About Business Environment

I carefully studied the concept of starting an online therapy website to provide health consulting as a company in order to successfully realize my desire of assisting others in leading healthy and happy lives by taking care of their body and mind. This was fueled by the necessity to reach a larger market and the rising tide of distressed people.

In a survey of psychologists by the American Psychological Association (APA), 83% of respondents said they frequently served adults, compared to 37% who served older adults. Teenagers attended treatment sessions 34.2% more frequently than youngsters did (23%). About 46.2% of the psychologists provided services to persons with disabilities (Aumtre Hamp et al., 2016). Statistics acquired by the (Mental Health America, 2017) indicate that in the year 2015, 8.2% of youths suffered severe depression. Further, 56% of the Americans suffering from mental illness do not receive required treatment for various reasons among them lack of know-how (Mental Health America, 2017). The need for therapy is not just limited to the groups mentioned. Therefore, acquiring a platform that will engage experts and have a chance to accommodate most of the people in need of therapies is definitely a great idea.

For the sake of starting up the online therapy website, I do recognize the availability of similar platforms and their achievements thus far. I majorly target the young girls in their teenage years and a bracket slightly above them which consists of the young mothers with and without kids having physical and mental disabilities. In this age of Internet people from varying ethnic backgrounds and different geographic settings will be free to consult with the numerous experts on my online therapy website. The field young, growing, and very promising since according to a study by RAND Europe, “computerized cognitive behavioral therapy tools, which are online platforms or mobile applications to help tackle common mental illness such as depression, anxiety or insomnia have grown significantly in the past two years” (Press Room: Rand, 2016).

Business SWOT Analysis

An online therapy website has got its own unique key points that help it to sell out. First, it is convenient, for that clients can access help at the comfort of their homes, offices or wherever they are as long as they can access the Internet. More importantly, one can “often schedule their therapy sessions at their convenient times” (Kendra Cherry, 2017). Second, previous studies have indicated the need for specialists around the world and it is even great in the less developed nations. My idea on online cure would, therefore, be a way to reduce the ratio of available therapists to the patients in need.

Third, online therapy enhances the perception of anonymity. The aspect of using text messages I believe would enable more so the teens to inquire about personal pressing issues which they might find it hard to discuss with their family or school therapist. Young mothers with kids living with disabilities will have a chance to express their inner feelings of how the society treats them, the way their spouses behave(d) upon learning of the child’s disability and even more importantly how it feels to have the burden lies squarely on their shoulders. Anonymity in some cases, however, is not a guarantee.

Four, online therapy is a good platform for providing target parties with interpersonal cure. Rather than just talking to a professional, I intend to offer the mothers with disabled children a chance to share their daily experiences with each other. This feature is of great importance since it will give them a sense of belonging and a hope to help them relentlessly cope with the stress that comes with living with such health conditions. Five, patients have a greater chance to get expert opinion since online therapy is not geographically bound. Therefore, patients can easily get a second opinion from other experts from different parts of the globe.

With a shortage of mental health providers, a major threat in this venture would be payments for services offered owing to the fact that 7.7% of the youth cannot access mental health assistances through private insurance (Mental Health America, 2017). Despite having more therapists in this business, competition would not be so much from public health providers as from the private practitioners in the same venture. Knowing how to tackle this competition would be a tie breaker through change-preparedness to the customers and the market as well. A better understanding of the diverse problems presented and faced by the existing clients would also go along the way into getting more potential customers to seek your services.

Competitive Advantage

Over the years in changing business environments, there are proven steps one can follow in starting and operating an online venture (Entrepreneur, 2017). The most unmistakable in this case would be having a well thought out website to grab the attention of consumers, both the affected and any others that can refer and direct clienteles to you. This will be an easy-to-use website so as to make contact fast and convenient. A good business will need to stay ahead of the others in satisfying its customers and in generating more profit.

This particular venture involving consultancy and an online therapy website will encompass several aspects so as to stay in business. So as to make the deal create more demand (of the consultancy and therapy sessions) the services rendered must then be satisfactory of quality. The assistance should be articulate and be befitting for every kind of client approaching you. I would say that having operated a ticketing business, same as in this, public relations are a serious asset in upholding the status of the business in dealing even with potential clients let alone the current ones.

The combination of thoughts and strategy in this business gives it a strong front in dealing with a large base of mental health patients if laid out as well as they are planned. In the carrying out of this business, as diverse as it gets, the outcome is ahead enough of any competing entity out there. Even as the business continues to operate, the packaging should not change in delivering quality services, unless it is a positive change of course. Communicate your competitive advantage by all means in your appearance to the clients, through the website and even in follow up tasks on the served customers. (The Balance, 2017).

References

The Balance. (2017, October 31). What is competitive advantage? Three Strategies That Work. Retrieved from thebalance.com: https://www.thebalance.com/what-is-competitive-advantage-3-strategies-that-work-3305828

Aumtre Hamp et al. (2016, September). workforce: apa.org. Retrieved from apa Website: http://apa.org/workforce/publications/15-health-service-providers/index.aspx

Entrepreneur. (2017). How to start a business online. Retrieved from Entrepreneur.com: https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/175242

Kendra Cherry. (2017, September 5). Retrieved from Verywell website: https://www.verywell.com/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-onlin-therapy-2795225

Mental Health America. (2017). Mental Health in America - Printed Reports. Retrieved from http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/issues/mental-health-america-printed-reports

Mental Health America. (2017). The State of Mental Health in America. Retrieved from Mental Health America: http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/issues/state-mental-health-america

Press Room: Rand. (2016, October 19). Retrieved from Rand Website: http://www.rand.org/news/press/2016/10/19.html