1.Executive Summary

E- Natural is a Natural Health Supplement Company selling Health Products. In Particular they plan on selling Vitamin & Mineral Supplements as well as Herbal Remedies. Their business will be entirely run through an E-Commerce website with no physical store location. They propose that they will purchase the products through manufacturers based in Australia. They plan on servicing the Australian market only.

2.Company Profile (Unique Selling Proposition)

The Company consists of 2 members The Business will be entirely an e-commerce based business that caters only for the Australian marketplace. All the products will be sourced form companies all within Australia.

3.Market Summary

Whilst there are some health product based companies on the Internet, the market has not been flooded with huge numbers so there is still somewhat of a niche in the health product market.

i. Industry Analysis

In the Health Product Industry there are new companies popping up everyday claiming to have miracle cures for every thing from the common cold to cancer. As a result there is concern over the actual validity of some products in the marketplace. If a business wishes to succeed in the health product industry, they must not come out claiming to be a miracle cure unless they can 100% back it up with evidence. As well as these less than reputable companies, there are businesses in the marketplace that have long histories in the industry. These businesses form the backbone of the industry and have a huge influence on the future of the health product industry. To be successful in the Health Product Industry, a business must strive to achieve what these businesses have done before them. It is not something that a new business have but something that they must earn over time.

ii. Market Demographics

The company will rely on making alliances with organisations related to the health industry. It is likely that the best organisations to align with will be the medical offices themselves. This is because it is unlikely that businesses such as pharmacies are unlikely to promote another business that is trying to compete with them. Therefore the business will need to establish themselves with Doctors if they hope to generate business through the medical field. As well as doctors, naturopaths would also be good bedfellows for the organisation. They could recommend the product to there clients for their own use.

iii. Market Needs (Consumer Demand Analysis)

There is a definite need in the market place. According To the Australian Bureau of Statistics (www.abs.gov.au), 6.4% of all households spending are towards medical, health and personal care. There is also an above average trend in couples above the age of 55 and over. With this much money being invested in people’s health, there is a definite market for selling health products in Australia.

iv. Market Trends (Economic, Social, Political)

By looking at the statistics mentioned through this report from the ABS, there is a trend that people are concerned about their health and are now making an effort to improve their health. People are putting a lot more money into products to improve their health because as they are ageing they realise that they have a problem and need a remedy. As a result, many of the major political parties are now putting more emphasis on their health programs and benefits in efforts to get support from the population.

v. Market Growth

As a result in the number of people that are going to be classified as elderly about to explode, the growth of the marketplace that E-Natural is going to aim there business at is definitely going to grow exponentially over then next 15 to 20 years. The business has no need for concern as to whether or not the health product market is going to be expanding.

4.SWOT Analysis

i. Strengths

The major strength in this business is that the business is not trying at this stage to be all things to all people. They have decided upon what they believe to be potentially successful products that will support a successful business. It is stated that they are going to use products from local suppliers. By doing so they know where the product is from and can easily contact suppliers if necessary.

ii. Weaknesses

There are some major weaknesses in the business in its current form. Firstly the two business operators do not appear to have any experience in the health product industry. As a result, they will not be able to give a professional opinion on matters relating to their product. Of concern is how they will entice customers of other products to use their product. To convince users of a competitor’s product appears to be a major concern

iii. Opportunities

Opportunity is something there is lots of in this industry. According to the ABS (www.abs.gov.au), 20.8% of people believe that they were overweight. In 1995, 20.9% of people over the age of 18 had a cardio vascular condition of some form. All signs indicate that there is a large problem with the general health of the population and as a result, these people will start looking to ensure that this does not affect them in later life.

iv. Threats

Major threats to this business opportunity would appear to come from 2 areas in particular. The first of them is from further advancements in the scientific fields. We have absolutely no idea what scientists may find or be able to door create in the future. As a result, someone possibly could create a single pill to solve all our health problems. Secondly the larger established businesses could be a major threat. If the business does well then the competition may lower prices to ridiculously low prices in an attempt to destroy the business. The other possibility of course is that the competition may buy out the business and incorporate it into their business.

5.Competitor Analysis

Even though the potential for the health business to expand rapidly in the next few years is obvious, there are already some well-established businesses both online on the Internet as well as business that have been running for many years without a web presence. If a large chain of businesses based in Health products such as Healthy Life decided that they were going to go online, with the client base that they already have, they would probably be able to make it very difficult for a smaller business to be as successful. Until that happens, most businesses that deal in this industry such as Discount vitamins express (http://www.discountvitaminsexpress.com.au) Vitamins Australia (www.vitaminsaustralia.com.au) and Go Natural (www.gonatural.com.au) are all small businesses that are all at the moment taking small pieces of a very big pie.

6.Keys to Success

The keys to success in the health product industry all stem from your dependability and believability. If you do not try and make your product seem like it is the best thing on the market but instead promote it as being good at the particular job that it was designed for, people are more likely to believe that the product is capable of doing what you claim it can do. The other factor that must be considered is that if the venture is to be a success on the Internet is that you must stay on top of technology changes, whilst still making the site and products simply laid out with plenty of information for the consumer to access.

7.Critical issues

The most critical issue that the business venture faces is whether or not having the business solely on the Internet will work in their favor. By being on the Internet, they expose their entire business to the world. However the business does not cater for any visitors outside of Australia. Whilst the fact that they want to provide a service that will be well accepted by Australia, by saying to the rest of the world that they aren’t available to them there is a potential risk of scaring away customers who when the business may decide that they will service the entire globe will not return as they have found an alternative solution. The other concern is that because the business does not have a physical presesnce in the world, that some people may not be happy to trust their business to somebody who to them seems intangible.

8.Marketing Strategy

a. Target Market

The target market for this particular venture should be the group known as the baby boomers. The potential money that this group of people will spend on their own health as well as that of their families is huge. If the business can focus on this particular group and convince the majority that they need products like those that the business plans to provide then the businesses potential to succeed in the Health Product Industry is huge.

b. Mix Markets

i. Product Strategy

The Product strategy will simply be to launch a range of products similar to those their competition has that provide the same benefits that their competitors do. Once the business has established itself they should have a range of products that they originally had held back on providing so they had the niche on a particular range.

ii. Pricing Strategy

At first the business should not try and undercut their competition, instead they should compete on the same price range as their competition possibly undercutting the opposition by a matter of cents on products in an attempt to show some difference. The reason they should do this is that there may be a belief by people that if their product is so much cheaper than their competitions that it is an inferior product and that may cause people to not purchase their product.

iii. Promotion Strategy

A good promotional tool the business could possibly consider would be to sponsor athletes that compete in sports that the participants are obviously extremely fit. Some of these could be Triathaletes, swimmers or runners. They could also investigate as to whether or not doctor’s surgeries would allow them to promote their products through the surgeries. This could be done in many forms including leaflets, posters or special offer coupons. The owners of the business could also ask members of their family to suggest their business to friends who may be looking into health products.

iv. Position Strategy

The business early on should attempt to position themselves as a distributor and reseller of their product. The venture operators indicated that they would be using providers for their product so they would obviously then become a reseller of that particular product. It is possible that further down the line that if the industry becomes a success that there is a possibility that they could then set themselves up as distributors of their product to future smaller businesses trying to establish themselves in the industry.