Business Development Plan for Education
Business Development Plan for Education
Introduction
The current Education First company business segment in Turkey is performing below its potential level. The education system is influenced by factors such as inaccessibility, shortage of teachers and other factors. To improve the business segment of Education First, one has to ensure that that there is complete realignment of the system. This will ensure that every level of education in Turkey is streamlined to ensure students at all levels benefit from the system. The company needs to develop new strategies that are inclined to benefit learners rather than make them suffer in their learning environment in all its business segments.
The current Education First segments in turkey are not designed to meet the market potential. The new business development plan aims to align the Education First business segments to make them efficient through the new strategy. It also aims to increase the accessibility of education by poor people in Turkey. The new strategies will be based on three main lines of business. The strategies are supposed to maintain the initial objectives of the Education First tasks but make improvement to boost productivity. Therefore, the new plan will contain three sets of strategies. The first set will focus on linking the education system to an international club, the Lions Club, which is located somewhere close to the country. The second strategy will be aimed at developing links with the Rotary club, which is also located in various places in the country. Lastly, the strategy should develop links with the Turkish ministry of national education. This will be with the intention of taking advantage of scholarship opportunities that are available for Turkish students.
Business development strategies
The business development plan will be based on strategies that are meant to raise the efficiency of the Education First operations in turkey. The strategies will make realignments to the system so that there will be greater productivity in the company. It will increase the target customer base while at the same time enhancing the market breakdown. The strategies are also meant to make a proper marketing mix that will see an increase in the number of products. The products will be aligned to the needs of student in the three business lines that have been identified as the areas of interest.
The Education First business segment reaches out to high and middle school students through long and short term language courses that could last between two and 5 weeks. The courses are taken abroad at selected education first centres, which offer students native language opportunities. The new strategy will improve on this by linking these students to other countries in a program in partnership with the government. The students will be offered scholarships by the ministry of national education to go and pursue foreign languages abroad in the education first centres. High and middle school students will also be able to access these programs through new partners such as the Rotary Club. The Rotary Club is found in almost all countries around the world. They take part in charity, awareness and education support programs. They can be instrumental in making the education first program successful because they can be used as education first centres in countries around Turkey. This will make it possible for students to travel abroad knowing there are sufficient centres of learning. The intention of reaching out to the international Lions club is also to ensure that there are partners who will ensure students are taken care of whenever they go to foreign countries for learning and training. Furthermore, the ministry, the Rotary club and the international lions club will be expected to provide financial support to students who are willing to go abroad for the education first programs. The program will be similar to the one for Young Professionals and University Students. Therefore, the Education First Company seeks to use the partnerships to make its operations in Turkey successful.
The strategies will be used differently for the group of professionals aged twenty five and above. The professionals will be able to access business language courses all around the world through the partnership between their segment and the Rotary club, international lions club and the ministry of national education in Turkey. The professional segment will be able to take their courses at any location around the world unlike the other two segments where they are restricted to countries around Turkey. Furthermore, the education first program will seek to partner with interested clientele to help develop their skills and prowess in English language.
The business development plan is designed to increase the customer base of all the four business segments owned by the Education First Company. Target customers in this whole project include the high school and middle school students. There are also the university and college students who are seeking to pursue foreign languages in neighbouring countries. The third group of the target customers is the segment of professional individuals aged over 25 years. These customers are located in any place around the world and pursue the education first program based on their profession. They are also trained in business to enhance their entrepreneurial ability. Finally, the fourth group of customers is the one where interested clients apply to join the program to learn and develop their English skills through online learning forums. The clientele will also be useful in improving the service provision standards to first class levels in countries around Turkey.
Market breakdown
The market currently operates at a level that indicates there are several inefficiencies. The Education First market has a vast potential that can be harnessed using appropriate strategies and market changes. The market also needs to be expanded to ensure that every possible customer has access to the education first services. The market breakdown is gives the detailed analysis of the various components of the market and how it operates.
There are three main segments of the Education First market. The first segment is the high school and middle level segment. This segment deals with students who are in their teen ages. They are those who attend middle level schools and high school. These segment forms the business’ largest target market. This is because most students at this level in their education want to expand their future opportunities by seeking to expand their language awareness. Most of these students want to learn foreign languages such as English so that it is easier for them when they are seeking scholarships in the later stages of their education. This segment forms about 40% of the total market size. Furthermore, there are very many students at this education level. The Turkish ministry of national education estimates the number to be around 5% of the national population. However, only 20% of these students are undertaking the education first programs. This means there is still a lot of potential to exploit for the Education First Company in the Turkish market. Students can be convinced and encouraged to join this program in order to improve their chances of success in future.
The second segment of the market is the University students and the young professional segment. This segment targets young people who have graduated from institutions of higher learning and those that are in the higher earning institutions. These students form another 40% of the total current market. These students are the biggest beneficiaries of the education first program because they already know the kind of profession they want to pursue. They require the necessary knowledge in foreign languages and are seeking scholarships to go for further studies. Statistics indicate that these students are fewer than the high school and middle school level students. However, most of the young professionals and university students know the importance of learning hence; a bigger percentage of them are already enrolled in this program. It is estimated that around 50% of this level individuals are pursuing or intend to pursue education first programs.
The third segment is the professional level, which is composed of individuals who are above 25 years old. This group accounts for about 15% of the total market. These are Turkish professionals seeking to improve their business and language competence. They include business people based in various places around the world. They pursue this program with the objective of creating awareness of other languages in the countries they are based in or where they intend to live. This target market is not large since most people at this stage have learnt foreign languages at the previous two levels. The final target market is the clientele groups. In this case, interested parties join this program to help provide sufficient and competent services to clients. These groups are those that aim to take a share of the profits from the business.
The new focus points on the three target markets is to help bring in new partners who will be able to provide the resources and facilitate Education First operations in Turkey to grow in all segments. The Rotary Club is an international group that would be instrumental in coordinating these programs in countries outside Turkey. They can also facilitate this program by being learning centres for students who go abroad. The international lions club would be a partner in the provision of services outside Turkey. The club can be used as a facilitator in the provision of language lessons. The professionals can also use the club forum to interact on business matters and improve their language skills.
Marketing mix
The products of Education First can be aligned in a manner that will ensure there is efficiency, transparency and growth. The three lines of focus strategies can be implemented for each segment in the business to ensure that they are effectively harnessed and their potential exploited.
Increased presence through partnerships
Education first will seek to improve its operations through forming partnerships. The main reason for the three strategies to involve the ministry of national education of Turkey, the Rotary club and the International Lions Club is to create new partnerships. Partnerships are lucrative options for any business since they ease the pressure on the company resources. Through a partnership, the company can easily accomplish big tasks using the combined resources from the government and the other two partners. The government as a partner increases the probability of many students accessing this program. The government, through the ministry of national education in Turkey, offers scholarships to students to go abroad or to pursue their studies locally. When the government is a partner, needy students will also benefit from education first through the scholarships.
The partnership of education first with Rotary and International Lions Club, which have presence all around the world, will boost the achievement of the company’s objective. The partners will provide assistance to needy people by offering charity and facilitate things like seminars and training sessions. These clubs can be used as education centres for this program and also sponsor some of the needy children and professionals. Facilitation programs include provision of language teachers in the respective countries the training s held and provision of places to study.
Products, promotion, price and place
The product of Education First is the language lessons to different segments of its market base. The product will be designed to suit each of the segments. For example the professional level will be taught language as well as business relations and management. This will make the course lucrative for professionals seeking to learn new languages. The product will also be designed to suit different levels of target markets. The high school and middle level students and the university ad young professionals will be benefiting from the language skills. They will also benefit from government scholarships.
Promotion of Education First services will be done to ensure the product and services are popular to all the target market. As shown by statistics, only 40% of the target market has been exploited. To increase this percentage, promotion has to be done to popularize the programs. Therefore, internet marketing will be employed to attract people from different target groups. Other marketing methods such as televisions advertisements, promotions will be used to make the target market aware of the products.
The prices of the company’s products and services will also be adjusted so that as many students as possible can access the company’s services. Currently, a huge percentage of the target market is interested in enrolling for the program but cannot because they cannot afford. There will be scholarships from the government for college students seeking to study foreign languages. The rotary club and the international lions club will also facilitate some of the services such as payment of teachers, provision of venues around Turkey. Therefore, partnerships will help the company reduce costs hence; the prices will reduce for other people to access the services.
Education first can also use the new strategies to enhance the accessibility of their services by ensuring that target groups at almost all places can access the services. The partnership with the rotary club and international lions club is meant to ensure that students can go anywhere to study. The partnership with the ministry of national education will give target groups all around the country the equal opportunity to earn scholarships.
Benefits and marketing strategy flow
The Education First Company’s target market will be penetrated through aggressive marketing initiatives to make the public aware of the benefits of education first. There are also other strategies that would make the market penetration process successful. There is need the start an initiative where families would be helped so that children are sponsored from the kindergarten level to the graduate level. This will ensure that student groups of all levels are considered for this program. There is also needed to know the expectations of parents and their children’s expectations. The parents’ expectations outweigh the expectation of their children.
Education first should check the definition of the academic atmosphere, which would help develop interest among the potential target market. There is also need to design study modes to ensure it is in line with the English language and required academic levels. The introduction of short courses to go along with the language study at the correct prices will also attract more people who will feel there is an increase in the quality of education. Advertisement and the display of distinction on media such as the internet and television would attract more students. The introduction of vocational training courses for professionals would also make the course more resourceful hence; attracting more people. There is also need to apply technology tools to enable students get updates quickly. There is also a need to respect the culture and moral values of the local people. Curricula activities are also necessary to ensure that students harness their talents and have leisure time.
Summary
The Education first initiative is can be realigned to ensure that learners get maximum benefits. The new strategies to be Education First Company will be based on three main lines of business. The strategies are supposed to maintain the company’s initial objectives of the Turkish education system. Therefore, the new plan will contain three sets of strategies. The first set will focus on linking the education system to an international club, the Lions Club, which is located somewhere close to the country. The second strategy will be aimed at developing links with the Rotary club, which is also located in various places in the country. Lastly, the strategy should develop links with the Turkish ministry of national education. This will be with the intention of taking advantage of scholarship opportunities that are available for Turkish students. The three new strategies will be used to penetrate the market and enable the realization of the new objectives. The customer base will also be expanded due to increased efficiency. The partnerships of Education First Company with the other two clubs and the ministry will be pivotal in ensuring that the company realizes its alignment objective.
References
Nohl, A.-M., & Akkoyunlu-Wigley, A. (2008). Education in Turkey. Istanbul: Waxmann Verlag.
Yıldıran, G. (1997). Recent perspectives on Turkish education: an inside view. Istanbul: Indiana University Turkish Studies Publications.
