FirstLight Homecare Franchise in Australia
Instructions:
An opportunity to investigate an industry in depth, develop awareness of alternative business practice, develop your understanding of the franchise business format FOR AUSTRALIA, learn how and why to present your findings in several different formats for different audiences and in this way as a whole enlarge your understanding of the application of discipline specific knowledge in a structured professional way.
Explanation of FirstLight Homecare business by
3.1. BRIEFLY, identifying the competitive advantages (derived from macro & industry factors analysis)
3.2. Create a marketing mix strategy using either 4P’s (product, price, promotion and place) or 7P’s (product, price, promotion, place, people, process and physical evidence)
IN DETAIL, Show the MAJOR FINANCIAL and other information for FirstLight Homecare
4.1. Initial Investment cost & Contract Length
4.2. Royalty fees
4.3. Return on Investment & Payback Period
4.4. Expected sales growth over 5 years 5. Stakeholder Charter (be creative)
-10 Academic Sources Required for Reference
Solution
FirstLight Homecare Franchise in Australia
Introduction
FirstLight Home Care provides extensive personal, non-medical, and in-home care services to new mothers, the elderly, the disabled, and other needy individuals. The organization creates platforms for helping others as well as professional opportunities that lead to the growth of career paths while developing a great business (Bevis, 2014). The paper presents the competitive advantages and the integrated marketing strategies of the firm and the other main financial information of the enterprise.
FirstLight Home Care
3.1 Competitive Advantages
The organization has a developed a superior culture of care that positions it above its competitors. The culture encompasses the values and beliefs that guide all members of the organization on a daily basis as they serve their clients. The care culture is deeply rooted on recognizing family values perpetuating the well-being of care recipients. Also, the firm has over the years developed a skilled and expertise management team. The firm has the most experienced management personnel in home care and senior care administration (McPherson, 2013). The management, therefore, understands the ups and downs regarding the industry and thus ensures that high standards and expectations are offered to clients. Furthermore, the firm has established an efficient client care access through a secured web-based tool that enables families to monitor the care processes for their loved ones and to provide feedback (FirstLight Home Care, 2015).
3.2 Marketing Mix Strategy
The organization can employ an integrated marketing strategy based on the product/service they offer, the place of service, price, and promotions. In regards to place, the firm can maximize on discovering new markets. Researches and Discoveries on new market niches could frequently be conducted so as to penetrate into the unchartered territories. With pricing, the business can set different prices basing on the demographic characteristics of the target clients (McPherson, 2014). Besides, the organization should establish mechanisms of promoting its brand image. For instance, the firm could employ various channels to create awareness to the audience such as via social media.
4.1 Initial Investment and Contract length.
The total amount of invested funds needed to begin the operations of the entity falls in-between $69, 530 to $ 95, 765. Inclusive of the amount, franchisees pay $39, 500 as franchise fees. The total investment that is required to commence operations of the entity’s area development business with an area development plan for three to five units ranges from a minimum of $92, 030 to a maximum of $113, 265 (Franchise Charter, 2013). The operational contract length with the company lasts for ten years, after which parties can renew the contract.
4.2 Royal Fees
Franchisees are entitled to pay royal fees that amount to 5% of the revenue earned to FirstLight Homecare (The Franchise Mall, 2017). The royalty fees help to fund the corporate as well as the franchise related activities of the Firstlight Homecare.
4.3 Return on Investment (ROI) and Payback period.
With a payback period of five yearss, Firstlight HomeCare is capable of making up to $60 million potential return on investment. For instance, in the year 2015, the enterprise earned $52 million gross revenue (Nelson, 2016). The following formula is used to calculate the return on investment for the firm.
4.4 Expected Sales Growth.
Cash Flow Statement
| 1. | Initial Investment | Year 0 ($) 95156 | Year 1 ($) – | Year 2 ($) – | Year 3 ($) – | Year 4 ($) – | Year 5 ($) – | |
| 2. | Sales revenue | – | 95,264 | 95,264 | 95,264 | 95,264 | 95,264 | |
| 3. | Training Other costs (including wages of 20 employees) | – – | -2,550 -11005 | -2,550 -11005 | -2,550 -11005 | -2,550 -11005 | -2,550 -11005 | |
| 4. | Income before tax | – | 81709 | 81709 | 81709 | 81709 | 81709 | |
| 5. | Taxes | – | -24512.70 | -24512.70 | -24512.70 | -24512.70 | -24512.70 | |
| 6. | Net income | – | 57196.30 | 57196.30 | 57196.30 | 57196.30 | 57196.30 | |
| 7. | Royal fees | – | -4763.20 | -4763.20 | -4763.20 | -4763.20 | -4763.20 | |
| 8. 9. 10. 11. | Cash flow from operations NPVIF, 3% Discounted cash flow Cumulative total | -95156 1.0000 -95156 -95156 | 52433.10 0.9709 50905.92 -44250.08 | 52433.10 0.9426 49423.23 5173.15 | 52433.10 0.9151 47983.71 53156.86 | 52433.10 0.8885 46586.13 99742.99 | 52433.10 0.8626 45229.25 144972.24 | |
Source: (Firstlight Homecare, 2014).
From the cash flow statement, the NPV= $144,972.25
ROI=0.52 or 52% or $49,481.12
5. Stakeholder Charter.
The company envisions the continuity of the culture of care by ensuring that all the organizational participants deliver to every client services of high value, and to foster relationships with franchisees as well as clients so as to exceed expectations.
Conclusion
The culture of care, experienced
management, and client care access provide FirstLight HomeCare with competitive
advantages in the market. Incorporation of price, place, promotions, and
product/service enables the business to develop a marketing strategy for
thrashing competitors. Furthermore, for franchises to occur, various
investments and royal costs are incurred by the franchisees.
References
Bevis, J. (2014). FirstLight Home Care Semi-Annual National Conference Recap: Denver, Colorado – FirstLight Franchise. [online]
FirstLight Franchise. Available at: http://www.firstlightfranchise.com/2014/05/19/firstlight-homecare-2014-conference/ [Accessed 31 Mar. 2017].
FirstLight HomeCare, (2014). FirstLight HomeCare Related as Top Senior Care Franchise. Available at: https://www.franchising.com/news/20140522_firstlight_homecare_rated_as_top_senior_care_franc.html
FirstLight HomeCare, (2015). Doing the Right Thing! – FirstLight Franchise. [online] FirstLight Franchise. Available at: http://www.firstlightfranchise.com/2015/09/10/doing-the-right- thing/ [Accessed 31 Mar. 2017].
McPherson, B. (2013). Winning In The Highly Competitive Home Care Industry – FirstLight Franchise. [online] FirstLight Franchise. Available at: http://www.firstlightfranchise.com/2013/05/20/home-care-franchise/ [Accessed 31 Mar. 2017].
McPherson, B. (2014). The Perfect Marketing Mix For Small Businesses – FirstLight Franchise. [online] FirstLight Franchise. Available at: https://www.firstlightfranchise.com/2014/01/23/small-business-marketing/ [Accessed 31 Mar. 2017].
Nelson, K. (2016). FirstLight Credits Alliances for 98% Franchise Revenue Growth. [online] Home Health Care News. Available at: http://homehealthcarenews.com/2016/01/firstlight-credits-alliances-for-98-franchise- revenue-growth/ [Accessed 31 Mar. 2017].
The Franchise Charter, (2013). Earning Claims of Top Franchises Revealed. [online] The Franchiser Charter. Available at: https://www.franchisechatter.com/2013/02/14/fdd-talk- daily-net-revenue-of-franchised-firstlight-homecare-businesses/ [Accessed 31 Mar. 2017].
The Franchise Mall, (2017). FirstLight HomeCare Franchise Costs & Fees. [online] Thefranchisemall.com. Available at: http://thefranchisemall.com/franchises/details/13897-0-firstlight_homecare.htm [Accessed 31 Mar. 2017].