TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR HIRING A CONSULTANT FOR DEVELOPMENT OF THE EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICE AND FIRST AID TRAINING CENTRE BUSINESS AND MARKETING PLAN

Background

The Rwanda Red Cross Society (RRC) is recognized as a voluntary relief society, auxiliary to the public authorities in the humanitarian field. It shares with all Red Cross and Red Crescent societies in the world the mission of assisting victims of daily emergencies and disasters in the communities.

RRC is one of the leading organizations in prehospital care education, specifically in prehospital care and first aid trainings. These training programs provide essential skills for use in emergencies. Therefore, RRC has established the Emergency Medical Services and First Aid Training Centre, equipped with all necessary facilities and accessible to everyone.

The centre aims to train and develop graduates to provide prehospital emergency care services and different first Aid training programs including Basic First Aid, First Aid for First Responders, Youth Program, and First Aid Blended Learning (FABL). These training programs serve the Rwandan community, contribute to the national health system, participate in the implementation of the national health system, and respond to emergency medical needs in line with national requirements.

To increase the effectiveness and sustainability of our First Aid Training Centre, we seek to develop a comprehensive business and marketing plan that outlines our strategic goals, promotional activities, financial sustainability and growth strategies.

Purpose of the consultancy

This ToR invites proposals from qualified consultants or firms to develop a business and marketing plan to increase the visibility and financial sustainability of the RRC Emergency Medical Service and First Aid Training Centre. The plan should also integrate the FABL training program and its associated app. The business and marketing plan should focus on involving RRC volunteers in marketing, attracting partnerships, increasing financial resources through improved sales and awareness activities and provide actionable recommendations on how to successfully pilot the two commercial services.

Goals of the business and marketing plan

Our aim is to increase public awareness of the RRC Emergency Medical Service and First Aid Services, to generate additional financial resources to sustain the national society’s Emergency Medical Service and First Aid Training Centre, and position the centre as a leading provider of first aid trainings and services in Rwanda.

The focus in the marketing and business plan should be on:

• Sales of Workplace First Aid
  • FA trainings, with emphasis on FABL
  • Sale of FA materials, including FA kits
• FA services during events
• Sales of ambulance services

Event coverage

• Assess the current price structure and service offering, including any gaps or issues across the continuum of ambulance and patient travel service
• Review current investment in the ambulance service and compare it to similar services in both government and private sectors
• Identify opportunities to link funding, demand for services and performance metrics to enhance accountability.
• Identify any opportunities for efficiencies and/or revenue opportunities
• Undertake a cost benefit analysis to determine cost effective service delivery
• Identify and review key causes of current financial pressures (example: declining debt recovery efficiency)

Membership program for ambulance services and health partnerships

• Evaluate the proposed service offerings
• Define the market and potential customers
• Define comparative advantage to attract customers
• Describe the business model and operation/s for each services
• Determine the appropriate costing for each category (Individual, families, corporates, institutions, health partnership with private clinics etc...) including cost per kilometer
• Financial/funding needs till break-even status

In addition to the focus areas, the plan should highlight opportunities to sale Continuous Professional Development (CPD) for health professionals.

Target audience

The business and marketing plan should address the following target audiences:

• Corporates (factories, mines, hotels, banks, etc.)
• Government institutions
• Events
• Individuals and families (for ambulance services)
• Health professionals (for CPD)

Scope of work

The scope of this assignment is as follows:

• Situation analysis: Meet with RRCs team to conduct a thorough analysis of the current RRC Emergency Medical Service and first aid operations, including services provided, service area, resource allocation and performance metrics. Additionally, evaluate the existing marketing strategy and tools.
• Market Analysis: Conduct a market analysis to understand the demand for EMS & First Aid Services, identify potential marketing initiatives and propose strategies to enhance the visibility of the first aid programs and ambulance services. This analysis will assess the target customer base, market trends, competition, risks, and opportunities for service expansion.
• Based on the situation analysis and market analysis, the consultant will develop a comprehensive business and marketing plan that includes strategies and tools for the integration and promotion of the First Aid and CPD trainings, focusing on FABL, and ambulance services for the coming five years. It is important that both the use of “sales volunteers” as well as the outsourcing of sales to an external company are being explored.
• Use of “sales volunteers”: Develop strategies to attract and integrate volunteers for marketing roles, including receiving appropriate training. This should include feedback channels, methods for gathering their feedback, and ways to recognize their contributions. The focus should be on areas where volunteers can make a meaningful contribution, such as managing social media platforms, outreach to local community and companies, coordinating events and content creation. The consultants are expected to give at least one training session of 2 days to 20 volunteers to prepare them for these tasks. The content of this training should be shared after the training with RRC and RRC has the right to use this for future trainings of volunteers.
• Financial plan: Develop a financial plan that includes clear sale targets, revenue projections, cost estimates of the proposed marketing strategies and an assessment of the capital required to achieve these goals. The investments should be realistic and based on discussions with RRC and its partners.
• Risk analysis: Identify potential risks and challenges related to volunteer marketing initiatives, including feedback integration. Propose strategies to address these risks successfully.
• Innovative marketing techniques: Explore and recommend creative ways to involve volunteers in marketing activities. It’s important that the cost benefit of every marketing technique is discussed.
• Performance metrics: Determine key performance indicators (KPIs), and create reporting system to monitor and evaluate the centres’ progress.

Specific Deliverables

The consultant/firm is expected to deliver the following:

• Inception report (2 weeks after start): Detailing the consultant/ consultant’s team approach for this assignment, including methodologies, focus group discussions (FGDs), timeline for milestones, and human resources allocation, supported by a demonstration of value for money.
• Preliminary findings on situation, risk, market, and financial analyses (4 weeks after start): Evaluate the financial sustainability of the EMS & First Aid Programs, including revenue streams, expenses, and funding sources. Assess the effectiveness of current marketing strategies and identify potential areas for improvement. Include an evaluation of the current usage and potential of the FABL training.
• Market analysis report (6 weeks after start): a comprehensive report on the market analysis, including demand assessment.
• Comprehensive business and marketing plan that addresses all aspects outlined in the scope of work plus risk assessment, including a budget for the next 5 years describing expected costs for all business and marketing activities + an executive summary highlighting the key action points. The plan should contain clear objectives, key performance indicators and an action plan. (12 weeks after start).
• Business and marketing budget plan: create a budget plan for the next five years, describing expected costs for all business and marketing activities.
• Executive summary highlighting the key action points and recommended marketing tools of the business and marketing plan including quarterly app usage reports. (10 pages max.) Workshop to present the business and marketing plan

Qualifications and experience

The minimum competencies and qualifications include:

• Masters in related fields: Marketing. Additional desirable qualifications include degrees in Business and Administration, Economics, Health Economic, Rural development studies, community development, or similar areas.
• Experience: at least five (5) years in Marketing, development and / or evaluation of organisations focusing economic empowerment, business development, financial management or auditing.
• Demonstrate experience in developing business and marketing plans, preferably in the healthcare or emergency services sector.
• Proven experience in market assessment, value chains analysis / management and development of business and marketing plans; particularly in Rwandan socio-economic environment.
• Ability to engage with a wide range of stakeholders and incorporate their input into the business and marketing plan.
• Familiarity with healthcare and emergency services and first aid regulations and standards.
• Experience in applying both quantitative and qualitative evaluation methods.
• Proven track record of delivering high-quality, practical business and marketing plans.
• Good command in English (reporting language). The consultants’ team must be able to communicate in other languages (French, Kinyarwanda) for facilitating the communication with various public and informers.

Reporting

The consultant will report to the RRC director of programs.

Evaluation Criteria

An evaluation committee will be formed by the RRC and may include EMS and First Aid department staff and partners. All members will be bound by the same standards of confidentiality. The consultant should ensure that they fully respond to all criteria to be comprehensively evaluated.

The RRC evaluation committee may request and receive clarification from any consultant when evaluating a proposal. The evaluation committee may invite some or all the consultants to appear before the committee to clarify their proposals. In such event, the evaluation committee may consider such clarifications in evaluating proposals.

In deciding the final selection of qualified bidder, the technical quality of the proposal will be given a weighting of 70% based on the evaluation criteria. Only the financial proposal of those bidders who qualify technically will be opened. The financial proposal will be allocated a weighting of 30% and the proposals will be ranked in terms of total points scored.

The mandatory and desirable criteria against which proposals will be evaluated are identified in the table below.

Application details

• Format: Submit the proposals in PDF format.
• Email Submission: Proposals must be sent via the apply button.
• Subject Line: Use "CONSULTANCY TO DEVELOP RRC EMS AND FIRST AID DEPARTMENT BUSINESS AND MARKETING PLAN 2025-2029 as the email subject line.
• Deadline: Applications must be submitted by 1700Hrs, 22^th September 2024.
• Applications must include the following documents: Application letter dated and signed addressed to the Secretary General of Rwanda Red Cross, copy of diploma, updated curriculum vitae including three persons of reference, copy of ID.