Business Plan For Happy Hours: Summer Camp For The Elderly

Business Idea and Target Audience

“Happy hours” summer camp for the elderly people is an innovative initiative as very few companies have thought off arranging summer camps for the older population of the society. The sole reason for this can be the challenges associated with this group including high rates of morbidities and falls. A company has to remain more alert when it comes to caring about the elderly people, yet the company would try to make a successful attempt in organizing a summer camp for the elderly.  The summer camp would be taking place in the month of January. The camp will be taking place in the Collaroy centre, on the magnificent northern beaches in Sydney. About 1 hectare land of the total 10 hectare of the land of the Collaroy centre has been taken for the summer camp. The centre also provides location for school camps and it is located just 30 minutes to the north of the CBD. The magnificent scenic beauty and the natural bush land make it an excellent location for organizing summer camp. This report provides with a business plan for the upcoming project consisting of the time frames, suitable budget and the marketing strategies. Its target audiences and the lists of activities make the concept unique to others.

The business idea is to organize a summer camp for the elderly population in the city of Sydney, which will be taking place for 6 days a week. In most of the cases, majority of the events in Australia are made for the youths, and very few programs are meant for the elderly. In this camp the elderly persons would get to experience everything they longed to experience and everything that they would never have thought to experience. Just like the summer camps held for the children, this camp would consist of a several fun filled activities for the elderly. This kind of a camp would also facilitate interaction of several people of their own age bringing about socialization which is otherwise not possible for the elderly people living in a home setting (Beets et al. 2012). The summer camp is open for the elderly locals of Australia as well as the elderly foreign students.

What’s the name of your business?

A summer camp for the elderly people will be set up by the company. The name of the camp will be “Happy hours- for age above 60”.

Location

What’s your strap line?       

The strap line for my service will be “A summer you will always remember, with people you will never forget, where strangers will become friends and the friendship will last for the life time” (34)

What date did your business start/will it start?  

The summer camp for the elderly will be held for a week from January 25th to 31st in Sydney, infused with Great Spirit and lots of fun for the elderly.

The main objective behind the organization of “happy hours- summer camp”, is to serve the elderly population of the society. My service would be of huge demand as very few events are set for the elderly as involving the aged group of people can bring about several complications.

The location of my business will be: The camp will be taking place in the Collaroy centre, on the magnificent northern beaches in Sydney. About 1 hectare land of the total 10 hectare of the land of the Collaroy centre has been taken for the summer camp. The centre also provides location for school camps and it is located just 30 minutes to the north of the CBD. The magnificent scenic beauty and the natural bush land makes it an excellent location for organizing summer camp.

Source: (Collaroy Centre, 2018)

Advantages of this location are: The main reason for selecting this location for this event is the availability of easy transportation and its nearness to the locality and thus would be helpful for the older people who are not very mobile or who are not very fond of long distance travelling. Another reason behind choosing this location is its excellent climate. Summer in Australia is very hot, and the location near the sea would provide a moderate climate which will be soothing for the campers. One of the main advantages of this location is that the camp is located in the northern beaches and is just 30 minutes from the CBD (Collaroy Centre, 2018)

           I’m going to rent my business premises (approximate costs)

The rent for 1 acre of Collaroy centre would be about 1980$

        Other must-haves will be:

• Candidates should be provided with free pick and drop facilities.
• Discounts will be given on pre-booking facilities.
• There would be customer parking facilities
• There would be online booking facilities.
• There would be provision for doctors, medicines and ambulatory care.
• There would be provisions for routine checkups and tests free of cost.

What other resource requirements to do you have?  

• The whole event is insured.
• There would be appropriate catering and gender specific health staffs and female care givers.
• There would be 10 camps, 2 kitchens, 2 medical aid centers in the venue premises.
• Eco- green buses would be used for the transport to decrease the green house gases emissions.
• Attractive and constructive activities like hiking, art and craft sessions, dancing sessions, cooking sessions, bonfire, yoga and massage sessions would be there.

1. The number of customers available to my business is approximately:  on the basis of the trends the number of interested customers would be about 100-200 individuals.

1. My market is currently in decline/undergoing growth?  What are the reasons for this?

Have there been any legislation changes? Are you aware of anything that might impact on it in the future?

The current undergoing growth of the company may be due to the reduction in the intrinsic value of the company or may be due to the security’s price falling below the supporting level.

Competitor Analysis

Legislative changes may affect the company’s policies and the costs, which may again affect the customer’s due to the increased cost. Rules and regulations may also involve the safety of the patients.

This is a summer camp for the elderly and if the initiative is a success, then more such camps can be organized in the future with a varying target audience.

If it’s a one-off purchase, how are you going to keep up sales? The sales can be increased by increasing the number of customers at a go, may be by providing attractive offers.

	My Business	Competitor A	Competitor B	Competitor C
Product/service	Summer camp for  the elderly people	Summer camps for teenagers	Summer camps for adults	Summer camps for children
Price	$700 for 6 days and 5 nights	500$ for four days 3 nights	800$ for 6days and 5 nights	400$ for four days and 3 nights.
Availability	The strength of the camp is 80- 100 people	30-50 campers	100 campers	100-150 campers
Reputation	The company is authenticated and	Authenticated company	Authenticated company	Authenticated company
Delivery	· Excellent venue · Good quality of food · Repudiated company · Skilled staffs · Proper health and hygiene · 24×7 provision of doctors · Ambulatory care facilities · Attractive and fun filled activities	· Small but repudiated venue. · Good qualities of food · Unskilled work force · Frequent power cuts. · Excellent camping activities.	· No facilities for ambulatory care. · Absence of solar panels · Good venue near the locality. · High skilled work force. · Availability of doctors · 24×7 electricity · Good transport facility	· Excellent venue · Good quality of food · Repudiated company · Skilled staffs · Proper health and hygiene · 24×7 provision of doctors · Ambulatory care facilities · Attractive and fun filled activities · Hiking, bike riding, dance and singing sessions, cooking competition.
Location	Collaroy centre	Victoria	Ballarat	Coolamatong campsite at the Banksia Peninsula, Victoria
Special Offers	· Pre-booking discounts · Provision of goodies for the early customers. · Attractive souvenirs · Parking facilities	· No online booking facilities · No pre booking discounts. · No pick and drop facility. · Provision of customer parking. · Special discounts for the next summer camp for the one who have attended the first.	· No online booking facilities · No pre booking discounts. · No pick and drop facility. · Provision of customer parking. · No 24×7 provision of nurses.	· No online booking facilities · No pre booking discounts. · No pick and drop facility. · Provision of customer parking. · No 24×7 provision of nurses.
	My Business	Competitor A	Competitor B	Competitor C
After-Sales Service	Member ship card to avail discount in the next summer camp.	No after sales services	No after sales services	No after sales services
Strengths	Targeted audience, excellent venue, and reasonable cost, proper delivery of services and care, sustainable and eco friendly.	Venue, cost effectiveness, authenticity.	Venue, authenticity.	Venue, cost effectiveness, authenticity.
Weaknesses	Focuses on older adults, inviting many health related problems.	Camp is only meant for the teenagers	High cost, improper infrastructure and staffing.	Low level of transport facility.
USP	the target customers, the venue, attractive discounts and games, transport facility	Venue, location	Venue	Venue, targeted customers , 60 above people
Promotion Sales	Through social networking sites, hoardings and bill boards, pamphlets and brochures, newspapers, souvenirs.	Promotion only through social networking sites and leaflets.	Pamphlets and online marketing	Pamphlets and online marketing, newspaper advertisements.

My product/ service is better than each of my competitor’s because:

Competitor A: My service is better than this company in terms of the quality of service provided, cost effectiveness, venue and the workforce.

Competitor B: Collaroy centre, the venue is far more repudiated in comparison to the venue of the summer camps arranged by this company.

Competitor C: The food quality, transport facility, the health care facilities, interesting activities is far better than company C.

My typical customer profile: Businesses    Individuals     Market Segment:   Essential/Desirable/Luxury  

• Their needs are: The target customers of my project for the summer camp are the older adults above 60. Their needs are:-
• joy
• relaxation
• New friends
• To get rid of the monotonous daily life
• To get good food and a clean cabin to reside in.
• To be associated with a caring community.
• To get a high quality of medical care if needed.
• To be able to participate in joyful and interesting activities.

1. How would my typical customers tend to buy products and services?

The older adults would be attracted to my project owing to the interesting and fun filled activities, since very few projects with such a target audience are generally made.

1. Customers will use my product/service for: The cost effectiveness of my project, the high qualities of facilities provided, the attractive offers and the discounts and for the desire to make new friends.

1. What they value most about my product/service is:

The transparency related to the cost, the effective workforce, the authenticated norms and regulations, the high quality of services in reasonable cost, the excellent venue of camping.

1. What these customers would value (but don’t really get from existing businesses) is: Costing of summer camps are really high and cannot be affordable for many. The price had to be kept high for not compromising with the service. The main aim is to make these types of camps accessible for all.

1. I could deliver this by: ensuring a better work force and curtailing the costs.

1. They will buy my product/service through the Internet/at my shop/over the phone/other: There will be provisions for online booking from our company’s websites, over the phone booking facility from 8A.M -8P.M. booking can also be done form the office present in Sydney.

1. Buying my product/ service will be a one-off purchase/ repeat purchase :

Buying my service will not really be a one –off purchase as we would look forward to the arrangement of another camping after the completion of this camp.

8. The after-sales service they expect from me is: There would be a conjoint meeting a week after the completion of the camp and feedbacks will be taken from the campers for the further improvement of our strategies and business where they would be provided with attractive goodies with a view to retain the customers. There would be provisions of automated SMS-alerts for new camping programs from the company’s end. SWOT Analysis of your business: 9. They would choose my product/ service over my competitors because:
Strengths Strength of my business is that most of the summer camps are meant for the teenagers. This summer camp will allow the older population of the society to put aside their monotonous life and explore the fun that can be cherished throughout the rest of the life. This would attract the local as well as the foreign elderly individuals that would again be profitable for the business. Strength of the business is that the summer camp is taking place in a repudiated place collaroy centre, which is specialized in putting up summer camps and other programs. A success in such a program would serve as a leap in my business.	Weaknesses One of the main weaknesses is the lack of funds. The rent of the Collaroy centre is quite high, and the high quality of food, care and the activities would also contribute to the high cost. The cost has to be kept reasonable to be affordable for the elderly population.
Opportunities The program would cost accommodation, all meals and activities. Campers will be placed in cabins with partners of their own gender and age group and best efforts will be made to keep the elderly with their friends. Each of the cabins would contain camp beds, unsuited bathroom and basic cupboard storage. There would be routine high quality of health checkups for ensuring good health. The programs would provide the opportunity for the campers to put aside the monotonous and the depressive adult life and to open up and explore the fun. We are also getting community support from 4 NGOs and the government for our noble project.	Threats Elderly people are susceptible to getting sick or suffering from unavoidable or unintentional fall related injuries (Kwong et al.2013). Hence the organizers always have to remain alert in comparison to the events organized for the youths. The security system has to be high in this respect and well equipped health facilities have to be present for the vulnerable group of the campers.

A contingency plan may be defined as an alternative plan or ‘plan B’ that help an organization to respond to a significant future adverse event. this plan can also be taken up if the expected results fail (Finch 2016).

• Sick or death of a camper: Since the camp is for the older people, there arise chances of mortality and morbidity. In order to avoid adverse events there would be provisions foe accommodating personal attendants incase of very old campers or depending upon their health status. There would be a health check up prior to the enrollment for the camping for preventing the entry of sick people. There would be a 24×7 provision for a doctor specialized in geriatrics.
• Fire break out: There would be provisions for firefighting equipments and way for the immediate evacuation of the campers. There would be provisions for first aid and other ambulatory care.
• Electricity failure: Therewould be provisions for emergency generators in case of power cuts. 
• Risk of communicable diseases: Elderly population is vulnerable to communicable diseases. There should be a prompt detection and assessment of the disease in case of outbreaks. All kinds of lifesaving medications will be available. Cleanliness and hygiene shall be taken care of by the carers and the staffs.  The diseased person will be immediately isolated from the rest of the team and should be sent to the city for the treatment.
• Political threats:Political threats may arise due to the local politicians. Hence, all letters of approval has to be clarified from the NSW state government. My business would abide by all the norms and regulation of business and should meet all the standards for setting up of camps. 

The main risk of this business is that the camp is related to the elderly people that are associated with many risks such as comorbities due to falls, communicable diseases. Each individual has got different complications such as cardiovascular risks, incontinence issues and more. Work forces like catering services, health and hygiene carer security services are extremely important. Hence absence of any of such facilities will genuinely pose problem in the camping.  Each and every employee shall be kept under legal contract to prevent absenteeism. There would be 24×7 doctors on call in the event premises and ambulatory care facilities in case of adverse events. It is also essential to maintain the cost effectiveness of the business in order to attract more customers. The whole event will be insured for future adversities.

The Unique Selling Point/proposition of my service is: The uniqueness of my service is the age group of the people with whom I am concerned with. Most of the summer camps are meant for children or the teenagers and the elderly sometimes do not have the facilities to get access to constructive events and fun. My service would allow them to get a taste of childhood gain.

Some of the unique facilities provided by my service are:-

• Interesting activities such as CIA boot camp for the foodies, an adult band camp, camp bonfire, karaoke singing, hiking, spa and lot more.
• The facilities would be of high qualities and the staffs should be appointed after intensive training.
• There would be pick and drop facilities for very old patients.
• There would be provisions to carry attendants in case of moderately sick patients.

I shall ensure the sustainability of my service by:

• The northern blue beaches of the New South Wales have got an excellent climate and lush green natural beauty that would be extremely suitable for the elderly people.
• To maintain the high quality of services in terms of food, health and hygiene, infrastructure, staffs.
• The charges should be kept reasonable yet not compromising with the standards of food, health and hygiene.
• An event like summer camp would generate huge amounts of wastes and care should be taken that in no way does it harm the environment.
• Reusable eco items shall be used instead of using plastic items such as paper plates and glasses for food. Solar panels can be used as the alternative sources of energy.
• There should be options for the neutralization the wastes. Sewage wastes can be transported to the nearby fields. All the garbage bins shall be labeled to ensure the proper disposal of the biodegradable and the non biodegradable wastes (Finch 2016).
• Bio toilets can be used.

This is what I want to achieve over the next few years:

Year one	To retain the customers and make 1 more summer camps for the elderly people in the same or different venue.
Year two	To organize summer camps involving children in the same venue or different venue, to increase the number of activities for the kids and to enhance the quality of care given to the students in terms of food, health and hygiene, to make a revenue of 140000$.
Year three	To get involve with schools in helping them out to organize summer camps, provision of short trips with all the facilities and advantages .Increase the strength of the work force. The camps should earn a gross $730000 and should be anticipated to reach 80,000 in revenue.

Promotion
What are you going to do?	Why have you chosen this marketing method?	t How much will it cost?
There would be hoardings all around Australia informing about the program and the venue.	· Bill boards and hoardings placed along the highways and busy streets would be noticeable to everyone driving or walking down that road. ·  Attractive marketing words and phrases would compel the customers to avail the services.	550$ approx
Distribution of leaflets and brochures containing information of the venue and the programs excluding the cost.	Leaflets are effective marketing tool as they are cost effective and are capable of delivering the right message to the customers in less but necessary words (Fernández-Guerrero et al. 2012).	$200 per 1000 flyers
Advertisement in the newspapers like ‘The Albury Advertiser’ and The Albury Banner and Wodonga Express’	It is an important vehicle to reach the target audience who are less mobile and does not access the social networking sites or internet.	5×2 – $397.50 (mono)
Marketing through social networking sites such as Facebook, You-tube or twitters	· Increased brand awareness by increasing the business visibility. · increased inbound traffic · Improved ranking in the search engines that would attract more customers. this can be facilitated by search engine optimization · Blog posts, video and images can lead the audiences towards the website of the company and enhance the traffic (Fernández-Guerrero et al. 2012). · It facilitates better communication with the target audience.	$100 approx
Marketing by official event souvenirs such as batches, T-shirts, scarves and wrist bands	· Souvenir facilitates event marketing. It helps to connect and bound the project together in an icon or identifiable symbol. ·  It helps to appeal to the customer’s desires and arouses interest on the project. · It also helps to define the existence of the project.	200 $ approx
TOTAL COST	1500 $ approx

Financial Tables

References

Allsop, J., 2012. Assessing the social effects of a therapeutic recreation summer camp for adolescents with chronic illness. The University of Utah.

Beets, M.W., Weaver, R.G., Turner-McGrievy, G., Huberty, J., Ward, D.S., Freedman, D.A., Saunders, R., Pate, R.R., Beighle, A., Hutto, B. and Moore, J.B., 2014. Making healthy eating and physical activity policy practice: the design and overview of a group randomized controlled trial in afterschool programs. Contemporary clinical trials, 38(2), pp.291-303.

Collaroy Centre. (2018). Collaroy Centre – Conference Centre, School Camps and Group Retreats. [online] Available at: https://www.collaroycentre.org.au/ [Accessed 15 Jan. 2018].

Duerden, M.D., Witt, P., Garst, B., Bialeshcki, D., Schwarzlose, T. and Norton, K., 2014. The impact of camp employment on the workforce development of emerging adults. Journal of Park and Recreation Administration, 32(1).

Fernández-Guerrero, R., Revuelto-Taboada, L. and Simón-Moya, V., 2012. The business plan as a project: an evaluation of its predictive capability for business success. The Service Industries Journal, 32(15), pp.2399-2420.

Finch, B., 2016. How to write a business plan. Kogan Page Publishers.

Jones, C. and Penaluna, A., 2013. Moving beyond the business plan in enterprise education. Education+ Training, 55(8/9), pp.804-814.

Kwong, C.C., Thompson, P., Cheung, C.W.M. and Manzoor, H., 2012. The role of environment in fostering conductive entrepreneurial learning: Teaching the ‘art’of entrepreneurship in boot camps. Journal of General Management, 38(1), pp.45-71.

Neirotti, L.D., 2012. and Adventure Tourism. Sport and adventure tourism, p.1.