Marketing Plan #2 (Other (Not Listed) Sample)

Marketing Plan
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Professor
Institution
Course
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Executive summary
This project is a marketing plan for an assisted living facility concept. The main purpose of this document is put out the nature of the facility, the trends in the market and the potential competitors. This document further introduces the assisted living concept and the ways in which it plans to differentiate itself and its activities in the market place as well as ways it plans to curve out a niche to support its future growth and expansion. The marketing model is defined and detailed to show the unique features and facilities offered and it further describes the crucial features that will distinguish it from its rivals. The operating plan, the management plan, the marketing plan, the economics and the projected financial situations for both the initial operations as well as the facility development are also included.
The two most important elements of this form of venture that will ultimately determine its success are the marketing model and the real estate development for the actual assisted living facility concept. The chosen manager will ultimately supervise and oversee each of the activities involved in the plan. However, pertinent industry professionals will also be consulted and engaged to improve the chances for overall success. One of the ideal exit strategies will be to sell the facility’s services to a strategic buyer. This buyer would be one of the largest national and international retirement living companies. This is because the industry continues to witness significant consolidation both in domestic markets and abroad.
The Marketing Environment
Market research and analysis
For a business to be successful in tits endeavors it has to carry out a market research in order to stay in line with the changing market trends and retain a competitive edge (Namazi & Chafetz, 2000). While researching about the marketability of its services the facility engaged Community Builders, Inc. (CBI). The CBI was tasked to prepare a Long‐Term Care Market Analysis on behalf of the facility. The CBI Long‐Term Care Market report indicated that there was already a sufficient market demand to fill the Assisted Living Facility up to 90% by the time it was fully completed. There is a sufficient number of eligible constituents who need the services of an Assisted Living Facility. These individuals’ incomes and home values are enough allowing them to afford the services and the costs of the facility.
The market growth trend
The CBI Long‐Term Care Market Analysis in its research used the most current and up to date information available. The research analyzed the market demand where they used the year 2013 as the base year. The research analysis report indicated that the facility, if it was operational immediately, there was a high likelihood of it filling up to capacity. In using relevant population projections and demographic trends, the CBI report further indicated that the facility would have increasing and sufficient demand in the future allowing it to operate at full capacity throughout. This is indicated in the table below.
Market Growth Analysis

Demand for the Assisted Living Facility

The market area

Primary

Secondary

Tertiary

All areas

Year

State 1

State 2

State 3

State 4

Total

2013

20

7

1

1

29

2014

20

7

1

1

29

2015

21

7

1

2

31

2016

22

8

1

2

33

2017

22

9

1

3

35

2018

22

10

2

3

37

According to the table there was already more demand (29) for units in 2013 than what the facility is preparing to roll out in its first phase. The analysis further indicated that each year the demand rate for the services grows by approximately 10%. According to the CBI Long‐Term Care Market Report, the long term projection is that the market demand that constitutes majorly of the elderly population is likely to continue growing every year up to at least 2030.
Competitive forces
Competition is important for success to be achieved in a market economy as it helps in the provision of the best market products and services at fair prices (Connell, 2004). The assisted living industry has been characterized by a slow and steady growth. Most of the new entrants in this industry has largely been comprised of real estate developers. This group of developers is not only interested at the rate of growth of the long term care business, but also at the potential capital gains to be realized on the real estate investment itself. The field of assisted living is a highly fragmented industry meaning it has very few but large players. Most of the existing players in the industry are relatively undifferentiated leading to low diversity. This provides a greater and better opportunity for this facility to differentiate.
In the facility’s primary market area there are no other assisted living facilities. However, there exist other forms of elder housing schemes in the area. These schemes are however facing difficulties since their form of service involves providing or contracting other high levels of care than they are licensed for, due to the fact that there are no assisted living facilities in the area currently (Hawes, Phillips, Rose, Holan & Sherman, 2013). In the secondary market area there are two licensed assisted living facilities which are:
* Faithwind Assisted Living Community– This facility contains 70 units within which there are 100 beds. 64 of the units are currently occupied. This translates to 94% occupancy.
* Benedicta Assisted Living facility– This Christian based facility has 55 units which comprise of 80 beds. 37 of the units are currently occupied. This translates to 68% unit occupancy).
As for its tertiary Market Area there exist 20 licensed assisted living facilities. All of these facilities have recorded an occupancy rate of between 70% and 90%.
Target market
The facility’s relevant market is for residents of both male and female gender who are aged above 60 years. Better customers will be the ones who have a retirement household income in the $40,000-$70,000 range or higher.
According to a survey by Hawes et al (2013), the total population of individuals aged above 60 years in the United States in 2008 was 3,819,000. This represented approximately 15% of the total American population. In the facility’s primary market area the population of people above 60 years in 2008 was 500,000. This represented 14.9% of the total population of 4,204,000 in the primary market area.
The growth in number of the people above 60 years is expected to continue increasing as the present parenting generation start entering the retirement years (Sandra, 2004). Looking back at the American statistics the growth rate of people above 60 years has been approximately 1.5% per year. Looking into the future the rate will most likely to edge closer to 2% per year (Hawes et al, 2013). In this regard, the estimated population of the facility’s primary market area of people above 60 years would be approximately 800,000. This is 20% of the area’s projected total population. While it is reasonable to believe that this percentage will most likely increase overtime as the concept of assisted living becomes more refined and the government moves in to increase its support further, in the interest of conservatism this report’s analysis assumes no change.
SWOT analysis
The SWOT analysis provides sketch information of a company’s position in a particular market place (Allen, 2004).
Strengths
The assisted living facility will boast of well designed structures with extra additions like assigning more storage space to lower-level drawers and cabinets. The doors will also be installed with lever-style door handles. This will serve the purpose of meeting the needs of seniors who would prefer living as independent as possible. The rooms will also contain walk-in closets. These are not only meant to imply luxury but they also make it easier for the residents to decide on their own what they want to put on. When adult children witness these features they will be assured that their aging parents will be well taken care of. Prospective customers will also be aware of the facility’s comfort. The facility will also offer specialized care for those residents with dementia, memory loss and Alzheimer’s disease.
Weaknesses
Coming up with structures in an assisted living facility costs a lot of money. Therefore, accessing capital services is likely to constrain the growth of the facility. Other expenses such as liability insurance drain on the facility’s revenue and thus hindering it from being cost-effective. The lack of already trained workers can also limit the prospects of the facility. The facility will be forced to pay more to train the staff or import staff from other areas. This increases the costs incurred which may have a negative impact on the customer experience in the long run.
Opportunities
The existing economic forces place assisted living facilities in a strong position. Demand for their services is growing faster than supply (Watson, Garrett, Sloane, Gruber-Baldini & Zimmerman, 2003). This is can be attributed to the fact that the population is aging faster than the availability of assisted living facilities being constructed. This means that the expansion is not likely to face same market risk as witnessed by other industries. Another ...