Feedback Please!

[mummyT]

Hi, Im a single mum studying my Bus Degree. My current group assessment is to come up with a business idea & fully develop a business plan. Our idea is a business which organises holidays, outings, day trips, fun days & adults events for single parents. The sorts of things some single parents may not get to do alone, giving them a chance to socialise, experience places, and get it all organised & payed for in one place with no hassles. For example, a long weekend to the gold coast with accomm, day pass to theme park, meals & child care for one night all organised under one cost, able to be paid off through the company. So a group of 4-8 single parents may go. The business would have its own mini bus. Other things might include big BBQs, days out to ie. Wiggle sConcert, or just for parents, dinner & theatre show with childcare for the group in one place for one cost. The reason I ask for feedback is that we have to prove to our "finance company" (ie our teacher) that our idea could be successful & popular. This is just the basic outline of a complicated business plan! But anything you can throw at me in the way of ideas, strengths, weaknesses, big fat yes's, beg fat no's would be so helpful. Thanks! No names will be used in the assessment when we show feedback, just statistics & general comments. :)

[Chickadee]

I'm not a single parent, though when DH is away for work I might as well be one sometimes. It sounds like a good idea but I'm not sure if I'd use it or not. My questions as a possible customer would mainly be around the cost and the childcare aspects.

- If it is an excursion to a different city/location how are you going to organise the logistics of childcare? Does the company directly employ qualified carers, or are you going to sub-contract it at the destination with an established daycare centre?

- Where is the childcare going to be? If it's during the day then you'd need access to a proper childcare facility. For evening daycare, are you going to rent an extra hotel room or two adjoining ones to have a slumber party? Can the hotel provide enough cots etc.

- Is there a particular age range of parents/kids that you will be marketting to & how do account for that in your marketting and package plans. Parents of infants or toddlers may be less interested in big excursions to amusement parks than parents of school age kids. Parents of school age kids may not be interested in a group trip to a Wiggles concert. Both groups of parents may have different needs in terms of support, food and childcare. So do you use separate marketting campaigns targetting each group or a single campaign that can access a broader group?

- I'd want to know about what insurance you hold, particularly if you're providing transport and childcare.

- have you contacted any of your destinations or events to find out what discounts or group rates you can get? Parents are only going to sign up with your group if they either (a) can save money by going in a group (which means you need to pass on some of the discount to them and still be able make a profit) or (b) if other benefits such as less hassle and more social contact are of sufficient value to make the total cost worthwhile. For me personally I'd be looking for a cost saving more than the (b) social benefits.

Good luck with your project!

[mummyT]

Thankyou for your really thorough reply!
Basically this project is only in week one, so you've given me some really good food for thought. At the moment without addressing every issue you pointed out the main idea is to keep costs low, to keep it hassle free and to provide quality experiences. The childcare issue is one which we have yet to fully address, but is high on our agenda for next meeting. It would be a case of qualified care givers, at what location would be determined depending event at hand. If you can imagine the sort of care given at kids clubs at resorts is our first idea, but we hope that many of the events would be parent & child friendly. Insurance is a given which we would thoroughly research & which is a requirement of this assessment to cover. Thanks again!