A SWOT analysis determines a company’s position by examining 4 factors Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats Strengths and weaknesses are said to be internal, that is, controlled by the company.
Opportunities and Threats are outside the company’s control and are therefore said to be external influences. StrengthsMost people are willing to try a new product. If they are impressed, they will trust the company and build a loyalty to it. It is the only product of its kind, therefore, it would have a large target audience. As my company is new, it has no reputation.
This could be seen as a weakness, but I prefer to see it as strength, because although it has no goodwill, it also has no bad will against it. Goodwill can be built over time. My distribution costs would be kept to a minimum, as my channel would be very small. – My Company Wholesalers Retailers Consumers. Decisions can be made quickly as there will be a small management team. This means increased efficiency within the firm.
WeaknessesMy product is untried and untested, so I have no idea how successful my product will be or if there will be any real demand for it. I will have to employ a distributor as I am a small firm and cannot afford to supply my own distribution. This will still cost a lot of moneyI wont be able to take advantage of any economies of scale, as my company wont be big enoughI have no expert knowledge in any aspect of marketing. But to employ someone who does will cost extra money. People will not want to buy a whole new clothesline just to have this invention on it. OpportunitiesThere is a gap in the market for this product. No one has invented this yet, therefore, it may have the opportunity to monopolise this segment of the market.
There may be unsatisfied needs within the market. This will be identified through research. threats use of tumble dryers will make my product redundantA competitor may come up with an idea the same or similar, which would threaten my main selling point, originality. Inflation rates, the strength of the pound and employment rates affect the public’s disposable income.
If this is low, my product will not sell as much as if it was high and the public had more to spend on luxury goods. Technology may advance, leaving my product out of date. This would lessen its appeal greatly, as the public usually wants the most recent technology. The weather is a factor I can’t control, but yet it may determine when or if my product sells. Monitoring Environmental ForcesMy company will monitor environmental forces over the next five years using environmental scanning. This is the process of monitoring and analysing the marketing environment of a company.
I must define a range of forces that require monitoring. These must be the environmental forces which the business thinks will have the most impact on its future prospects
