Best Choice: Quality Home Care Solutions

Section One

Business Overview

1.1 Business summary:

Best choice is a private holistic care agency that helps customers to live life to the fullest in their own homes. The business gives customers the services right at home. It is about keeping on top of house duty and supporting clients who are frail and elderly and helping in improving their quality of life. Some may not be looking to be helped; rather they may be looking for companionship, and that is a service that will be provided by the business too. Whatever the situation is, Best Choice will provide the best care that will give customers exactly what they seek and want. The business has a number of specialists whose key role is that they specialize in geriatric care, palliative care and dementia to hands-on post-discharge rehabilitation. The company also offers various home care services, and it takes pride in helping not only with the bigger hands-on tasks but also helping with the day to day mundane home activities. Therefore, if an individual is looking for a business that will care for their every need in relation to geriatric and palliative care, then Best Choice is the best choice for them.

1.2 Business aims:

Best choice has several aims. The key aim of the business is to help in improving the quality of life in the geriatric population. Quality of life in the context of the business means taking care of the old person and teaching them various skills that will help them in taking care of themselves when a caretaker or a family member is not around. Second, the business aims in helping older people who have been diagnosed with dementia from transitioning from hospital care to home care. It will be more challenging for individuals with dementia since one of the characteristics of the disease is that people have memory loss. However, the company has various professionals who specialize in helping smooth the transition through various skills and techniques. The third aim of the business is that is aims in helping in big tasks such as medication management and small mundane everyday tasks such as taking care of the living environment where their client is located. At the end of the day, the business also aims to generate revenue and make a profit since with more money the business will be able to improve its services and expand to other forms of general care.

Section Two

Products and services

2.1 Describe the core product/service you are going to sell:

There are a number of core services that the business is going to sell. The key service that the business will sell is that of human management. Human management may mean different things in different businesses, but in this context, it refers to taking care of older people. As people get older, it becomes more challenging for them to take care of themselves. Moreover, it is more challenging for their families to take care of them chiefly because they do not have the time to do so due to various commitments such as work. Best Choice helps in fulfilling that role by giving people the opportunity of not worrying about their loved while they are at work or doing other things. One can rest assured that their loved one is being taken care of in a proper and very professional manner. The family or the individual can hire a professional from Best Choice to take care of the older individual during the day who will then leave at night. On the other hand, they can hire a live-in professional who will take care of the older individual both day and night. Or they can hire a walk-in professional who will come to take care of the older individual when they are experiencing some difficulties. The type of professional to be hired will depend on the financial resources of the family or individual as well as the degree of need that the older individual has. Therefore, the core product that the business is selling is care for older individuals.

2.2 Explain your business’s product/service USP

The Unique Selling Proposition/point of the business lies in offering care for all kinds of ailment for older people. Some businesses focus on a specific form of care such as offering palliative care. However, Best Choice will focus on almost all forms of care when it pertains to care for older people. Best Choice will offer palliative care, dementia care, general care and other forms of care that are needed. Best Choice has professionals who will review the individual and then make suggestions as to the best form of care that the individual should receive. The type of care recommended will relate to the degree of sickness that the individual may have as well as the type of care that the family/individual seeking the service thinks they need. Therefore, the unique USP of the service is the versatility that it offers as compared to other competitors.

2.3 Describe any other product/service you are going to be selling:

There are a number of other products and services that Best Choice will be selling. The other services that will come with the key service or be sold separately include medication prompting, preparation of meals, personal care as well as one-on-one care, and respite care. The company will also be able to install a home monitoring system that will enable families and staff to monitor their loved ones at home when they are away. The home monitoring system will be installed at the prompting of the client. Some of the other services such as medication prompting and personal care will be part of the main service being offered.

Section Three

The market

3.1 Describe your typical customer:

The typical customer is an individual who has an older parent or an older relative, and they have the resources, but they do not have the time to take care of the older individual.

3.2 Where are your customers based?

Best Choice customers are based in London Belgravia as well as around central London.

3.3 Explain the Branding that you have chosen, and how it prompts your customers to buy your product/service

“Best Choice is a private care agency that helps customers live life to the fullest within the confines of their homes by bringing the care to the homes of the users. Its main purpose is to support clients who are frail and elderly and have various complex needs.” This prompts customers to ask for the service since the care is happening in the confines of their own home. Therefore, they do not have to take the older individual out of the home and put them into care facilities.

Section Four

Market research

There is a need for geriatric care management, and that is the need that Best Choice seeks to fill. Wideman (2012) noted that the current demographic of many societies are shifting to older individuals. The older individuals have a key desire to remain in the confines of their home rather than going to geriatric care facilities. Geriatric care management ensures that the individuals can receive the proper care that they need within the confines of their own home (National Institute of Aging 2019). Godman (2018) also notes there is a need for geriatric care management because families are usually overwhelmed by taking care of the older individual in the household because they do not have the requisite skills needed to take care of the individual. As such, there are great opportunities for geriatric care management.

Section Five

Competitor analysis

There are a number of competitors in relation to geriatric care management in the larger London area. The key competitor is The Good Care Group which received the Care Quality Commission rating for being outstanding in the five categories of being safe, effective, caring, well-led and responsive to people’s needs (The Good Care Group 2019). The company offers outstanding live in care which makes it the main competitor in the business. The other key competitor is Aging Care LLC which lauds itself in enhancing the quality of life for older individuals and their key, and fundamental purpose is that they are the client’s advocate (Aging Care LLC 2019). The above two companies are the key competitors in geriatric care management. Their key advantage is that they have been in the business for a while which means they have earned the trust of their clients.

Section Six

Marketing strategy

There are a number of marketing strategies that will be used. Ward (2018) notes that for a business that is just starting out, it is important to know how to outsource clients and know the likely places of outsourcing clients. In this case, the most likely place of outsourcing clients is in life in geriatric places. The key selling point will be that Best Choice will give them an opportunity to receive are within the confines of their own home. Adams (2017) notes that a modern company will be remiss if it did not use social media. Therefore, the company will advertise its services on social media. It is not expected that older people will be on social media but that their children or grandchildren will see the services that are being offered and then contact the company. The company will also begin with penetration pricing which means that the prices being offered will be artificially lower as compared to the company’s competitors (Bennet, Coleman & Co. Ltd 2019). Once the company has customers, they can then switch to better pricing that will enable the company to break even. Therefore, the above marketing strategies shall be utilized to help improve brand image and earn customer trust.

Section Seven

Operations and logistics

7.1 Premises:

Rented offices in London

7.2 Equipment

7.3 Transport:

Car

7.4 Legal requirements:

Nil

7.5 Insurance requirements:

Business Insurance - £90/year

7.6 Management and staff:

Geriatric Care Managers x3

Section Eight

Costs and pricing strategy

Section Nine

Financial forecasts

9.1 Sales and costs forecast