Charles Darwin University Essay On Small Business Loan For Community And More Pharmacy. (70 Characters)

Charles Darwin University is offering a small business loan for a deserving student’s entrepreneurial endeavour. It has been left up to the CDU representative to oversee the business case submissions and ascertain whetherthey are indeed viable and worthy of funding.

In order to receive the funding the project must meet the following criteria*:

• It must benefit the community - either the community as a whole or a select segment of the population.
• It must be in Australia.
• It must be a unique endeavor (i.e. no franchises)
• It must be completed within one (1) year.
• It must have a budget between $25,000 and $50,000
• It must generate income(though not necessarily break even in the first year.)
• It must relate to your area of study (degree program)
• It must not rely on any sort of sponsor, grants, donations or volunteer help. All staff, supplies etc. must be part of the allocated budget.

The Pharmacy named “Community and More“will be based in Portland and will basically offer prescribed medicines at discounted prices to the different customers who will be visiting the stores and also to the customers through an online portal.  As mentioned earlier the company is a one man venture that will be started by a MBA graduate of the following University. The pharmacy will be operating from only one store and will have 5 employees to support the daily activities of the business. The initial budget of the following organization will be $40000. The key to the success of the company will be the employment of friendly and knowledgeable personnel. The pharmacy will be obtaining registration from the Pharmacy Board of Australia.

The main objectives for the first five years of the company will include the likes of the;

• Exceed the expectations of the customers in the business
• Ensure the sustainability of the business for the coming years
• Provide cheap and quality medicines that will help in the growth of the revenue and the business
• Develop the business in such a way that it becomes self sufficient.

The regular increase of medicine prices in Australia and the high demand of medicines have made it difficult for many people to afford such costly medicines. This is the main issue that cripples the health sector of the country. The following business has pledged to offer the medicines prescribed for use at a discounted price which will set a benchmark for the organization.

The success factors of the business are key to the benefits of the community. The benefits that will be provided by the following pharmacy include;

1. Availability of cheap medicines
2. Satisfaction of the customers
3. Real help to the middle and lower income population

The start of the commercial operations of the following pharmacy can usher in a change in the pharmacy business practiced in Australia. The entrepreneur aims to gain a solid reputation in the market which will help the start up to achieve a stronghold in the competitive market. The planning has to make in accordance with the expected outputs of the business.

The pharmacy industries of Australia play a key role in the primary health care of the Australian community. The popularity of retail pharmacies have increased with the passing of time and most of the customers visits such stores because of the high flexibility that these shops offer. The traditional community shops have gone through a major transformation in the last few years. It has been easy for the people who visit the retail store of medicines to collect prescribed as well as different types of on store medicines. The operating landscape of the pharmacies has changed and thus the primary healthcare has seen a major shift.

The industry statistics in Australia shows the market size of approx dollar 16 billion which is a huge sum for this particular sector. The chance of the industry to diversify the revenue streams in the business provides a great opportunity for the following business. Apart from this the absence of any pharmacies offering discounts can also serve as a game changer in the market.

Business Strategy

The current market of the following industry has tremendous capability and thus the start up can utilize these opportunities in an effective way to get the initial thrust in the market. As mentioned earlier the huge scope of the medicine business will be helpful for the entrepreneur to establish the business in a proper and efficient manner. The medicine shops in Portland are mainly retail based. The customers generally prefer visiting such shops as because all the different types of medicines are present there that includes in store medicines and also the prescribed ones. The presence of online applications and portals of these pharmacies nowadays serves as a major source of revenue for the organization.

There is huge market for the new project. This is because of a number of different reasons, which includes;

1. Absence of shops selling cheap medicines
2. No shops in the vicinity provides huge discount to the customers
3. The presence of friendly staffs can be useful 

1. Strength- The following business proposal is a unique way to serve the community as well as earn revenue. The presence of trained and friendly staffs is believed to be the asset of the organization. Apart from this the major strength of the company lies in the presence of proper discount facility to all the people in the organization and the excessive rules and regulation that has the ability to weaken the revenue stream of the following business.
2. Weaknesses- The absence of proper brand equity and visibility can be a major threat to the business. The absence of expert advice in the business is a vulnerable spot for the management as it will be difficult for the organization to take important decisions. Apart from this the presence of excessive rules and regulation can be a major threat to the business.
3. Opportunities- The presence of a large market in the business will enable the start up to venture into the industry with additional confidence. Apart from this it will also have the opportunity to serve the community with its unique business plan because of the rise in the demand for medicines in Australia.
4. Threats- As a start up business, the company will always face threat in the form of other large businesses in the vicinity of Portland. This makes life difficult for the business as they will struggle to get customers in the business. Apart from this the presence of strict regulatory laws is a threat to the success of the new pharmacy. The absence of funds and proper sponsors in the business will also affect its marketing capability.

The target market of “Community and More” will basically consist of two different group’s namely local customer or the walk-in’s and the customers who order their products through online procedures. At present there is an absence of pharmacy shops that provides quality discount on medicines. Therefore it will be easy for the management of the organization to follow a certain strategy that will be helpful for the popularity of the business. The entrepreneur can proceed with two different marketing strategies to attain success namely the target market segmentation strategy and secondly the Market Segmentation strategy.

The selection of the target market is very much essential for the business. The target market of the following business will be the ones who tends to abstain themselves from buying medicines at a high cost. The opening of the shop will help these persons to get discounts on the original price which will be easier for them to afford. On the other hand the company must also target people who are used to online buying of medicines.

The major dis-benefit that will be faced by the organization includes the likes of the;

1. Absence of retail set up may not attract a lot of customers
2. Being a small start up business there will be key absentees of different medicines
3. The company cannot offer discounts which are directly in violation of different trading rights of Australia

            The start up business will need a number of different resources to proceed accordingly. This includes the likes of;

1. Location for the setting up of the shop
2. Finance for the setting up and the start of commercial operations of the shop
3. Information building Process
4. Human Resources
5. Need for Business Consultants who will provide the best strategies and solutions to establish the business and help it to stand on a solid ground

The possible assumptions for the particular business includes the likes of the;

1. Customers or more precisely the specific customers who are deemed to be the potential customers of the business
2. Competition in the market
3. Identifying the main competitors in the market
4. Business strategies to be used
5. Financial resources in hand
6. Target or the goals of the organization for the first five years

There can be a number of different constraints in the build up to the following project. this includes the likes of Financial constraint when the finances seems to dry up or the business suffers from the absence of finance. Apart from this the failure to implement and commercialize the operation of the business within the given time can act as the time constraint of the business. Last but not the least in any way the project may suffer from the lack of additional scope. 

Market Analysis

The overall cost of the following project will be $40,000. The budget has been allocated by the university and the different types of spending have been shown in the table given below.

The main tool that will be used for the cost calculation is the Cost Benefit analysis of the project. The cost benefit analysis will help in the comparison of the monetized costs and benefits of a proposal or different kind of options.

The major risks involved in the start up business include;

1. Development risk
2. Economic Risk
3. Funding Risk
4. Managerial Risk
5. Operational Risk

Risks can be managed or mitigated by;

1. Having the necessary systems and technologies in place that can help to reduce risks
2. Having technical expertise to execute the startup project
3. Identifying the factors of risk at the first go and ensuring the implementation of swift actions

The project will be taking a year or close to 12 months to complete. It starts from 14^th August, 2018 and ends in 7^th August, 2018.

The major milestones of the project include the receiving of the funds, the buying of the land, the starting of the project and obtaining the license.

                                                                                                       Source: (As created by the Author)

                                                                                    Source: (As created by the Author)

Conclusion

The market as analyzed in the following report has great opportunities for this special venture. It will surely be of great help to the community. The providence of different types of medicines on discount can help in the success of the business and will curve the way for the future expansion of the business. The estimated growth path of the business is surely to be a success in the future.

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