Transforming a Clinic into a Private Hospital in King William's Town

Funding is needed to start the business as I am currently employed by the department of health and I will be not able to raise the necessary working capital.

I am a young, black woman, medical doctor currently doing MBA. This is a business idea from my professional domain and I am very confident it will work. The core business of this project will be to provide quality, accessible and affordable healthcare to the King Williams town and part of the surrounding areas that have no private clinic let alone a private hospital.

Firstly, there is a potential for business in terms of the emergency unit that needs to be advanced; the potential for safe medical practices namely female clinics such as safe abortions and the consulting service with all the investigations being done at one place which is extremely advantageous.

Secondly, there is a potential for growth as in addition to the existing middle class there is an emerging middle class who is demanding better health care service and is ready to pay for it.

Lastly, this will add value to the society in this region as it will create job opportunities, reduce unemployment rate and alleviate poverty in this poorest region of the Eastern Cape. It is a sustainable development project that will not only create value to the Eastern Cape but to the South African society at large as it has economic value and the clinic will be run with environmentally friendly and efficient equipment.

Differentiation exists in terms of the services’ accessibility, quality and speed. The quickly retrieved results and timely access to specialist will lead to quicker recovery.

Complements or substitutes will be the general practitioners and public hospitals.

Success will be unique as the government hospitals are a failure. To reach all their top management has to be changed and GPs have to imitate us, which is not possible.

There is an opportunity in the market as there is no competitor and usually in this kind of business it does not matter how many are you in one street, people will always need medical care and the quality of the service is extremely important.

It is usually not one-size-fits-all; every market player has its own strategy. You have to be sensitive about the vision and mission of your business all the time, with values and culture as key drivers of the business strategy.

Funding is needed to start the business as I am currently employed by the department of health and I will be not able to raise the necessary working capital.

Secondly, I will need to buy the commercial property and perform renovations. The bank's interest rate is not affordable to start a business and a bond cannot finance commercial property.

Finally, I need to buy the equipment needed for operations.

The investor should be financing on equity and I would like a hands-on investor as so both of us will incur the risk together should we sink and flourish together should the business do well.
I would prefer the dividends to be reinvested back to the business and that will be discussed again should we come to an agreement.
The equity investment will definately bring returns.