Restored Vision Inc.
Restored Vision Inc. is a small start-up business that was founded by four doctors and is currently located in Vancouver, Canada. Restored Vision Inc. performs corrective eye surgeries to fix such problems as astigmatisms, nearsightedness and farsightedness. Laser eye surgery became available in Canada in 1990, so it is relatively new. The B.C. College of Physicians and Surgeons self-governs the practice of medicine in British Columbia, which presents another problem. Until recently, doctors have been forbidden to advertise there services as it would appear unprofessional. Therefore, Restored Vision Inc.’s marketing plan cannot aggressively advertise and promote the new laser eye surgery. This makes the corrective surgery very difficult to market. Since its creation, Restored Vision Inc. has promoted its business by using multiple media types such as print (newspapers, magazines, etc.), radio, phone books, and word of mouth.
The target market of Restored Vision Inc. is people who currently wear corrective vision devices, representing about 30% of the entire population. About 50% of the people that have been treated so far, 75% of them have been between the ages of 26 and 55. The estimated market size is 1,829,000 people out of the population in British Columbia of 3.4 million people; this market size represents 54% of the total population in British Columbia. This business is very attractive since over half the population could use this service.
Restored Vision Inc. differentiates itself from the competition in two ways: quality of service and superior technology. First, Restored Vision Inc. has positioned itself as a clinic with the highest customer service. The business has 4 ophthalmologists that are affiliated with the B.C. College of Physicians and Surgeons and each of the doctors has practiced medicine individually for a number of years. The competition relies mainly on outside technical help for the surgeries. Restored Vision Inc. creates a greater sense of security and provides a higher quality of customer care. Second, Restored Vision Inc. has leased the newest, most advanced technology, which will allow for treatment of a greater array of patient problems. Lastly, this new technology will lead to a greater success rate of vision correction.
Restored Vision Inc. has a few strengths, including its medical staff and equipment. The medical staff of Restored Vision Inc. contains 4 very good ophthalmologists, each having years of experience in the field of corrective eye surgery. The equipment at Restored Vision Inc. is only the newest and most up-to-date technology. This means that this business can provide the widest array of corrective surgeries to cover a greater amount of patient problems.
Restored Vision Inc. has a few weaknesses, including its funding and its competitors. First, Restored Vision Inc. has a lack of significant funding because of the fact that it is a start-up business. All 4 doctors have put thousands of dollars of their money into the business, and have yet to make a reasonable profit. Secondly, there are 3 large competitors all within a relatively short distance of Restored Vision Inc. While these businesses have previously divided up the market share of corrective eye surgeries, Restored Vision Inc. should now gain the largest market share due to the advantages explained above.
The largest environmental factor that will affect the marketing of the corrective laser eye surgery is the location of Restored Vision Inc. and its relation to the location of the customers. Restored Vision Inc. is located in Vancouver, Canada. 40% of the corrective surgeries of the past have been from the United States. The rest have been from the greater British Columbia region. Vancouver seems to be an optimal location since it is surrounded by the majority of Canada’s population.
Restored Vision Inc.’s pricing strategy is “More for Less.” The competitors of Restored Vision Inc. charge $2,300 per eye. Restored Vision Inc. originally charged $2,400 per eye before realizing that many customers chose where to go for the surgery based on price. Now, at $2,200 per eye, Restored Vision has the best quality service for the lowest price.
Restored Vision’s business objectives are the following:
- Invoke the laser equipment buyout option by the end of year 3.
- Hold shareholder loans to $50,000 with payback in year 3.
- Average 60 treatments per month in year 3.
These objectives are reasonable, but may be the source of some of the problems the company has been facing. Restored Vision Inc. has established itself as a high quality customer-based business; it will take time to build a solid reputation. The next problem is that laser eye surgery is pretty new, so many people are not aware of this corrective procedure yet. Over the next few years, more money will have to be invested into the business without a large profit being generated. The profit will come with time.