3.SWOT analysis
SWOT stands
for
Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities
Threats.
The SWOT analysis is a very simple but effective means of carrying out an
analysis of a company/product.
The SWOT analysis is probably the first step in
putting together a marketing plan or business plan
for your product/business. If you would like help
with your SWOT analysis, please contact
us.
Strengths: what are the strengths of your
product? What makes it better than other products?
Are these strengths being sufficiently exploited?
Are they being sufficiently defended?
Weaknesses: what are the weaknesses of your
product? What makes it inferior to other products?
Are there strategies you should be adopting to offset
these weaknesses? Should you be removing these weaknesses
completely?
Opportunities: what external factors are there
that could be embraced if appropriate resources
were allocated?
(One of the biggest
opportunities, especially for a small
business, must be the setting up of a
web site.
Click
here to see the small business package.)
Threats: what
external factors are there that threaten to reduce
your market share?
Strengths
- No 2 brand in this market sector
- Very strong customer loyalty to the
brand
- Further product improvements due for
launch within next 6 months will offer
real competitive advantages
|
|
Weaknesses
- Brand not so appealing to youth market
- Product specification means it is difficult
to supply variants at short notice
|
|
Opportunities
- Government legislation about to be introduced
will enable us to make additional product
claims
- New technology being developed will
mean a re-allignment of the market sector
|
|
Threats
- Usage figures suggest that customers
in this sector are using these products
less frequently because of health concerns.
|
|
The above table gives an idea of what some of the
major issues might be under the four main headings.
This is a very simple exercise that all businesses
should do, not least because of its simplicity.
It also forces you to take a much more global view
of your business - something which many owner/managers
find very difficult when their working day is completely
dominated by day-to-day firefighting activities
Once you have completed this task, you should proceed
to the marketing plan.
Why not recruit the hourly consultancy services of a
marketing professional?
|
01202-257423
Tel: 01202-257423