The establishment of a wholesale company of paramedical products in Albania.

43 Pages·2012·2.63 MB·English

The establishment of a wholesale company of
paramedical products in Albania.
by: Alex Avramidis, Evangelos Ergen1, Costas Papathanasiou, Maria Spachidou

1Evangelos Ergen, [email protected]
http://www.ergen.gr
Issue date: 31 July 2011

1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
In a range of 1 to 183 economies, Albania is ranked in the 82nd place in terms of easiness to do
business according to World Bank (2011). Recent reformations and most of all the willingness of
locals to evolve their country and meet the European standards, have cultivated a business
attracting environment. Although there are still distortions in the local market, there is always space
for high risk high return business movements.
Albania is currently considered as a transition economy which tends to be a nominate country in
the near future to join the European Union. For that reason, both political parties which normally
rotate in power have agreed over last decade upon the European orientation of the country.
This business plan is a proposal to establish a company located in Albania, which will import a
set of paramedical products from China and wholesale them to local hospitals, doctors and
pharmacies. There will be also a retailing opportunity for customers living in the south-east rural
areas of the country, which may not have direct access to medical experts. The base of the
company will be at Tirana which is located geographically almost in the middle of Albania. The
company will also have presence in Korce, through a small retail store. Korce is a small city located
in the south-east part, but has a strategic position because it is considered the centre of the region.
The company will run under the administration of a Management Team consisted of five
persons who are specialised experts from different sectors, a fact that is considered crucial for the
investment. The Management Team comes from medical, pharmaceutical, logistics, marketing,
finance and administration areas. Moreover, one of the members has full knowledge of the
country’s specialties and parameters since she is native Albanian and has experience with the
economy and trade of the country. The team decided to go with this mixture of people as it is
inevitable to do business in a transition economy without someone expert from the inside.
A thorough evaluation identified that currently there is a gap in the service market of
paramedical products in Albania. Although there is a small number of wholesalers that distribute
paramedical products, they are not specialised, since they are mostly involved with
pharmaceuticals. Therefore, they provide this service as a supplementary business. This is
happening mainly for two reasons. First, the current network of the sector is following traditional
models, where usually non-experts are involved due to the circumstances; these are simple sellers.
On the other side, because the economy suffered from restrictions and deficits, during the previous
years, the living standards were too low so as consumers did not have access to these kinds of
products.
For that reason there is the thought that the presence of “ALBAN Paramedicals” will change the
evolvement of the sector by contributing with its value and expertise. The company will not have
stable suppliers so it will not represent any specific companies in the local market. On the contrary,
there is a big network of potential suppliers who are reviewed on the basis of quality and price; they
should comply with ISO in order to do business with them. This gives us flexibility in negotiations
and maintains us with low cost-low price advantage in the local market. The company’s products
are the cheapest in the country and the South East Europe area. Moreover, the prices are very
competitive comparing to other European and international markets.
The company is planned to be a joint-stock company (SA) with a starting number of total shares
of 500,000 Euro. The value of each share is defined to 2 Euro; therefore, the starting capital will be
1,000,000 Euro. The amount of 510,000 Euro will be deposited from the management team which
will keep the administration of the company. The rest are requested by investors.
The financial part of this plan presents very interesting data which give an overall of the
potential investment. The company will start with zero financing from banks and most of its assets
will be leased. The working capital comes from the management team and the investors. The
return of investment is placed during the second year of operation, meaning that investors may exit
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at that time with a good return, if they wish to. The second year of operation is crucial for the
company since it is expected to cope with hard competition and its establishment as a brand in the
country.
Some projected numbers are given in the next table, for the four years of operation of the
company:

YEAR 1 YEAR 2 YEAR 3 YEAR 4
Total Sales €2,006,037 €1,605,473 €1,605,473 €1,605,473
Cost of goods €647,844 €486,125 €486,125 €486,125
Operational expenses €317,673 €297,973 €288,898 €293,059
Net profits for the period €780,589 €618,211 €625,470 €622,142

Figure 1. Projected numbers on the investment

There is a projection of experiencing a 20% decrease in sales during the second year due to
competition’s reaction. Since the local market is immature, such shifts are considered natural. The
team would like to incorporate a scenario-planning philosophy, thus it is prepared for such a
reaction. Nevertheless, this is not expected to affect the profitability in terms of gross profit to the
actual sales. The company is expected to maintain privileges gained through the first-movers
advantage in the market.
The following chart represents the relation between sales and profits compared to 4-year of
operation.

€2,500,000
€2,000,000
€1,500,000
Total Sales
€1,000,000 Net profits for the
period
€500,000
€0
1 2 3 4

Figure 2. Sales and profits in the 4 years of operation

The investment is highly promising. The Albanian economy demonstrates distortions and there
is still a significant part of black market; actually, the country is in a transition stage. The team
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believes that this transition offers challenges and opportunities in order to enter and establish its
brand equity. The information displayed below, is the real money investment and the team
considers that it gives the overall picture in the projected four years of operation. It shows the
payback period both for the team and the investors. Moreover, it provides the expected cash flow
and the expected profits at the end of the fourth period.

The payback period index
Investment Cash Flow YEAR 0 YEAR 1 YEAR 2 YEAR 3 YEAR 4
Cash inflows €0 €1,775,807 €1,651,519 €1,605,473 €1,605,473
Cash outflows €1,000,000 €1,344,826 €987,263 €980,003 €863,954
Net Cash Flow -€1,000,000 €430,981 €664,257 €625,470 €741,519
Cummulative Cash Flow -€1,000,000 -€569,019 €95,238 €720,708 €1,462,227
€2,000,000
€1,500,000 €1,462,227
w payback
lo
F €1,000,000
h
s
a
C €720,708
e
iv €500,000
t
la
u
m €95,238
€0
m
u
C 1 2 3 4
-€500,000
-€569,019
-€1,000,000
Years

Figure 3. The payback period of the investment

Using the information above, the team and the potential investors could consider future
scenarios regarding the company. The team search for investors that have the ability to identify the
company’s value and its expected growth. Based on that there might be future considerations.
Finally the investors have a variety of options in case they are involved. They have an option of
leaving at the end of the second year getting back their money plus a 20% as a profit. They can
stay and support the idea almost tripling their initial investment at the end of the fourth year. In
addition, the management team is willing to discuss with the investors the future of the company at
the end of the fourth year of operation. Such scenarios may involve (a) expanding the company if
the investment and its potentials are promising, (b) selling it to other investors, (c) acquiring or
strategically ally with other companies that may guarantee synergies in the health care sector, (d)
expand its activities to South East European market area, (e) or even purchase of the company by
the management team.

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2. THE MANAGEMENT TEAM
The Management Team consists of 5 persons:

1. Mr Kostas Papathanasiou, General Manager
Duties and responsibilities
• Coordination and control of company’s activities
• Ensure that both strategic and business plan are followed
• Vision and strategic decision making in terms of the long-range planning of the company
• Responsibility for the implementation of every aspect of the company’s main office and
branch in Korce

Background
A 15-year experience in running a company as owner and general manager in combination with an
education which comes with a Bachelor in Sports Management. Mr Papathanasiou has
experienced the establishment and the operation of a product and service business both as an
owner and investor.

2. Mr Alex Avramidis, Logistics & Operations Manager
Duties and responsibilities
• Responsibility for fleet management
• Responsibility for the inbound and outbound of orders in terms of supply chain aspects
• Coordination of outsourcing and 3PL activities
• Administration of warehousing and selling operations
• Maintenance of good relations with key account customers regarding logistics activities
• Implementation of KPIs (key performance indicators)

Background
A 5-year experience in logistics and supply chain aspects, in SEE markets and in Albania as well.
Mr Avramidis has a deep knowledge of supply chain weaknesses in a market of transition economy
since he had participated in similar projects in Bulgaria, Romania, Fyrom, Kosovo and Albania. His
education comes with a Bachelor in Logistics Management.

3. Ms Maria Spachidou, Marketing Manager
Duties and responsibilities
• Industry and Competition Analysis
• Responsibility for the marketing plans of the company
• Coordination of sales team
• Markets penetration and expansion to new products and services

Background
Ms Spachidou has an almost 10-year experience in the biotechnology and research in health care
industry. She has undertaken in the past relevant positions in different companies with similar
objectives getting significant experience. In addition she has a deep knowledge of the industry in
terms of global perspectives. Her education comes with a variety of degrees from Biology, Medical
Sciences and a PhD in Immunology.

4. Ms Suela Ceka, Finance & Accounting Manager
Duties and responsibilities
• Strategic alignment with the financial planning
• Coordination of economic activities of the company
• Keep track of any transactions in terms of accounting and financial issues
• Close cooperation with other managers and provision with adequate information
• Evaluate the market and combine plans with actions from the economic perspective
• Counseling to other staff of the company on the country’s specialties
• Get advantage of her personal networking in the country

Background
Ms Ceka, is the team member which knows the country and its parameters. She has an almost 8-
year experience in financial issues as partner or accounting manager in a number of companies.
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She has been involved in similar projects in SEE countries as well. She is capable of administering
financially, newly established companies and identifies possible risks and threats. Her education
background covers a range of degrees from Business and Accounting to Logistics and Human
Resources.

5. Mr Evangelos Ergen, Investors’ Relations and Internal Auditing
Duties and Responsibilities
• Secure that investors remain happy with the information and feedback from the company
• Scenario planning on the potential expansion of the company and other strategic issues
• Close cooperation with the General Manager on the strategic and business plan
• Keep track of internal monitoring on the company’s progress on each aspect

Background
Mr Ergen has an approximate 22-year of experience in managerial positions in different sectors
with one of them being in health care industry. Moreover, he was a partner in a technology oriented
company for 5 years. His background comes with degrees in Computer Science, Management,
Technology and Innovation.

It is realized that the team secures a significant know-how, and the adequate experience to
serve the company’s objectives. The capital of 510,000 Euro will be provided by these members
which in extent assures their commitment in the whole investment. All members have experienced
same or similar projects and prove that can deal with pressure and uncertainty.

3. FEASIBILITY ANALYSIS
Before going to actual plan, there is an initial effort to check whether the idea has viable
elements. So the following section presents the rational and the basic ideas of its further
development.
Albania is considered a transition economy where important changes are taken place both in
political and economical aspects. Such situation creates opportunities, and especially affects the
society and the population’s needs and expectations. These needs and expectations can create
potential markets. Usually these markets start as micro-trends and tend to evolve into high-
promising ones.

3.1 Description of the product
The management team will establish a wholesale company in Albania which will import mainly
from China and sell paramedical products for domestic use, in hospitals, pharmacies and doctors.
The specific products will end to patients who are the end-users and to doctors who are considered
as end-users as well. The plan includes the simultaneous opening of the Head office and the main
warehouse in Tirana and of a branch in Korce, which will cover the south-eastern part of the
country. Actually, in Korce the company will be present through a retail shop in order to serve
specific needs of the local market. This will be the only retail selling point of the company. Korce
covers a rural area of approximately 400,000 inhabitants who prefer to visit Greece in order to buy
paramedical products instead of going to Tirana.
The company will import the products only from China because of the variety of suppliers that
exist there, the low prices and the products’ quality according to ISO standards.

The initial list of products to be imported includes the following:
• Home care
(cid:57) Transport wheelchairs
(cid:57) Assist walkers
• Diagnostic equipment
(cid:57) Blood pressure monitors and accessories
(cid:57) Medical massage equipment
(cid:57) Thermometers
(cid:57) Pulse oxymeter
(cid:57) Electrocardiograms
(cid:57) Blood glucose meters
• Everyday disposables
(cid:57) Gloves
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(cid:57) Catheters
(cid:57) Gauges
(cid:57) Bandages and tapes
• Orthopaedics medical supplies
(cid:57) Arms and ankles support
(cid:57) Knee sleeves
(cid:57) Braces for knees, backs, wrists

3.2 Intended Target Market
The target market complies of all hospitals, including rehabilitation centers, pharmacies and
doctors in the country, with emphasis in the well-established doctors with good reputation and
surgical experience. Doctors are considered the key customer for the company. In reference to the
pharmacies, there will be a priority in targeting the ones which offer a variety of products, are easily
accessible, situated in central points and have a stable customer pool of different ages. Concerning
the hospitals, in recent years there is a liberalization of the sector, which allows the existence of
both public and private ones which will be in the target as well. It is worth mentioning that the target
market is consisted of customers’ groups that are interconnected in a manner and often interact
with each other. This is a special characteristic of the health care sector and the company should
take into account this characteristic when building its customer loyalty policies.

Figure 4. The target market (groups) and their interconnection

3.3 Benefits for our customers
Albania is an emerging economy which lacks the specialization in health care services. A
surface survey has demonstrated that the supplying network of the hospitals is highly corrupted
and that the health care market is in high need of the specific products. Albanian citizens are
obliged to find other ways of getting the home medical products, which most of the times are
imported through relatives or friends. The country shows characteristics of a black market economy
in terms of such products since there is no official network of supplying. The pharmaceutical
warehouses are located mainly in Tirana and provide products mostly to local hospitals and local
market without including West and East Albania markets due to poor logistic mechanisms.
The presence of the new company intends to change the existed networks by creating a new
chain which will be developed among the company and the hospitals, the doctors and the
pharmacies. In addition, these new synergies are expected to cope with the new challenges
derived from the radical changes in the health industry of the country.
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Moreover, the new company intends to bring in this network, specialized products for high-
demanded customers who, in an extent will attract other end-users of similar level.

3.4 Distribution and sales model
The company will base its brand equity in the well established distribution channels and through
the logistics operations. The developed local network is expected to be an asset. The team has a
prior experience in supply chain networking and it will establish a new network from the beginning.
The team will try to take advantage of the first-mover action and establish a network which
originally target domestic needs. We aim to provide useful products to the end-user (patients and
doctors) through certain selling points including (a) pharmacies, (b) doctors’ practices, (c) public
and private hospitals.
The competitive advantage will lie on the logistics network (supply chain) within the country. The
aim should be to cover the needs of customers on-site. The company will secure that the products
will be delivered on time according to demands.

3.5 Positioning
The positioning strategy of the company will be based initially in the place where the products
will be available. The logistics handling will operate to secure the channels of distribution. Except
the cost orientation as an overall strategy, the team has decided to provide value added services to
the customers, meaning after sales contact and interaction to create an essence of customization
to the end-user, especially to the doctors (a kind of augmented product).

3.6 Growth objectives
The company will import new products in the existed market and focus on enriching its products
list, according to the customers’ demands.

4. THE BUSINESS MODEL
So far, a number of core competencies have already been registered such as the management
team and the service itself. The company imports high-quality products from China and sells them
in the local market. It does not represent specific companies; on the contrary it maintains the option
to select from a variety of suppliers each time, in order to keep a good balance between products’
prices and their quality. It has a private logistics network and applies modern marketing techniques.
The human resources of the company will be a competitive advantage due to its synthesis,
experience and know-how. In addition, the variety of products offered to the market will comply with
the internal needs and demands. As illustrated in the next diagram, the team intends to work on the
sustainability of the whole service and invest both in brand equity and customer loyalty.

Figure 5. ALBAN Paramedicals: The study of the Business Model (value chain)

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This is the figure illustration of the value chain of the business model, which actually presents the
cycle of the service and how it is expected to interact with its environment and evolve throughout
time. The components of the business model are given in the diagram below.

Figure 6. ALBAN Paramedicals: The Business Model (components)

It is expected that the customers will be motivated through the augmented service offered by the
company, which will be the basis for the differentiation. Below is given an illustration of the
augmented service, as the team intends to establish and apply it. This service will be difficult to be
replicated by the rivals as its core advantage is the continuous change and flexibility to the
emerging trends.

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Figure 7. ALBAN Paramedicals: The Augmented Service

Likewise, this service could not be copied due to the unique set of resources, which primarily is
the human resource of the company. Therefore, it is important for the management team to operate
under consensus and coherence toward the business plan.

5. MISSION & VISION
5.1 Strategic Vision
As Klososky (2011) highlighted, vision is about forward thinking. One can also say that,
visioning incorporates seeing what everybody has seen, and thinking what nobody has thought.
Thus, strategic thinking is interrelated with vision. Moreover, forward thinking consists of
forecasting and commitment. In other words, according to Raynor (2007), strategic thinking and
visions depend on uncertainty. The ubiquity of randomness is the characteristic of possibility space,
the set of all the possible things that can happen and may affect the company. Raynor (2007)
embeds the idea of scenario-planning in the definition of vision, as a tool to embrace uncertainty.
This mostly deals with learning to face the unexpected future. Establishing a new company and
doing business in an emerging market, like Albania, is challenging but hides risks.
The vision of the team is expected to combine uncertainty and commitment with hierarchy and
the relationship of each member to these two components. Therefore, the team intends to handle
the investment, by splitting the strategic thinking in the two parts of: (a) dealing with uncertainty,
and (b) dealing with commitment.
The team expects not only to harness the vision for the company but to maintain a vision
precision in order to acquire flexibility throughout time.
The vision will be:

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“ALBAN Paramedicals will be a leading company in the supply of paramedical products in
Albania, using technology and research, complying with the healthcare regulatory rules and
promoting the health, safety and well-being of people.”

The vision precision is expected to be refined through a strategy (Klososky, 2011) which will cope
with the following questions:
1. What is the best and most efficient way to perform critical tasks in our industry?
2. How are the trends we have identified going to mature over time and what will be their
impact to our company?
3. What other industries are ahead of ours and what can we learn from them?
4. What is the time horizon for the most important changes we see coming in the future?

5.2 Mission statement

“To enhance the quality and availability of paramedical products
to the community, through the power and application of research,
knowledge and technology related to the healthcare sector.”

5.2.1 The guiding principles
In order to implement our mission and use it as a compass, it is necessary to adopt in parallel a
number of guiding principles as referenced.
• Making a difference
• Protecting the patient
• Respecting the human nature
• Respecting the doctor as scientist
• Leading the way
• Achieving excellence
• Cultivating blue oceans
• Working together

6. INDUSTRY & COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS
6.1 External and Internal Environmental Analysis
The understanding of the external environment is important for the evaluation of the company’s
competitive advantage. A business external environment consists of all the factors that can
influence the company’s well-being; it can be distinguished in the micro-environment and the
macro-environment (Kotler, 2008). The microenvironment involves those factors that are promptly
connected to the company; such factors are the customers, the suppliers and the competitors. The
macroenvironment includes factors that have a long-term influence to the business; the most
important elements of the macroenvironment are considered social and cultural aspects, economic
and technological factors, political and legal forces (Kotler, Harrison and Caron, 2010). The
evaluation of these environmental factors can create opportunities and/or threats to the
organization by influencing the business’ demands and supply levels. They have been, also,
proved essential for the better understanding of the company’s position in the market and for the
establishment of business and strategic plans. Such analysis is known as PEST or PESTEL or
PESTLE or PLEECST analysis. These terms stand for “Political-Legal Economic Cultural-Social
and Technological” forces combined together.

6.2 PLECST analysis for the foundation of ALBAN Paramedicals
6.2.1. Political / Legal forces
Albania was under the governing of a communistic party until 1992. Up to that year the country
regulations regarding property rights or trade rights were subjected to major restrictions. Upon the
transition of democracy the country has experienced major economic, political and social changes.
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