1.

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Business Idea

The business idea devised by our team is to produce herbal hair care products. Hair
enhances the appearance and personality and thus need proper care. People in ancient
days rarely had any hair woes, as they lived in a pollution free environment and used only
natural products to care for their hair. However given our current lifestyle and increasing
environmental pollution, good and healthy hair seems like a distant dream to us. When
caring for your hair, some of the issues that you need to address are hair fall, dandruff
and premature grey hair. Sensitivity to hair care products, certain skin conditions, stress
and hormonal imbalances are some causes of these issues. Hair fall, dandruff and
premature greying hair have become a common issue faced by most of men and women,
which can be embarrassing and difficult to treat. While many products in the market
promise the goodness of herbs, it is impossible to know the effects of a product on your
scalp, considering all the chemicals that go into making it. So why not just turn to the
herbs?

The use of herbs to treat hair woes has been common practice for centuries before
commercial products was even thought of. While commercial products promise the
goodness of a natural ingredient, they come loaded with chemicals. This makes the use of
herbs a preferred solution. Therefore our team has recognized an opportunity to launch a
unique type of herbal hair care products named “Herb Hair Care” as a solution to hair
related issues. Herb Hair Care includes two types of herbal hair oil and an herbal powder
addressing the issues of hair fall, dandruff and premature greying of hair.

The main ingredient of the dandruff solution hair oil is basil leaves, which has
antibacterial and antifungal properties that clean the scalp from impurities and further
these leaves can help stimulate blood circulation to the scalp and keep the scalp cool
while reducing itchiness and helps to get rid of dandruff and dry hair. Furthermore we did
not find any hair oil in the market with basil leaves used as the main ingredient. Thus we
believe our product will have a unique solution for dandruff and dry hair which is not
presently offered in the market.
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 The hair fall solution hair oil uses lothsubulu, daththa ala as the main ingredients which
makes the hair strong and thick.

The herbal powder includes henna leaves and curry leaves as its ingredients. Henna is
commonly for hair coloring but it also works wonders for the overall health of the hair. It
has antibacterial, antimicrobial and astringent properties. It removes excess oil from the
scalp, preventing clogging. Further curry leaves helps restore melanin which helps
prevent and reverse premature graying of hair.

1.2 Rationale for selecting the business

Dandruff, hair fall and premature greying of hair are some of common issues faced by
most of the people, which can be embarrassing and difficult to treat. It has been identified
through past researches that the consumers trend towards a healthier lifestyle and demand
for natural products. As a result consumers are becoming more health conscious and
selective in the product or brand that they consume. Accordingly there is an emerging
opportunity in the market and we should be well placed to cater to this growing consumer
segment that values authenticity and naturalness.

After some brainstorming sessions and analyzing the personal competencies of our team
members we decided to launch a new product to the Sri Lankan market named as “Herb
Hair Care” by using 100% natural and healthy ingredients and there is no single artificial
chemical added. Therefore this will not be a usual hair care product that is already
available in the market, instead this will be a unique hair care products providing a
solution for hair fall, premature greying of hair, dandruff and dry hair to the consumers.

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1.3 Production process

Since the Herb Hair Care product range includes three types of products there will be three
different production processes in manufacturing them. However the below figure interprets a
rough idea on the production process.

INPUT
PROCESS OUTPUT
Coconut Oil
Extracting 2 types of Herb
Basil leaves
Blending Hair Care Oil
Fenugreek Seeds bottles of 100ml
Mixing
Henna leaves &
Heating,
curry leaves Herbal powder air
Straining tight containers of
Lothsubulu
Drying 30g
Daththa Ala
Sesame oil

Further we expect to get assistance from Malewana Ayurvedic Medical College in

Beruwala and if they request any changes of ingredients to be made for better results, we
would also like to revise the process flexibly as it benefits the consumers.

1.4 Target market

Men and women of young and middle age suffering from hair fall, dandruff, dry hair and
premature greying of hair.

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2. MARKETING MIX (4PS)

 Product

Herb Hair Care includes three types of products in its product range namely Herb
Hair Care Dandruff solution, Herb Hair Care Hair fall solution and Herb Hair Care
Healthy Color. These include two types of herbal hair oils and an herbal powder
addressing some of hair related issues such as hair fall, dandruff and premature
greying of hair. The quality of these products are at its best as they are produced
using 100% natural products

The product Herb Hair Care Dandruff Solution is hair oil produced with the best
quality that would serve as a solution to dandruff and dryness in hair. The ingredients
of this product are;

 Coconut oil
 Basil leaves
 Fenugreek seeds

The product Herb Hair Care Hair fall Solution include

 Lothsubulu
 Daththa ala
 Sesame oil

Herb Hair Care Healthy Color is an herbal powder as a solution for premature greying
of hair, it includes;

 Henna leaves
 Curry leaves

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 The two types of herbal oil will be offered to the market in plastic bottles of 100 ml
with a selfie comb, which enables consumers to easily use the product.

The herbal powder will be offered to the market in air tight container of 30g.

 Price

The product will be provided at an affordable and attractive price that would
emphasize its quality and novelty. Since it is a competitive Industry, Market Based
Pricing Strategy will be followed to attract and retain more customers and to sustain
in the long-run.

 Place

The product will be made available in certain boutiques/retail stores in Colombo as it

would make customers easily access to the product as well as Colombo is a highly
populated city and thus intended to grab a higher reach. However after establishing a
stable position in the market we hope to establish island wide distribution.

 Promotion

It is hard to achieve customer loyalty within short period since our product is new to
the market. Therefore, we have to put all effort in terms of promotions to grab the

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attention of the customers towards our product. We decided initially to offer free
samples of our product in some places around Colombo. In addition, we will also
engage in personal selling and use social media such as Facebook to create customer
awareness.

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3. INDUSTRY ANALYSIS

 Bargaining power of suppliers

The main ingredients relevant to our Herb Hair Care products are basil leaves, henna
leaves, curry leaves, daththa ala and lothsubulu which can be found in easily. The
bargaining power of the supplier is relatively low because these are not rare plants
and there are number of suppliers from any geographical location who can supply
them. Other material such as coconut, sesame oil and fenugreek seed also can be
easily found in any part of the island. Therefore it could be said that the bargaining
power of suppliers is at low.

 Bargaining power of customers

Since Herb Hair Care is very unique product and having number of potential
customers the bargaining power of the customers is very much less.

 Threat of new entrants

Since the raw materials required for the products can be easily available it might
attract some potential competitors but due to various legal factors such obtaining
license from respective authorities such as The Institution of National Medicines
Regulatory Authority may restrict the new entrants. However, the number of potential
competitors will be increasing in the long-term. For that Herb Hair Care should be
upgraded with continuous innovations, in order to keep the market or to grow in the
market gradually.

 Availability of substitutes

Herb Hair Care is herbal products produced using herbals, mainly as a solution to
dandruff, hair fall and premature greying hair problems. So far, a product exactly
similar to this is not available in the market but some substitutes can be found such as
shampoos, conditioners, hair oils and hair tonics. The demand for the product is
elastic since there is an availability of substitute products with established brand
names. However Herb Hair Care is unique due to its natural aspect.

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 Competitive rivalry

Since the Herb Hair Care is an innovative product there is no perfect competitive
product in the market. Therefore there is very law competition between the
competitive products in this industry.

According to this analysis it is clear that the Hair oil industry is very much attractive for the
new business of Herb Hair Care.

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4. EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS
A PESTEL analysis which is a tool used to analyze and monitor the Macro Environment has
been carried out to identify the Macro Environmental factors that influence the production and
the development of the hair oil product.

 Political Factors
- The Institution of National Medicines Regulatory Authority under the Ministry of
Health which issues the license to the medical and cosmetics products.
- Department of Ayurveda under the Ministry of Health which approves the herbal
finished products to market them.

 Economic Factors
- The rise in the standard of living and per capita income has increased consumer
spending on a variety of goods such as cosmetics, leisure etc.
- Healthy potentials for growth in the Ayurveda Industry.
- Impacts of higher inflation rates on the price of the product which eventually
affect the demand for the product.

 Social Factors
- It has been identified that there is a rise in demand for the Ayurvedic or Herbal
products in the beauty care, health, food and beverages industries. This may be
due to the fact that the belief people have in long term practice or due to the
growing awareness about herbal products that have minimal side effects.

 Technology Factor
- The advancement in Information and Communication Technology, the business
processes were automated and simplified. And development in different
marketing and promotional strategies has made it easier to utilize e-marketing
strategies and social networks to create market awareness and promote it to the
global market.

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 Environmental Factor
- Main product is produced from 100% natural ingredients.
- Packaging will be done in recyclable containers.
- Thus, it will considerably minimize the adverse impacts to the environment.

 Legal Factor
- The basis for the regulatory control on beauty care products comes from the
Cosmetics, Devices and Drugs Act No. 27 of 1980.
- In addition, Ayurveda Act No. 31 of 1961 governs the Ayurveda Industry.

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5. SWOT ANALYSIS
This an important tool to identify the strength, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that can
be faced by the business.

Strengths
 Use of 100% natural ingredients.
 Team composed of different skills.
 Dedicated team members.
Opportunities
 Ability to acquire raw materials at a 
low cost.
Weaknesses
 Lack of brand image.
Threats
Well established substitute products
available in the market.

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6. PERSONAL COMPETENCIES OF THE TEAM
NAMES SKILLS CONTRIBUTION
Roshana Rozmin I Creative, Planning, Analytical Knowledge on manufacturing
Dilhara J K S the product, analyzing the
Mohamed B N environmental factors,
Ashfa M A P identifying and allocating the
work roles to the members and
making decisions related to
production.
Gunasekara M A M Extravert type, good Marketing the product and
Sabira M H F communication skills, maintaining relationship with
interpersonal skills stakeholders.
Hasangika R A D P Good at managing fund Raising fund and efficiently
Karunadasa H C J allocating the funds in order to
Wijayasingha R R be profitable.

Madhuanjana K M R IT skills Handling social media

marketing.

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