Situational analysis for a future Healthy lifestyle consulting company

Healthy lifestyle consulting company (HLC) is supposed to be based in Moscow, Russia and later grow to other Russia’s major cities. HLC main activities will be providing integrated healthy lifestyle consulting services in a parnership with required services and goods providers as well as promoting better diets and lifestyles.

1. Market Summary

More and more people in Russia are coming to understanding benefits of a healthy lifestyle, but not so much of them are finally changing to it. There is a quite free niche on Russia healthy lifestyle market, which is basically a gap between different healthy lifestyle promotion programs and wellness industry. Wellness industry in Russia is strongly oriented on people with medium to high income, leaving people with lower income uncovered. Promotion promotion programs are often providing incomplete information and do not offer any required services.

Target Markets

Promotion of a healthy lifestylePublic information seminarsIndividual healthy lifestyle consultingCorporate employee healthy lifestyle consulting

1.1 Market Demographics

The profile for the typical HLC customer consists of the following geographic, demographic, and behavior factors:

GeographicsHLC is to start and develop in Moscow.

DemographicsOfficial statistics says that there are 46% males and 64% females. There are 8,4 million people at the age from 20 to 60 in Moscow.

Source: http://www.gks.ru/wps/wcm/connect/rosstat_main/rosstat/ru/statistics/population/demography/#

Behavior Factors

People often do not have time and energy to research and develop nutrition and physical activity plans for themselves using open information. If people pay money for an individual healthy lifestyle plan, they tend more to follow it.

If a product or service is included into an individual healthy lifestyle plan, people will tend to use it more probably rather than they would on a free market.

1.2 Market Needs

Healthy lifestyle activity plan The costumers should be involved in all sorts of well-strucutured and well-organized activities, such as lectures, meetings, which the healthy lifestyle program provides.

Healthy nutrition brand Nowadays eating healthy food is an acute issue. Making a specific focus on this very aspect will emphasize its importance and point out that this component is a part and parcel of healthy lifestyle and should be treated with the same attitude as physical activity. Social and other types of adverisment In order to inspire costumers to lead a healthy lifestyle they should be surrounded with it in their every day life.

Individual programs development Personal approach increases costumer’s trust and quality of the offered service, shows diversification of opportunities the company possess.

Corporate healthy lifestyle consulting for employeesNowadays corporations are more interested to have healthy and good-looking employees and are ready to support corresponding activities.

Online activitiesIt includes services accessible via Internet (lectures, seminars, video lessons, exercises), which helps to stay in touch with “healthy lifestyle mindset” even when there is currently no chance to do it physically.

1.3. Market Trends

Employees should be encouraged by their empoyers and companies to lead a healthy lifestyle, participate in specially-organized sports activities. There are plenty of open-air sports events that take part in parks and stadiums. It helps to involve more people in the process, to combine trainings and socialization.Thus, health is brought along with pleasure.Nowadays the tendency to be fit, healthy and slim gains popularity. In the business field the demand for that is constantly growing. Many business trainers claim that active, fit and good-looking people are bound to be more successful.

1.4. Market Growth

This is a relatively new product on market, which attracts more and more people who want to discover a healthy lifestyle and experience its benefits on their own. Nowadays, this field is profitable, since the healthy lifestyle propaganda in the 21st centaury is enormous.

According to the statistics, compared to 2006, people in Russia are quite eager to do sports nowadays: more than 50% follow healthy lifestyle today, in 2006 this number was around 39%. Moreover, within seven years then number of people who try to do sports on the regular basis has increased from 6% to 10% (source: www.rg.ru).

Another statistics reflects the same tendency in growing interest towards healthy lifestyle, which needs to be developed by companies like ours, because adverse external factors may serve as a serious obstacle:

2. SWOT analysis

2.1. Strengths Only company that provides service integration Low cost marketing strategies available and appropriate (social media, local events,

word of mouth) Ability to react quickly to market changes as a small company without many

management levels Products and services can be easily customized depending on the trends and market

requirements Low rental costs as no big office space required On-line presence (many services are available on-line, which is convenient for busy

customers in Moscow

2.2. Weaknesses No established reputation and no current market presence No established funds Unreliable cash flows on the early stage of development Long time required for reputation and customer base building Any negative customer feedback will have a big impact on the company’s reputation

2.3. Opportunities Business sector is expanding with many opportunities for future success – market is

growing Lifestyle changes (Healthy and fit is trendy) Governmental support (grants and events) Lack of recourses on the topic available in Russian language Statistical data available on the topic from the governmental trusted sources, which

can be analyzed Many local events organized by local governments where company can participate

and promote itself No direct competition Opportunity to become a leader on the market

Opportunity to make our indirect competitors – our partners Highly qualified human resources are available on the market Opportunity to make products and services more attractive and easy to obtain by

providing service integration

2.4. Threats Many obstacles that may discourage our customers from using our services (take

them away from the right path – for example fast food development and social factors)

Due to absence of direct competitors, difficult to forecast (no examples of success available)

Need to fight “magic markets” (magic dieting pills, supplements and programs that help you get slim and fit in seven days) – need to educate customers

Complimentary events within this field organized by the government (not direct competitors but might require considering)

3. Competition. Our company acts as a private entrepreneur in the Moscow with the possibility in

the future to expand its borders to the Russian market. Despite the fact that the concept of a healthy lifestyle is gaining popularity all over

the world there are only a few small companies in Russia (http://bewell.ru/) or individuals (http://jvoroshilova.ru/) who work in this field.

There is no direct competitors integrated HLC providers on the russian market at the moment. All

4. Product offering.

Promoting healthy lifestyle.

Advisory services, lectures and seminars for both individuals and companies.

Fee-based personal healthy lifestyle consulting, including developing nutrition and excercises plans. Providing necessary products and services in partnership with related suppliers. The full package of fee-based services, including both consulting servicies, healthy catering services and organizing fitness programs for individuals, companies and groups.

5. Keys to sucess.

The idea of healthy lifestyle is a crucial issue nowadays, so we will definitely meet market demand.

We can become monopolist in this area because of competitions' lack of a clear marketing strategy, lack of sponsors and supporters ,lack of advertising.The main purpose of our company is to provide the taget audience with full package of information and services, deal with healthy lifestyle in order to meet customer satisfaction. That makes our product the offer that can not be repeated in the market.We plan to expand the sphere of our influence in the way that our competitors will become our direct partners in the future.

6. Critical issues.

As a start-up company we are in the early stages. We need to establish our company as a reliable healthy lifestyle company and to make it talked about.We need to win our customers' trust and create a good reputation. There is also a strong need of finding the feedback from goverment and other supportes. In order to do this we need to take part in diffrent competitions and win them.We need to enlist the support of the goverment which will make us more reliable in the opinion of our target audience.