue, the wound is expected to heal faster, thus cutting short the length of time that the patient stays in the hospital. The body’s tissues are composed of single living cells grouped together. And each tissue is made of its own specialized cells in order to be formed (Anon., 2010). However, whatever tissue it may be, it needs the necessary nutrients in order to regenerate, and all those are present in the gel incorporated in the tissue/plaster. With the product being affordable also, it allows the patient to save on the treatment, the hospital bills, and lost income since the patient can be able to do the things that he is supposed to sooner. For the hospitals, it provides the opportunity of welcoming more patients and cutting down on the expenses of post surgical patients’ monitoring, considering the decreasing number of staff nurses in hospitals. With such advantages, the future of the business and the industry is considered lucrative. Changes in technology which may prompt modifications or improvements in the product are viewed as long term changes. Short term changes considered are only modifications in the product’s design in packaging, and perhaps how the product will look physically, as its shape and size may be altered, or be made as additional products as the demands for it from the market proves essential. General Company Description The Company will be in the business of distributing tissue/plaster with gel incorporated in it for surgical wounds and it will be called BioSol (Biological Solutions). Mission Statement: The Company exists to provide an affordable and practical alternative to the costly medications and procedures that come after surgeries, as well as to provide opportunities that make it winning for both the hospitals and the patients. Objectives: The goal of the company is to be around in the market as long as possible so that such services and products can still be made available to the public. With loyal customers following, it will not be difficult to achieve because it is the company’s main objective to offer the public products and services that are highly effective but will be at affordable prices, thus gaining customer satisfaction and loyalty. The human body is as fragile as it is well-built and with the various factors such as vices, environmental hazards, habits, and poor lifestyles, one’s health can crash inevitably and medical procedure such as surgeries must be executed to restore good physical conditions. Although the surgery is a one-time occurrence, the wound from the procedure will require much tending, medications, and would even bring about physical discomforts and pain to the patient. With those facts in mind, the company’s business philosophy is about providing an affordable alternative to the costly treatments of surgical wounds, thus making it possible for most individuals to afford it, especially those in the middle and lower class. The industry is a growing industry because in medical products wherein biological wellness is focused upon, trends towards producing more natural, less synthetic treatments are increasing continuously. The changes that may occur, long term will most likely be a change or improved versions of the product, whereas the short term changes may be basically on the packaging or physical aspects of the product such as the design and functionality. With the company aiming to provide an affordable alternative to the costly treatments, the company’s strengths will be anchored on its credibility in distributing the product to the public. In order to achieve such credibility, the company will have in-house medical specialists to provide sufficient background experience, as well as good marketers to build on the strength of the company as a retailer of the products. Management: The Company will have the legal ownership of partnership, initially, since it is a new venture and still a growing business. Once the business has proven itself lucrative, it can then be made into a corporation, depending on how the trends of the business dictate. By having a partnership legal structure, the taxes and income of the business can be handled more easily, and should it is a simple type of legal ownership for a new business venture. Products and Services The product is a tissue or plaster material with gel incorporated on it already and can be readily used. The tissue is made of biodegradable material that is soluble and will contain the necessary nutrients needed for cell development, especially the muscles and skin, and making it possible to use it inside the body. However, if it is for outside areas of the body, the tissue will still be biodegradable, and it will also serve as a protective covering for the incision, thus containing bacteriocins and antiseptics. The antiseptic, which is composed of germicides and bacteriostatics, is essential in making it a natural treatment and less chemical or synthetic. The gel incorporated on the tissue/plaster contains the necessary proteins, lipids, phospholipids, mineral components (such as Mg2+ andZn2+), necessary carbohydrates components, vitamins, and water. Basic facts on surgical wounds (Bupa, 2009) states that tissue adhesive, also known as skin glue, aids in the faster recovery of the wound and can be used to close incisions less than 2 inches long. However, to achieve this, it is imperative that the glue must be kept dry for at least five days. That is half the time of which the glue must be on the skin, which is normally 10 days until it peels off. And for longer lesions, it can be done together stitches or closure strips to seal the wound. A competitive advantage of offering affordable tissue/plaster incorporated with gel, it will not only achieve this requirement, but it will also be able to speed up recovery, thus making it more practical for the patient – both financially, and comfortably. The product will be composed of good quality materials since it will be used to heal abrasions, thus it has to be sterile, and fortified with ingredients to make the body healthier, thus healing the wound faster. The average pricing of tissue adhesive (Man, et al., 2009), which is a product similar to the one the Company is considering to sell in the market is around $27 but can be offered to the patient for as low as $14. The goal is to offer it to the patients at prices similar to that, which is around $14-$27, but the time of usage is definitely shorter, thus allowing the patient to make significant savings. Marketing Plan Generally, the target market for this product are the hospitals and distributors of medical products and supplies. A high demand for this product is probable when people start to be aware of its existence and the benefits it brings them. Local hospitals and medical supplies distributors are the main target markets since the trend already proves to be feasible and an expansion to other places, as well as other countries such as Europe will follow as the trend is observed. However, considering the fact that hospitals deal directly with big medical supplies and products companies, their products and services are many. This is a disadvantage for the Company since the only product offered is the gel tissue products, thus it is quite impossible to compete with these companies. Hence, it is better to go into a joint venture with distributing companies like Henry Schein, VWR, etc… Since the business name, as well as the product is new to the market, there is a need to convince the customers that this product is better than the others. Strengths of the product include being a practical solution for both the hospital and the patient. It allows the patient to shorten their stay in the hospital because the gel tissue product made recovery faster, thus making him able to become more productive. For the hospital, it allows the establishment to welcome more patients because the turnover of the rooms are faster, thus the rate of patients for a period of time is increased. This will also cost them less in their expenses on the monitoring of patients after surgery especially with the lacking number of nurses in hospitals these days. However, the weakness it poses is that for establishments who wish to make profit out of the wound dressings required, this product will make it impossible. However, this product brings opportunities to earn for hospitals and medical distributors because it is cheaper, thus more people would opt for it over the costly dressings and treatments. Also, a study on hospital discharge as it relates to surgical wounds infection (Simchen, et al., 1992), found that surgical patients who stayed longer in the hospital after the procedure were more prone to infection than those who were discharged and had the healing and recovery process in their homes. So, with the introduction of the product to the market, the risk of infection can be minimized significantly as individuals can opt to be discharged from the hospital and heal faster whilst avoiding the risk of infection. Threats to the success of this product, would for one, be around the fact that if a competing company decides to come up with one of their own brand, it can have a big effect in the profits and sales. Thus, this is where securing intellectual property rights to it should be considered. However applying for a patent can be time consuming and costly in the process (IPO, 2010) and it can delay the launching of the business. However, should the Company be dissolved for whatever reason, losses can be minimized by selling its patent or intellectual property rights to the distributing companies. Management and Organization The business will be managed by the owners of the business. Both will assume the roles of bookkeeper and marketing specialists. There will be one hired employee, an in-house medical specialist who will be in-charge of the product development, improvements, and developing of new products as well. As the company grows, more employees will be added when the need arises. The Company, as it starts out, will only be a simple operating company since there will be no actual retailing of the product with walk-in customers. The products will be marketed to the various distributors of medical supplies and products, thus the Company will only serve as a supplier to these distributors and not a retail outlet for the product. References Bupa, 2009. Caring for Surgical Wounds [online], Retrieved 26 Nov 2010 at: http://hcd2.bupa.co.uk/fact_sheets/html/surgical_wounds.html. Intellectual Property Office, 2010. Applying for a Patent. [online], Retrieved 26 Nov 2010 at: http://www.ipo.gov.uk/types/patent/p-applying.htm. Man, et al., 2009. Cost-Consequence Analysis Comparing 2-Octyl Cyanoacrylate Tissue Adhesive and Suture for Closure of Simple Lacerations: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Annals of Emergency Medicine, 53 (2), 189-197. Science Encyclopedia, 2010. Tissue. [online], Retrieved 27 Nov 2010 at: http://science.jrank.org/pages/6847/Tissue.html. Simchen, et al., 1992. Discharge from Hospital and Its Effect on Surgical Wound Infections: The Israeli Study of Surgical Infections. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, 45 (10), 1155- 1163.   Read More