EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The disposable nappy, an invention that revolutionized the baby care industry, exists today as a practical solution to the problem of dirty, smelly, wet baby bottoms throughout the world.
· Company Ownership
UBC Sanitary Company is a company incorporated at the Registrar of Companies through the foresight and vision of Miss Umeano Bridget Chinyere (UBC), Though relatively new, the directors realize their Company’s vast potential market and opportunity for growth given implementation of the appropriate strategies, aided by the necessary finances.
· Company Location and Facilities
At present the business is located at #12 Okocha Street, Choba Port Harcourt, Rivers state. However, as time progresses and the business expands, the intention will be to move into a more accessible and attractive commercial area. This regardless of the fact that our type of business is not too dependent on office location and size, with the quality of our products being the primary concern.
We are on the verge of entering a lucrative market in a growing country. The current population fertility rate estimated at 4.2 children, and increased admissions in hospitals and clinics presents an opportunity for Baby Nappies World to enter and penetrate the baby nappies and sanitary pads market. Baby Nappies World is poised to take advantage of this growth rate and minimal local competition, with a dedicated and experienced staff, excellent order procurement, and effective management and marketing.
The initial intention will be to provide nappies and sanitary pads to;
- Institutions,
- Organizations, including hospitals
- and wholesalers throughout Nigeria.
As time progresses and we become more efficient in their production this figure should rise to approximately 56,000 per month. This would be for the diapers only though we do intend to also produce sanitary pads, though on an order basis.
We realize the fact that for us to prosper in this relatively untapped market, there is need to be flexible and responsive, to delight our customers by providing them with what they want, when they want it and in the exact quantity. Our primary goal will be to establish and strengthen our existence in the market, which will be bestowed by the business environment in which we function.
Our marketing strategy will be based mainly on ensuring that customers know about our existence and the products we produce. Hence our intention is to make the right information available to the right target customers.
VISION
We intend to attain the following vision:
- Continuously provide high quality diapers and sanitary pads on time and on budget.
- Develop enthusiastically satisfied customers all of the time.
- Ensure economical use of resources from capacity utilization, minimizing inventory/stock and low cost, and high quality materials.
- Contribute positively to our communities and our environment.
- Establish a market presence that assures short-term and long-term profitability, growth and market share, which will ultimately convert to business success.
MISSION
We are fully committed towards the production and delivery of high quality disposable baby nappies, geriatric/adult diapers and sanitary pads to the respective communities. Internally we intend to create and nurture a healthy, productive, satisfying and enjoyable environment, in which our employees are fairly compensated and encouraged to respect the customers’ requests and the quality of the products we intend to produce. We seek fair and responsible profit, enough to keep the company financially healthy for the short and long term, and to fairly remunerate employees for the work and effort.
· Keys to Success
- Timely response to customers’ requests: We cannot afford to delay our clients for whatever reason, as this will have a negative bearing on our image and reputation, as well as impacting future business. Hence we need to be continually communicating with the client, so as to ensure that products are delivered on time and according to the customer’s specifications. This will go a long way towards instilling a sense of trust in our ability and establishing long-term relationships.
- Excellence in fulfilling the promise: We intend to produce and provide products of uncompromised quality to our customers, and excellent service. This is so as to meet their needs and standards. We acknowledge the fact that the company’s success will be based on timeous response to customer orders and hence we intend to set high standards and work procedures.
- Assembly Technology: To ensure quality diapers and sanitary pads it is essential to utilize the latest and most efficient production machines. We also intend to keep abreast with technological developments, which will ensure we gain and maintain a competitive advantage utilizing the latest production techniques.
- Networking: As the majority of our customers will be wholesalers and intermediaries there is need to effectively network with the various decision-makers and order-makers to ensure a ready market.
PRODUCTS AND SERVICES
Baby Nappies World intends to manufacture and sell disposable baby nappies, geriatric/adult diapers and sanitary pads. These products shall be of high quality standard so as to ensure customer satisfaction and meet all the customers’ requirements.
- Baby Nappies
The disposable nappy may be described as an invention that revolutionized the baby care industry. It exists today as a practical solution to the problem of dirty, smelly, wet baby bottoms throughout the world. The vast amount of births here in Botswana dictates that the baby nappy is very much in demand, and that demand continuously increasing. With this in mind we intend to produce a quality nappy. Our diaper will have (discussion omitted).
- Geriatric/Adult & Sanitary Pads
These are mainly used in medical institutions such as hospitals and clinics where patients often require disposable pads to overcome the problem of dirty, smelly and wet bottoms. This is particularly so as these adult patients are incontinent and often do not have the ability to control their bladder.
ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE
The primary nature of the business is to manufacture and sell disposable baby nappies, geriatric/adult diapers and sanitary pads. Our intention is to produce disposable nappies that will meet all the requirements of a quality standard, particularly considering that the majority of those currently on the market are imported from abroad.
Baby Nappies World shall be managed primarily by the director/owner. The company will engage a non-formal functional organization structure whereby people shall be focusing on their prime area of expertise. A non-formal structure is flexible and responsive to the market dictates, enabling the company to delight customers by providing them with what they want, when they want it and faster than the competition. In engaging this organization structure we intend that there is open communication between all personnel at all levels.
As the company grows there will be more structure to the organization, with new employees being assigned a supervisor or subordinate. When the company is at its full staff potential, it will operate as any closely held organization, but maintain the personal interest in each employee’s personal and family welfare and their contributions to the business.
MARKET ANALYSIS
The current drive and emphasis by the government on diversification of the industrial base away from the minerals sector presents an opportunity for Baby Nappies World to make a valuable contribution towards achieving this goal. Having undertaken a thorough and comprehensive research of the market we realized that there was a vast opportunity for a local manufacturer of diapers and pads, with less than a handful currently on the market.
Aware of the fact that operating in such a market is largely dependent on good networking, we intend to establish networks and strategic relationships with various wholesalers, clinics and hospitals all around Rivers state beyond to ensure a steady stream of orders. In so doing we intend to ensure that the products we produce are of extremely high quality and fully serve their purpose. Our initial overall target market share shall be 10% of the market, mainly focusing on the wholesalers and organizations in Port Harcourt and beyond.
We appreciate that entering such a market is not a ‘bed of roses’ and will require us establishing strong networks and links with several organizations and institutions as outlined previously. Hence we intend to implement an aggressive marketing strategy, well supported by the other business functions. The above prognosis influenced our decision to enter the diaper and sanitary pad manufacturing industry.
· Market Segmentation
We will be focusing on wholesalers, academic institutions, hospitals and clinics that either sell or utilize our intended products. We also intend to focus on government tenders for our diapers and sanitary pads.
Our main target market is large enough to order from us and ensure that we are kept busy meeting their orders. Though we do not intend to fully depend on them, they shall constitute our ‘core’ market. One of our intentions will be to offer organizations an attractive alternative to Nigeria companies mainly marketing our lower costs and shorter order fulfillment time.
· Target Market
Our marketing strategy will be based mainly on making our products available to the right target customer. We will ensure that our products’ prices take into consideration organizations order-makers’ budgets, and that these people appreciate the quality of our products, are aware our products exist, and know where to order them. Our low production costs, which will naturally be reflected in lower prices for our products.
Our target Markets include;
- Hospital,
- Clinic,
- Institutions
- Wholesalers,
- Chemists,
- Informal traders
- Supermarkets
.
We realize the need to focus our marketing message and our product offerings. We need to develop our message, communicate it, and make good on it. This shall be undertaken in order to establish ourselves on the market and long-term relationships.
· Marketing Strategy
We intend to implement a progressive marketing strategy. In terms of marketing we intend that our name and products are marketed on an extensive basis to ensure that customers are aware of our existence. In price, we intend to offer reasonable and competitive prices in comparison to Nigeria competitors and we need to be able to sustain that. Our marketing will strive to ensure that we establish long relationships with clients.
· Pricing Strategy
Baby Nappies World’s products will be competitively priced in relation to its Nigeria competitor’s products. Due to the introductory nature of our products we intend to implement a penetration pricing strategy which will ensure that potential customers are attracted by our lower prices, up until our products are fully appreciated on the market, especially in terms of their quality. We will initially charge PX per nappy. However this will dictate that our costs are prudently kept so as to ensure our financial goals come to fruition.
· Promotion Strategy
The promotion strategy shall initially revolve around informing customers of our existence, the products we produce, and how to order them. The intention will be to highlight the following key benefits of ordering our products instead of competitors, including:
- Our lower production costs which will convert to lower order prices.
- Quality products able to compete with the top brands.
- Faster order fulfillment times.
We intend to be well known by all our stakeholders in particular wholesalers, hospitals and other such institutions that may utilize our products, as well as informal traders. Hence we shall leverage our presence using introductory letters, brochures and other sales literature. We intend to spread the word about our business through the following:
- Personal Selling. Undoubtedly customer solicitation face-to-face will be our most powerful form of promotion mainly due to the fact that our products are mainly ordered by individuals in organizations and institutions. Its flexibility will enable us to give our customers concise details of what we have to offer and the benefits of using our products. Another important determinant in utilizing personal selling is the fact that we are relatively new on the market. As such potential customers/clients will to a certain degree be skeptical towards our products and their efficacy.
- Advertising. In view of the fact that we are new on the market we intend to undertake adequate advertising of our name and products we offer. This is to instill awareness and knowledge of our existence in the market place, which hopefully shall convert into market share. A constant look out will be made of any special editions in the local newspapers, which may provide an opportunity for us to advertise our products and business name.
- Direct Marketing. This will be used to a limited extent in the form of telemarketing and informing potential customers and obtaining referrals where possible. In the case of telemarketing it will involve our targeting potential customers of our products and informing them of our existence. We may then arrange for an appointment with the respective decision-maker/order-maker, with the intention being to encourage them to order our products.
- Events. We intend to attend trade shows and exhibitions to increase awareness of our products and services. These events will also enable us to interact with potential clients who may decide to order our products. Trade shows that instantly come to mind include Port Harcourt Trade Fair (BITF) and BITEC, though the latter might not be as important as the former.
· Competitive Comparison
There is very little competition from local companies manufacturing products similar to our main products. However considering the pace of change and current growth rate of the economy luring companies into the market, this may be short-lived. Hence there will be a need to not only firmly establish ourselves in the market, but also strongly differentiate ourselves from these other businesses. However on a broader scale our competition comes in several forms:
- The most significant competition are Nigeria manufacturers of diapers and sanitary pads including reputable brands such as X and Y, which have a well established distribution network in place. This network ensures that their products are widely available on the market. Our key advantages over these producers will be our order response time as well as lower costs, which will be attractive to many of our prospective clients.
- Existing local manufacturers of diapers and sanitary pads are few with research indicating that there are currently two in Gaborone and one in Francistown, though additional information regarding their products and operations were still being collected during compilation of this plan.
- An existing textile company is also contemplating entering the baby nappies market.
An analysis of competition is provided in the competition section of this plan.