Cosmetic surgery – Peekabid
In this paper, the researcher tried to highlight the details of a newly developed cosmetic surgery business in the region of UK. It is UK’s first auction based online portal that would help users discover and book appointments with cosmetic and health providers at affordable price.
The basic concept is to create an online platform where patients can pick up the procedure they want and enter the price they are willing to pay along with their preferred location. Then providers can anonymously view the offers within their locality.
They can pick the offer that works best for their practice and schedule patients based on their unfilled availability. Peekabid’s initial aim is to target minimally invasive, non-surgical solutions like dermal fillers, and botox.
These minimally invasive options usually less pain, lesser scars and a quicker healing for the patient but they can have side-effects if it’s not performed in the right environment. Ensuring that clinics adhere to the BAPS regulations and standards would help provide better quality services to patients.
Peekabid ensures that only fully qualified and certified doctors are registered within their provider network, at the same time the surgeries with their network offer visible and immediate results. So, it would be profitable as well as beneficial for both Peekabid and its clients.
According to dermatologist Annie Chi, classically, minimally invasive procedures include non-Surgical, little-downtime procedures that do require breaking the skin. The systems, methods, and standards of Peekabid are centered on improving a patient’s appearance.
Enhancing their style interests, symmetry and proportion are the key targets. Peekabid decided to bring up the dermal filling, Botox treatment, facial contouring and rejuvenation services:
Botox/Botulinum Toxin Injections: Botox tops the list of cosmetic surgeries. This procedure is extremely effective (Blythe, 2014). Botulinum toxin when injected prevents the release of acetylcholine which in turn reduces abnormal muscle contraction, allowing the muscles to become less stiff.
Dermal/Face Filling: These are used to eliminate fine lines and wrinkles or reduce the visibility of lines and wrinkles, add contour, create volume, address dark under-eye circles and revitalize the skin for a more youthful appearance.
‘Business Operations’ refer to implementation of planned activity involving few or many people performing various actions for an organization.
In other words, ‘Business Operations’ would mean carrying out administrative activities to efficiently convert available resources into production of goods or services that would bring targeted or budgeted revenue from the market, maximizing profit for the organization..
Role of an Entrepreneur in the ‘Business Operations’wouldinclude:
- Decision Making
- Managing Overall Resources
- Managing Overall Operations by utilizing the resources available
- Safe-guarding Time Management
- Developing Leadership Skills
- Managing employees to render the best services
- Assuring customers’ satisfaction and employees’ self-esteem
- Nourishing stakeholders’ interests (Baker, 2014)
- Achieving the goal by maximizing profit
The individual should be perceptive and mentally ready to take advantages of the business set up which, in turn, gives him or her high returns on his or her investment.
An entrepreneur should be well acquainted with the economy of the country and the place as well. The individual should be familiar with different market segments associated with their services, for example, Botox, Dermal/Face Filling, Chemical Peeling etc.
Effectual leadership skills and managing tactics also need to be present. Proper communication is also essential to know the taste and preference of the target people in the UK.
Since peekabid is essentially a web based platform, its major mode of operation is to serve as mediators between users and doctors. To that end, a separate login/signup portal will be provided to users desiring cosmetic procedures and for providers offering those procedures.
The user profiles would allow users to provide peekabid with basic information regarding themselves and their procedure (i.e type of procedure, brand preferences, flexible dates, etc) along with submitting an offer price for that procedure.
They can set a price based on their budget and flexibility with appointment dates. Peekabid database would contain all the offer information posted by the users, which will then be presented to doctors. The offer information will be presented anonymously to the providers on their profile pages.
In terms of operations, we provide offers in the website that can be accessed by both patients and doctors. There will be a booking fee for every single patient and subscription fee once they select the doctor ,the procedure and the amount they wish to pay.
Even though there is an offer, where patients have already chosen it, still the doctor has to agree with the offer depends upon factors like qualification, experience of the doctor Peekabid main aim is to get the maximum amount of patients offering them reasonable price and we take 10% from the actual bid price.
The money cannot be returned once they does payment but If a patient cancels any appointment, Peekabid is happy to give the 10% back to the doctor. There is one more page in the same portal where you can actually see the list of doctors you prefer and select accordingly.
Due to the explosive growth of internet and with the current popularity of social media, there is a growing trend among younger generation to seek cosmetic enhancements. This increased demand for nonsurgical cosmetic enhancements have resulted in a recent explosive growth within the cosmetic industry.
However, consumers face the problem of selection of right service providers as there is general lack of transparency regarding quality and pricing in most clinics. The increased reliance by younger patients on cheaper solutions provided by non-medical professionals can have detrimental consequences for their health.
So, I identified this need of market and decided to provide an arena where consumers get the service providers at affordable price with quality services.
The major target customers are women who lie between the age group of 20 to 45 years. The reason behind targeting this segment is that this population remains highly beauty conscious and more eager to avail the services of cosmetic service providers (Jain, et al., 2014).
Skin care has a huge market at a global platform and it is exceeding the profit on a continuous basis. Moreover, in the context of Botox, it has achieved great success as it supports to prevent wrinkles from forming and offers temporary remedy.
From the above diagram, it can be analysed that the demand for cosmetic enhancement is exceeding on a continuous basis. Not only this, but also the demand for botox is increasing on a continuous basis in the market. Botox is showing the trend of well-diversified growth (Allergan, 2014).
Above diagram remains supportive to analyze that botulinum toxins demand is increasing on a continuous basis and it is expected that its demand will show increasing trend in the upcoming future. The future growth of botulinum toxins is forecasted on the basis of current huge demand, which is expected to increase on a continuous basis in the upcoming future (Vlahos, et al., 2016).
Above graph has supported to analyse that in 2013, in the context of cosmetic treatment, botulinum toxin has shown the highest turnover, i.e. $ 6.3 million. However, soft tissue fillers also remain in trend and it has shown the turnover of. $ 2.2 million (Derma Medical, 2016).Cosmetic Treatment in London 2008 and 2015
(Source: Buzz News, 2017)
Below mentioned graph supports to identify the trend of different treatment in London in 2008 and 2015 (Buzz News, 2017). From the above graph, it can be clearly viewed that the face and neck lift treatment is showing fast pace growth.
(Source: Al Ramzi, et al., 2015)
Above graph has supported to analyse that London female cosmetic treatment availing consumers have shown huge attractiveness towards breast augmentation. However, liposuction, nose reshaping and eyelid surgery has also remained in the trend (Al Ramzi, et al., 2015).
Furthermore, it is analysed that tummy tuck and facelifting are also in trend. However, in the contrary, breast lifting, dermabrasion, neck lift and breast reduction market is not so developed.
(Source: Stephan, 2015)
From the above diagram, it can be analysed that according to 2014 statistics out of 13.9 million treatment, 6.6 million cosmetic treatment has taken place on the basis of botolinum toxin and 2.3 million on the basis of soft tissue fillers. Moreover, according to the views of (Stephan (2015) it is analysed that most of the plastic surgeons use social media as a marketing tool.
In the current scenario, due to mobile internet, social media has become one of the strongest tools of promoting the business in the market. At the same time, Sundaram, et al. (2016) determined that in London almost all the citizens have at least one mobile phone and they spend most of the their time on internet. Due to which, plastic surgeons are using this tool to promote their service offerings to the target segment.
According to the views of Jain, et al. (2014), due to increase in competition, in the cosmetic industry, surgeons are facing the issue of vacant appointment slot at the clinic which is creating the situation of financial losses. So, to reduce their losses, there are various surgeons who utilize different strategies to attract the consumers such as promotional strategies, discount offers, etc.
Also, it is identified that they target the particular segment while focusing towards the different segments like high payer and low payer. From the survey, it is analysed that the woman who lie between the age group of 20 to 30 prefer to pay lower costs, as they perform procedures for enhancements and beauty and not for the treatment of any underlying medical conditions.(Vlahos, et al., 2016).
On the other hand, older woman who lie between the age group of 35 to 45 are more stable and can afford high cost treatment as their skin also needs treatment to maintain themselves (American Society Of Plastic Surgeons, 2017). Moreover, it is identified that the women who lie between the age group of 20 to 30 are willing to pay £300 for botox treatment and £650 for dermal filler.
However, 35 to 45 age group women are willing to pay more but they give a huge consideration towards high quality. In most of the cases, botox treatment is used by women to remove the wrinkles from the face (Vlahos, et al., 2016).
According to the views of Rinehart, et al. (2014), PEST (political, econmical, sociological and technological) analysis remains supportive to analyse the environmental analysis of the industry in the market. From the PEST analysis of dermal filler and botox, following findings have taken place:
Political factors –
Changing government tax policies, government rules and regulations and laws impact the cosmetic treatment industry. Due to reason, fluctuation in the price takes place which creates the situation of challenge for the industry (Rinehart, et al., 2014).
Economic factors –
In the current scenrio, due to increase in competition in the cosmetic industry, there is a challenge of economic factor. However, there is an opportunity of innovation and creativity as well as improving the service to attract the consumers (Keller, et al., 2014). In like manner, offerring discount and other facilities will remain supportive to increase the number of consumers.
Sociological factors –
Sociological factors are based on demographic changes and trends. At present, consumers have increased the concern towards their beuty, phisique and appearance which has supported to increase the opportunity for the cosmetic treatment industry (Rinehart, et al., 2014).
Technological factors –
New approaches and technologies will remain supportive for the firm to increase the affectivity of the service offering which will increase the opportunity and will enable the firm to increase the level of customer satisfaction (Keller, et al., 2014).
From the above analysis, it can be analysed that it is the right time to launch Peekabid online portal so that the confusion of the customers will decrease and they can compare the price, rating and services at a single place before availing the services of the cosmetic service providers .
The major competitor of Peekabid are Cosmetic Insure, HealthXchange, etc. portals. So, to compete in the market, Peekabid needs to focus towards designing interactive portal which remain easy to use for the consumers (Morgan, & Strong, 2015).
Additionally, the portal will take less time to open. In like manner, this portal needs to be interactive so that consumers spending time will increase which will remain supportive to develop productive results (Gamble, & Thompson, 2014). At the same time, Peekabid will focus to offesr the range of cosmetic products of different brands so that consumers can find it at a single place.
Additionally, offering the suggestions of treatment and fixing the online meeting with the peekabid staffs will also remain supportive for the consumers to get the knowledge about which treatment will be right in an easy manner.
Furthermore, Peekabid will focus towards taking feedback from the visitors and should also focus towards complaint handling in an effective manner as it remain supportive to make good relationship with the consumers (Madsen, & Walker, 2015).
It will support to increase the competitive advantage which will support to increase the visitors footfall over the portal and will enable the firm to increase the number of brand loyal consumers and long-term sustainability in the industry.
Cosmetic surgery industry is extremely competitive in UK, and at the same time is extremely deregulated. This has resulted in the presence of numerous players, from both the medical and non-medical profession.
Thus, in order to develop a strong foothold, Peekabid’s main aim will be to offer quality services at a price that patients can afford. The main aim of peekabid, is to build a network of highly qualified and certified doctors, and at a later stage the aim is to transform it into a service that is run by doctors for doctors.
Cosmeticalondon,i-skincare,anniecartwright are websites that provides services of derma filling and botox. Also sites like Groupon and cosmedics offers 70% on skin care to attract patients. Cosmetica London is an exclusive beauty and skin clinic bringing to you the best treatment, from dermal filler injections to non-surgical face lifts.
They offer non-surgical, rejuvenation procedures, for men and women of all ages, provided in a luxurious and tranquil space. But they uses only resorbable fillers which is non-permanent.
Peekabid uses both permanent and non-permanent fillers offers wide choice to patients all over in UK.
Groupon allows practices to acquire customers by offering them discounted price. Selling discounted procedure at huge volume is not always beneficial for practices. Furthermore, they have no control over when patients would choose to redeem the voucher. In short Groupon offers great value to consumers not to its business.
If Groupon and other deal websites are fire sales, then Peekabid is more of an auction place. The benefits for consumers are clear, they will have self-service control over choice and price, the ability to make custom, real time offer based on their budget and location. It will also give control back to practices on both prices and volume.
Practices can choose to accept an offer that fits within their budget on an as need basis, whether to fill an empty appointment or cancellation, without having to undersell their inventories. In such a scenario, the provider and the consumer will both have a say on whether it’s a deal or no deal.
In peekabid we aim to verify the claims of all the providers who join our network using GDC guidance. Patients can therefore have the safety and assurance that they are being matched to a quality provider.
Marketing:
My intention is to carry out a pilot study to understand the concept within 6 months. I focus mainly on dermal filling and Botox treatments .I plan to target customers based on requess from providers.
I will be using Buffer, Quu, Socedo to find Facebook, Twitter and direct them to website. I will manually post comments on cosmetic guide blogs .My aim I to get 200 signups the least. I use both online and offline marketing. Socedo can help with obtaining leads.
Eg: Spa/beauty offline includes distributing leaflets through cosmetic clinics, telemarketing and visiting clinics.
Resources:
Doctors are the only resources needed in this business as it’s an online auction portal website business .
Business Model:
. The major resources for the cosmetic surgery business are :
- Patient Selection
- Physician’s Guide to Cosmetic Surgery
- Patient Safety Resources
- Risk Management
- Key Issues in Cosmetic Surgery
- Office-based Surgery
- Healthcare Truth in Advertising
- Injectable
- Wrinkle Fillers
- Wrinkle Relief: Injectable Cosmetic Fillers
In addition to these, other resources which should be taken care of are qualified surgeons, prime location, communication, license, insurance, bank account, etc. Best quality of services need to be offered in surgery so as to make it effective in all regards.
Only then, the satisfaction rate of the customer may be augmented significantly. Therefore, it needs to follow retailing type of business model (Westwood, 2014).
The management of Peekabid needs to offer highest attention towards the demands and needs of the target customers and develop the services accordingly. On the other hand, the equipment of operation needs to be extremely advanced so as to offer best services.
This would enhance the level of gratification of the target individual over Peekabid among others.
According to the office of national statistics, in 2010 63,000 UK citizens went abroad mostly to Europe and Asia for medical treatment. The average amount spent by UK patient abroad was found to be ~£3753, which if multiplied by 63,000 is a great deal of money and does not contribute to our economy.
Peekabid’s aim is to reduce prices based on increasing efficiency of patient scheduling rather than decreasing quality. It will allow price conscious individuals, especially young adults to bid and get matched to a quality provider. By ensuring that they receive a quality provider within their budget, we hope to bring safety for individuals and improve their wellbeing.
Several studies show that after undergoing cosmetic interventions patients usually feel more confident and have positive outlook in life (Alani et al., 2015).
Peekabid’s belief is that giving better choices, better deals will help induce a consumer powered growth within the cosmetic industry. By bidding for vacant appointment slots, patients can save money. It will also benefit high-end practices who have a lot to lose if there is a free appointment slot.
If prices for procedures decrease, then consumers can weigh the benefits and risk associated with wanting to do a treatment within the country or abroad. When people spend money in UK it will not only contribute to the economy but will also contribute to patient safety and wellbeing.
In the end the overarching goal of Peekabid is to introduce a new model of appointment booking and patient scheduling, with increased efficiency and affordability to have a lasting influence of UK healthcare.
Sales forecast:
The sales forecast of Peekabid is predicted below for the first and second year. To attain it, highly effective promotional campaigns need to be created. Along with social media like Facebook, twitter, LinkedIn, mobile marketing technologies also need to be adopted byPeekabid(Wellner,2015).
Projected profit and loss:
Thus, to achieve the projected profit, Peekabid needs to offer highest attention towards the requirements of the target clients then, it would prove effectual for Peekabid to achieve its goal and its services also need to be of extraordinary nature (West and Bogers, 2014). Highly excellent surgery services need to be presented to the customers so as to retain them as loyal customers.
Finance:
Initial start-up expense during pilot phase falls into two categories:
Web building and hosting- £7.36/month using wiz.com
Marketing:
Buffer- £78/month
Google adword-199/month
Socedo-£ 78/month
Vistaprint- £21/month
Travel expenses- 146/month
Virgin internet -£12/month
Leaflet distributing-£99/month
SEO optimization-£13/month
Landing page with instapage- £40/month
Total expenses (including living expenses)- 1350
I have had the opportunity to work as a sales and admin assistant at Daily Need Food and Wine Ltd at Taunton as part of MBA degree (internship) . I was earning 10 pounds per hour .At the moment,I have a job with Taj group and receive 1400 per month since October.
Also, I receive 1300 from parents every month. After Pilot phase, I will be spending an additional £2000 to improve website and buy £100 per month of Rackspace cloud computing space. Also, I intend to charge 20% of bidding amount (which is lower than sites like groupon)for every patient matched through the site.
During my landing page validation, I achieved a conversation rate of 33.3%on the Peekabid site. When I achieve my goal of 500 visitors /month, then the number of patient’s sign up for procedure would be 165(33%of 500). Average price is 200-600/month.
As per my aim every patient is matched to provider, then total income from sale would be £33331.35 each month , This figure could change once I include expensive procedures into the service. My aim for first 2 years is to expand the network of providers , once I hit the target of 400 providers within UK. Then I could change revenue model.
Along with 20% matching fee , I can provide an optional premium subscription plan for providers. In the premium model, they would have the chance to see the bidding offer of other practices in the same locality. This would give them a competitive edge and would be most useful to acquire those patients would be paying over £900 for services.
There is a risk of other online portals which deals in same segments and offers the services of providing suggestions to the consumers regarding the cosmetic treatment. Moreover, due to increase in opportunity in this industry, the level of competition is increasing at a fast pace (Li, 2014).
To eliminate the situation of this risk, Peekabid needs to tieup with the service providers to offer the services in affordable prices while focusing towards different offers. This strategy will remain supportive for Peekabid as well as the cosmetic surgeons..
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