Finance

Business Description
In massage industry, massage therapy and body spa jobs or employment opportunities are very rare. It therefore means that most of the times, massage therapists have to create employment opportunities for themselves by starting their own business ventures either as partnerships, sole proprietors or joint corporations. This business proposal is about a massage and body spa company that will be established in the effort of creating self employment. The business will be a sole proprietorship owned and managed by Jones White, under the assistant of eight trained and experienced therapists in the same field. Jones White is a professional and experienced massage therapist who was trained in the Institute of Natural Healing Sciences in 1996 and later served as an instructor, training other massage therapists. Jones now feels that it is time to start her own enterprise and run it from a home office.

The company will mainly engage in massage and body spa services that include deep tissue, Swedish massage, sports, prenatal pregnancy massage as well as a wide range of spa body treatments like body polishing, sea salt glows, sugar glow, paraffin body peppermint-lavender herbal body wrap and fandango wrap. The company will be based in south Grand Prairie and will mainly be regional serving the customers in the environs of south Grand Prairie, Arlington and Mansfield-all which are in Texas State.

The mission of the company is to be the most profitable company in the massage industry in Texas by offering therapeutic massage and body spa services in the most professional, caring and ethical way. The company will exist to offer massage services using a variety of styles such as traditional reflexology, Swedish massage, sports massage deep tissue work,hot stone massage among other methods that the company may find competitive. The main goal of the company is to tailor clients experience basing on the original interview information and in-the-minute feedback in the process of the massage so as to make sure that clients satisfaction and comfort are maximized and to increase the cases of repeat business. Through this company, we intend to provide massage services that are effective but still respectful of our clients private boundaries. We will be mindful to offer quality service through our experience and purchasing quality lotions and oils, appropriate scents, nature sounds as well as soothing music depending on the clients desires.

2.0 Industry and market analysis
As an upcoming company we have conducted sufficient market research and identified a lucrative market segment in Texas since it is a region that most massage therapy companies have not fully exploited. It is quite feasible market because our research revealed that most residents in this region prefer booking for massage services to be conducted in their homes, which our company intends to specialize. This is due to the fact that most of them are busy during the normal working days and cannot get time to book for daytime appointments with the therapists. The clients who seek massage in these areas are of four basic categories- those who are recovering from accidents or injuries, those pampering themselves, clients preferring an alternative type of health care and serious athletes. With this potential client base, the company expects to be a sole home massage service provider not only in Texas but in other neighboring estates.

Despite the fact that the massage industry has been slowly saturating over the past five years and the rate of new entrants into the industry is gradually exceeding the demand by customers, our company aims at differentiating our services to give the massage industry a new feel and new combination of the traditional and modern techniques. The potential clientele base for the company is expected to grow at the rate of 80 by the first year of operation and then increase at 50 in the subsequent years while at the same time improving in profitability and quality of service to the customers. The rationale behind the expected growth lies basically on the analysis of the market potentiality that has already been done through an objective market research. A pilot marketing that was done earlier exposed the number of ready and non accessed population in Texas. The pilot exercise also enabled our company to draw an overview of the expected reception and response by the selected market segment. It is from the results of the market research and market pilot study conducted in Texas that the predicted market growth and expansion is based.

3.0 Competitive analysis
Our competitiveness mainly lies on our capacity to provide intuitive massage. Our experience in massage therapy and in-depth knowledge in kinesiology as well as anatomy gives us a competitive edge over our competitors in that Jones White and her professional can read what the client wants after a short discussion about their condition.  This facilities optimum customer satisfaction and the probability of repeat business with the same client, their friends, and family members or even work colleagues.

A massage psychiatric therapy business just like other businesses, encounter stiff competition in their industry (Johnson, 2008). Recently, a wave of new entrants in the massage industry has heightened the degree of competition in massage business to a level that it has never reached (Scribd, 2009). This leaves our company with the single option- changing the phase of massage therapy in Texas through excellence, consistency and professionalism. The good news for our company is that although competition thrives in the region the business will be established, most of the dealers and body workers operate from downtown. The location of our business in a home office will therefore be a new and better service to the residents and the elderly,
giving our business a strong competitive edge.

Just like the human beings, products also have a life cycle- they grow, develop, mature, decline and eventually die. The growing stage is marked by rapid and increasing productivity and profitability. The development phase involves slow but increasing level of growth which is preceded by the maturity stage whereby the product attains its maximum profitability and productivity in terms of market share and demand. The product thus declines and if proper strategies of re-promoting and rebranding the product are not engaged, it dies and the company has to introduce a new product in its place (Poston, 2009). The massage product in the Texas market has for a long time failed to attain a normal growth pattern as in other markets. This is because many businesses in this industry are concentrate in the township where the market is already at the maturity (and some in the decline) phase. At the same time there exists a market segment in the interiors of south Grand Prairie, Mansfield and Arlington where the massage business is in its rapid growth and development stage. This is the market segment targeted by our company.

The key success factors expected by the Jones White massage and body Spa Company resides in their unique strategy, providing just what the clients are dying for- allowing them to book for appointments with the therapists in otherwise odd business hours. The company will give its clients an opportunity to book for appointments in weekday nights and weekends, right at their doorsteps. In addition, unlike the existing competitors who have been very strict on the mode of payments for the services, the Jones white company is giving its clients flexibility in terms of paying for massage services especially for the clients who prefer the online booking services. Jones and company will accept MasterCard, Cash, Debits, American Express, Visa, Discover and Checks.

4.0 Marketing concept
There are four main concepts involved in the success of any business the price, the place, the product and the promotion. These are the key issues that define a marketing concept (Brown, 2006). In our business these issues relate to the product line, the pricing concept, the demographic location of our business and the advertising plan for our product. The company pricing strategy has been designed, keeping it high enough to cater for the expenses of the massage and sustain a profit margin for the company while at the same time ensuring that the customer is not exploited. To facilitate this, the company will engage in a cost- benefit analysis to determine the most fair and reasonable prices to charge for the different massage and body spa treatments.

Through building strong business rapport with the prospective clients and offering quality massage with a special professional touch, the company intends to use this as the means of promoting and marketing rather than placing adverts in the magazines, newspapers and the press. Good, quality services will always keep the customers coming back and carrying along with them their friends, relatives and other colleagues which will enable us to build a strong loyal customer base( Fanuzzi, 2003). This does not however eliminate the use of press for advertising and marketing, it only implies that according to Jones White and her staff, a satisfied customer is the best means of achieving the end. At the inception of the business, the business will offer free or subsidized massage to its first customers to promote its initial customers and also as a marketing strategy.

Our industry is ourselves because we are not selling or promoting any physical merchandise which we can repackage or rebrand. This is for the reason that, for prospective customers to acknowledge our services, it is our exceptional and specialized touch they ought to recognize (Massage Den, 2008). Our promotion plan is geared towards guaranteeing that we are different by means of being creative and professional, establishing good relationship with our potential customers and maintaining privacy regarding the information that they share with us. For, instance their accounts, residential areas and email addresses, which are necessary for processing the payments as well as visiting our customers for the home booked appointments.

Our business has a well-built policy which binds us to always protect the clients details with us, both offline or online. Because our potential customers are generally the group which prefers working from and around the comfort of their homes, we propose to uphold a record of appointments and remind them via emails and telephone calls concerning their imminent appointments with us at least a day prior to the booked occasion.

5.0 Human resources description
The Jones White Massage and Body Spa Company is basically a sole proprietorship business, owned and managed by Jones White who is a professional experienced massage therapist in Texas. Jones white who has been offering massage services as an employee in a busy massage parlor in Texas for the last ten years has gained enough experience and knowledge in massage therapy after having had studied in the Institute of Natural Sciences, in the same field. While working at the massage parlor store, Jones was also involved the instructing of other trainee therapists. The trainee therapists she has been instructing were mainly fresh college graduates who were inexperienced. A good number of these trainees who have by now become proficient in the massage therapy are mainly the staff that the company plans to enroll as the assist staff to the main therapist. The main day to day activities of this kind of business will be conducted from Jones Whites home office which has already been equipped with all the quality facilities and equipments for massage therapy. The home office runs throughout the week. Jones Whites will be operating from the home office though she will be also be sending out her staff to the field to attend to the home based appointments.
   
In total, the clinic starts off with fifteen human resources personnel. Nine of whom will be absorbed in the main business as therapists working directly with Jones White in providing massage and body spa services. There will be two employees in the public relations office, an accountant, a marketing officer, a secretary and an officer maintainer (to perform the cleaning and messaging). However this is only the beginning of the company. Plans for expanding the business and the human resource capacity are underway.  Jones prospects that in the next five years the company will have grown and expanded by 200 percent of this initial position.

6.0 Conclusion
Starting a self owned business is the best decision that Jones White has ever made in her career life. It will not only serve her as an individual but it is a resource for the entire society since it offers employment opportunities to the other trainee therapists and provides a service that the chosen market segment requires to improve its health and general welfare. In spite of the fact that Jones admits that the company is likely to be faced with several difficulties at the beginning, she has a strategic plan that will only take a short time to make clients develop confidence in the company.