Entrepreneurship and Innova

Executive Summary
The paper covers up the business plan of a new product called Baby Buzz to be launched by the company Care Tech in the Singapore market. It has been detail out in the paper that that working couple population of Singapore is growing, and the baby care market is also experiencing a boom. It is expected that the baby care products market will grow pertinently in coming years. The distinctive competencies of Baby Buzz are that it is a unique product, which has not been introduced by any company ever in the market. In addition, its services are highly substantial that assist parents in their baby care in a safe and preventive way.  Although, the product has a number of strengths and opportunities, but then also it faces weaknesses as it is a new product and does not have much capital investment. The objectives of Baby Buzz are to gain elevated customer satisfaction and market share by making Baby Buzz a leading baby care product in the market. It will target working couples will be positioned as a product that make baby care convenient. The promotional strategy used for the product is social advertising and word of mouth publicity.

1. Introduction

Care Tech is a new entrepreneurial business, which will principally offer high-quality baby care services in order to, enable parents to take very good care of their children they are busy in the current, fast life scenario. In the current era, where everyone is running fast to keep pace in this technological world, parents do not have much time to take care of their babies. Parents so much indulge in their professional and personal lives that it becomes sometimes difficult for them to take good care of their babies. Usually, maids or baby sitters are appointed by parents, to look after their children in day hours, so that they can concentrate on their work lives.
Care Tech facilitates parents in their baby care by allowing them to concentrate on their work lives.  Care Tech aspires to offer contemporary outward-looking products and services for residential care of children. Baby Buzz is another significant offering of the company, which will enable parents to monitor the well-being of their children at work. The company is highly committed to quality and tries to come up with innovative and technically advanced business solutions that adhere to the needs of today’s parents and serve in child care, in the best possible manner.

1.1 Mission statement:
In this context, the mission of the business is, “Empowering parents by ensuring the safety and well-being of their young children/babies”, so that parents feel relaxed about their child’s care and children will get the required care even in the absence of their parents and security from any sort of harm.
1.2 Vision statement
“Care Tech aspires to be a premier company, internationally recognized for its baby safety products.” Care Tech wants to serve customers in a superior manner around the globe.
1.3 Objectives

• To exceed customer expectations and formulate a loyal customer base
• To attain 15 to 20% growth per annum in the next five years.
• To expands the production services for the adult market that is for the elder and rich people
• To increase the customer base by at least 20% every year
• To allow parents to have peace of mind for their baby’s well-being while at the same time focusing on their daily work activities (professionalism).
• To build up a sustainable and profitable business in this tremendously competitive business environment.

2. Company Summary

2.1 Startup a summary
The business will initially be started in Singapore with a team of four members who will key managers of the business and look after its major decisions. Baby Buzz product will be the combination of existing technologies, such as voice control, pulse monitoring, and tagging GPS. The functions of these technologies will be integrated to give the product a portable form with the wrist band or of the neckband, which can be tied to children. The start-up requirements of the business will be funded for marketing, production and other activities. It will also require equipment to integrate the product and to money pay for raw materials.
2.2 Management Summary
Care Tech will be started by four members Qiwen, Jeremy, Chee Mun, and Samuel, who will bring all the finance in the business and will be accountable for introducing the market. Qiwen and Jeremy are both from Certis CISCO and have good command on the application of technology for assisting human activities. They will support the marketing and sales of the business as they are perfect persons for these activates. Chee Mun belongs to the IT industry and have good technical knowledge. He will thus, help in product control, software and hardware issues, and general R&D. In this way, all the technical aspects of the product will be managed by Mun. Besides this, Samuel belongs to the banking-industry and has comprehension about market forces and micro/macroeconomics, and hence, he will take care of the budget and the financial resources.
In addition to this, a human resource manager will be appointed who will compete in managing employees. Further, the business will also appoint an Operations and Legal manager who will be skilled in their respective areas and will assist in taking the business forward.
2.3 Staff Competence
In order to make the staff more competent and serve the goals in an appropriate manner, open communication will be maintained with them as it is essential for keeping good relations in the department. Furthermore, a monthly reward system will also be set up under which employees will be rewarded on the basis of their performance and contribution. This will make them satisfy and keep them motivated for higher productivity. Training sessions will further be practiced in the organization so that the employee will acquire requisite skills and talent and competency will remain a top priority for them. Moreover, feedback will also be generated internally and externally to acknowledge the requirements of customers and employees. This will aid in serving customers in the best possible manner and formulate a loyal customer base.

3. Brief Description of the Product

As mentioned above, the product that will be introduced in the market by Care Tech is Baby Buzz. This is a technologically advanced product that will help parents to monitor their services from anywhere where they have Internet connectivity. It is specifically designed for parents who use maid or child care services for looking after their babies. Baby Buzz is a small and lightweight wristband/neckband designed particularly for children, which will notify parents through call, SMS, or e-mail whenever the baby will be in any adverse condition, such as sickness, violence by the maid, etc.
However, Baby Buzz will use the connectivity capabilities to inform parents about the conditions of their baby. This product will work in areas where parents and children are around in Telecommunications or Internet or Wi-Fi Network. In this manner, by initiating this innovative product called Baby Buzz, Care Tech has made an effort to assist parents in child care and make it more convenient for them to find out whether their children are safe at home or not. Baby Buzz will thus, allow parents to discover that maid or child care services are serving children in a requisite manner or not.

4. Situation Analysis

4.1 Market Analysis
The baby care market is growing at a fast pace not only in Singapore but in the whole world driven by the increasing baby population, especially in developing nations where disposable incomes of parents have now increased significantly. The global baby care market was approximately $47.7 billion in the year 2012 and is forecasted to reach $66.8 billion by 2017. It is noteworthy that, the average age of parents has increased in the last few years, and the higher aged parents are more stable, in terms of their income and financial resources. As a result of this, they have money to pay out for baby care and expediency. Singapore is an independent and developed country where people have high disposable incomes, and they are capable enough to spend money on their baby care. In light of this, it is significant that the baby care market of Singapore is at boom and presents vital opportunities to Care Tech for serving customers and earning revenues^[1].

4.2 PEST Analysis
Political: The Singapore government offers subsidies to childcare services companies and child care centers. In addition, entrepreneurship is also strongly encouraged in Singapore due to which it will convenient for Care Tech to launch this new baby care product and gain a large market share. In the last few years, the International Health Organisations like WHO and other nationally active organizations are putting pressure on the government to support products that are concerned with the health care of babies^[2].
Economic: Singapore is known enormously for its economic development and has been developed significantly in past years. Although, the increased inflation and decrease in the purchasing power of people are some of the prominent factors, then also parents, especially both working parents are ready to spend on baby care services. People in Singapore prefer baby care products and services in a substantial manner and welcome products that are related to baby care^[3].
Social: The lifestyle and behavior of consumers have now changed in a recommendable manner and they have become more technology-dependent. It is notable that women are stepping into the mainstream workforce, and this has supported the baby care market growth. The proportion of households that have married couples is 70% in Singapore.  Parents have now become more conscious about their baby’s care, whether it is linked to baby cosmetics or any other product. The exceedingly ambitious behavior of parents and their changed lifestyle does not allow them to sit at home and take care of their babies; consequently, the importance of baby care products has elevated^[4].
Technological: Advancement of the Internet has imperatively affected every business sector and business offerings. Social Networking sites and smart hone applications are now part of people’s everyday lives. In this technological epoch, individuals strongly prefer products that bring down their pain and make work easier for them. Parents will thus, prefer any technologically advanced that will make life easier for them and aid in their child care without bringing any harm to the child^[5].
4.3 SWOT Analysis
Strengths:

• The increasing awareness of parents about child care and the reliability of baby care products have enhanced the demand for different types of baby care products, which will act as a strength for the company
• Baby Buzz is an innovative and substantially advanced product, and therefore, it is distinctive competencies will work in its favour and quickly attract the attention of the target market^[6].
• Care Tech will not have to invest much in the manufacturing of the product as the product is the integration of already available products due to which the requirement of investment in manufacturing activities is less^[7]

Weaknesses:

• It is imperative Baby Buzz is an entirely new product to be launched in Singapore and there are no products available in the market. As a result of this, consumers have no idea about its advantages and its feasibility
• The availability of low start-up capital will not allow the company to invest much in its marketing activities and raise awareness in customers, which will eventually become a weakness for the product^[8].
• Customers might not show much interest in the product and feels that it is of no utility. This will not permit the company to attain its sales and marketing objectives.

Opportunities:

• In light of the information presented in the market analysis section, it is apparent that the baby care market of Singapore and around the globe is growing rapidly. This presents a significant opportunity for Baby Buzz to get customers quickly^[9].
• The disposable income of people in Singapore is high as mostly both the parents work in the country. Moreover, people are ready to spend on baby care products for the betterment of their children, which provides an opportunity to gain a large market share^[10].
• Care Tech has a lot of scope in the product innovation of Baby Buzz and then can improve it in a pertinent manner in the coming years^[11].

Threats:

• Care Tech will have to take permission to utilize already available products in the market, and it might happen that the company will have to pay a high amount for it^[12].
• As the product is new, already established baby products companies will try to copy the idea and present in the market with better innovation, which can threaten Baby Buzz in terms of revenues as well as market share^[13].
• Low market share is a big threat in front of Baby Buzz as it will dissipate all the efforts and investment that has been made in the product and will not allow Care Tech to attain its mission and objectives^[14].

5. Marketing Summary

5.1 Marketing Objectives
Since the product is new in the market, the role of marketing is enormously substantial for Baby Buzz as it will facilitate Care Tech in enhancing the brand awareness of the product and induce customers to try the product at least once. Marketing efforts of the organization are focussed on making parents, especially working couples alert how Baby Buzz is a unique product that permits them to monitor their baby all the time. It allows them to save their child from any sort of violence and harm, which can happen to them as they are not under the eye of their parents^[15]. In this regard, for extending Baby Buzz in the Singapore market, the following are the marketing objectives of the product

• To make Baby Buzz accessible to the maximum number of working couples of Singapore so that they will get convenient baby care service. In this context, the best possible efforts will be made to provide the product that will go well with customers of class and income groups and class^[16].
• To augment the market share of Baby Buzz up to 30 percent, within 3-4 years of time frame, and hence, Care Tech will adopt some of the vigorous and customer-oriented marketing strategies so that it will reach the different areas of Singapore market.
• To make Baby Buzz, one of the largest, technologically advanced baby care brands in Singapore in the next 2-3 years by expanding its utility for elders or adults, as well. This will allow Care Tech to adhere to the diverse and dynamic demands of current era customers^[17].

5.2 Target Market
The target market plays a vital role in the marketing strategy of the company as the company has to target the market, which permits them to offer superior customer value and sustain for a long time in the future^[18]. For the purpose of creating a trustworthy connection with parents who are looking for advanced baby care products, the target market of Baby Buzz will be working parents of all income groups. Baby Buzz will put particular focus on the working couples of Generation-Y, who usually leave their babies at home under the supervision of others for attending their daily work duties.
This could be used for any child/baby who is under the care of a maid at home, a baby sitter, a child-care center, or even a relative’s place. As the product is marketed as a highly advanced, innovative, and quality product that can be afforded by all types of working couples all income groups have been targeted. Baby Buzz can simply be put around the neck or wrist of the baby, and no other trouble has to be taken by the parents.
5.3 Market Segmentation
Market segmentation is an important component in the marketing strategy of a product as it mainly separates the product’s target market into various groups attributed to the requirements, characteristics, and behavior of customers. In market segmentation, the target market can be segmented by the company on a socio-economic basis or on the basis of their income groups. With respect to Baby Buzz, it is notable that initially it will be launched on the basis of geographic segmentation and behavioral segmentation by introducing into only in the metro areas of Singapore^[19].
The population of metro cities is usually more professional and more work-oriented. In addition, segmentation has been done on the basis of the couple as well, as all married couples are not targeted rather only married working couples have been targeted who wants baby care services for their babies. It is worthy to state that once the product will become popular in the metro areas it will be extended to remote areas.
5.4 Positioning and Differentiation
Subsequent to the decisions regarding the target market and market segmentation, it is necessary to position it differently in the market so that it will survive for a long time and will not lose its significance in the turbulent business environment.  Product positioning will allow making such an arrangement, which will enable Baby Buzz to occupy a clear and distinguishing position in customer’s minds in the market in comparison to all other baby care products that are available in the market^[20]. The motive of Care Tech is to offer Baby Buzz and set its distinctive market identity so that the greatest benefits can be availed. In this regard, the positioning of Baby Buzz will be done as a product ‘that makes it convenient for working couples to care for their babies’. Baby Buzz will be positioned as a product that is technically safe and has high utility in baby care.
5.5 Marketing Mix     
Product Strategy: Baby Buzz utilizes existing technology, like voice control, pulse monitoring, and tagging GPS for permitting parents to monitor the behavior and emotions of their baby. The product strategy is that in Baby Buzz parents can preset the allowable voice pitches/sounds produced by the baby and if the baby produces a sound higher than that then it will send a distress signal. Baby Buzz will further measure the temperature of babies, as well, and allow parents to know if their baby is having a fever or is going through sick conditions. Baby Buzz will also facilitate in including heartbeat monitoring and GPS capabilities for much expediency of parents. As soon as Baby Buzz will found any emergency, the same will be notified quickly to parents through an instantaneous SMS/Email/call. The use of GPS technology in the product will let the parents discover that their given instructions were timely acted upon or not, for instance, how much time the maid/helper took to take the baby to the hospital in emergency conditions.
Price Strategy: The target customers of Baby Buzz are working couples of all income groups, and thus, the pricing strategy is to offer the product at reasonable and affordable prices. In this to market Baby Buzz, Care Tech will espouse on penetration pricing strategy, in which a low and reasonable price will be set for the product so that the market share can be augmented and sales volume can be increased. This strategy will permit Car Tech to lure working couples for trying it once^[21].
Place: It is essential to adopt an appropriate placing strategy so that products will be made available to customers at right time and in the right place. For distributing Baby Buzz in the Singapore market, an intensive distribution strategy will be used. Care Tech will directly make Baby Buzz available to customers through retail stores, medical shops, shopping marts, and supermarkets. This will make it easier for customers to quickly reach for Baby Buzz whenever and wherever they want without any obstacle. The reason for choosing this strategy is that it complies with the marketing objectives of Baby Buzz and found the most suitable one^[22].
Promotion: Promotion is the critical element of the marketing mix and contributes fundamentally to the sales of the product. The promotion strategy that will be used for Baby Buzz is social media advertising, such as deals.com.sg and Groupon as they are the cheapest way of advertising and are best suitable for a new venture. In addition, ads will also be posted on social networking sites, like Facebook and YouTube to show customers the utility of Baby Buzz and influence them to buy it^[23]. In addition to this, booths will also be set up in mega-events like the baby fair at the Singapore Expo, to promote the product and making customers aware of it. As a new business venture, Care Tech will principally rely on the word of mouth publicity from their satisfied customers^[24].

6. Sustainable Competitive Advantages

Sustainable market development is the key concern for all new ventures nowadays. Organizations have to adapt quickly to the continuously changing business environment. It is substantial to produce an integrated strategy that is entrenched with sustainability to practice sustainable marketing. In this context, Care Tech will make efforts to attain the market leaders’ advantage as the product is non-existent and currently there are no competitors of the product.
Thus, for long term sustainability, Baby Buzz will make efforts and concentrate to expand its target audience that is working couples of Generation Y. In order to augment its sustainability and generate unique customer experience, in the near future Baby Buzz can be also used on old people, athletes, or even National Servicemen. The product features will be enhanced once it becomes successful initially in the Singapore market. Besides this, when the product becomes successful in the Singapore region and accomplish its objectives, it will be launched to other countries/regions, as well, and therefore, it will be expanded at an international level^[25].

7. Budget

8. Expected ROI

9. Conclusion

To conclude, it can be mentioned that the main aim of the paper is to present for a new product, which will be launched by an entrepreneurial organization in the Singapore market. The above-mentioned business plan is for the product called Baby Buzz, which will be introduced by Care Tech organization set up by a team of four. In this respect, the different aspects of the business have been mentioned and the marketing strategy for Baby Buzz has also been suggested in the aforementioned discussion. A brief analysis of the Singapore baby care market has been presented along with external factors that impact the product and the way in which they impact it. It is notable that Baby Buzz is an advanced product that can be tied around the wrist and neck of customers and will notify whenever the baby is under any adverse condition. The product has some unique features that compile with the needs of customers and facilitate them effectively in baby care.

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^[1] Global Information Inc. “Baby Boom in Developing Nations: Major Baby Product Market Trends to Watch Out For”. Accessed December 18, 2013 http://finance.yahoo.com/news/baby-boom-developing-nations-major-200500062.html
^[2] Ibp Inc. Doing Business and Investing in Singapore Guide Volume 1 Strategic and Practical Information.(USA: Int’l Business Publications, 2011).
^[3] Saw Swee-Hock, The Population of Singapore. (US: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2012).
^[4] Department of Statistics Singapore. “Census of Population 2010.” Accessed December 18, 2013 http://www.singstat.gov.sg/news/news/press15022011.pdf
^[5] Saw Swee-Hock. Population Policies and Programmes in Singapore. (US: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2005).
^[6] Mintel. 2011. “Baby and Nursery Equipment – UK – February 2011: Strengths and Weaknesses in the Market, Academic Search Complete.” Accessed December 18, 2013 http://academic.mintel.com/sinatra/oxygen_academic/search_results/show&/display/id=545473
^[7] Eva Lloyd and Helen Penn.  Childcare Markets: Can They Deliver an Equitable Service?.     (Great Britain: The Policy Press, 2012).
^[8] Lynet Uttal. Making Care Work: Employed Mothers in the New Childcare Market. (USA: Rutgers University Press, 2002).
^[9] A sustainable population for a dynamic Singapore. 2013. Accessed December 18, 2013 http://www.nptd.gov.sg/content/NPTD/news/_jcr_content/par_content/download_98/file.res/population-white-paper.pdf].
^[10] Eva Lloyd and Helen Penn.  Childcare Markets: Can They Deliver an Equitable Service?.    (Great Britain: The Policy Press, 2012).
^[11] David M. Blau. Child Care Problem: An Economic Analysis.) South Africa: Russell Sage Foundation, 2001).
^[12] Christine Genzberger. Singapore Business: The Portable Encyclopedia for Doing Business with Singapore. (Singapore: World Trade Press, 1994).
^[13] Lynet Uttal. Making Care Work: Employed Mothers in the New Childcare Market. (USA: Rutgers University Press, 2002).
^[14] Saw Swee-Hock. Population Policies and Programmes in Singapore. (US: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2005).
^[15] T Gallagher. 100 Ideas to Market Your Childcare Business. (USA: iUniverse, 2009).
^[16] M. C. Cant, ‎J. W. Strydom, ‎C. J. Jooste. Marketing Management. 5th ed. (South Africa: Juta and Company Ltd, 2009).
^[17] Malcolm McDonald and ‎Hugh Wilson. Marketing Plans: How to Prepare Them, How to Use Them.7th ed. (UK: John Wiley & Sons, 2011).
^[18] Lawrence B. Chonko and S.D. Hunt. “Ethics and Marketing Management –A Retrospective and Prospective.” Commentary. Journal of Business Research, 50, no. 3 (2000): 235-244.
^[19] T Gallagher.  100 Ideas to Market Your Childcare Business. (USA: iUniverse, 2009).
^[20] Christian Gronroos. ”Definition Marketing: A Market-Oriented Approach.” European Jouranl of Marketing, 23 no. 1: 52-60.
^[21] Christine Cuthbertson. Retail Strategy. (UK: Routledge, 2012).
^[22] Malcolm McDonald and ‎Hugh Wilson. Marketing Plans: How to Prepare Them, How to Use Them.7th ed. UK: John Wiley & Sons, 2011.
^[23] Chris Hackley. Advertising and Promotion: An Integrated Marketing Communications Approach. (USA: SAGE, 2010).
^[24] Susan Hart. Marketing changes. (Croatioa: Cengage Learning EMEA, 2003).
^[25] Anja Schaefer. “Some Considerations Regarding the Ecological Sustainability of Marketing Systems.” Electronic Journal of Radical Organisation Theory. 9, no. 1 (2005).