Importance of SWOT Factors in Entrepreneurship - Coursework Example

Running Head SWOT factors that are important to starting my business SWOT factors that are important to starting my business Inserts Grade Course Customer Inserts Tutor’s Name 09 February 2009 The new business venture needs careful and detailed analysis of the macro- and micro environment. A new venture, baby store, will have to take into account internal and external threats and opportunities, customers’ needs and demands. In this case, SWOT will be used as thinking framework for identifying Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. It enables key factors to be visibly recorded as a high level summary of a business (or personal) situation. It is a summary that is simple but powerful. External forces and trends under considerations will be legal and technological trends. The legal perspective of an organization, therefore, can be misleading in making marketing decisions. For example, one alternative facing a company may be to develop its own sales organization, while another is to use a wholesaler. The latter alternative legally consists of two independent organizations that comprise a suprasystem. From a marketing perspective, however, both forms represent only one organization or system that is trying to reach and cultivate markets, Therefore, although numerous external and internal groups are really part of a companys organization chart (manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers, advertising, market research, financial agencies, and intermediate and ultimate customers), organization charts do not portray this. Product management refers to the adjustment of productive capacity and technology to consumer demand (SWOT analysis 2008). Technically, it encompasses both product planning and product development, which in reality are synonymous. In consequence, we shall rely on the term product development in its broadest sense. Product development is concerned with offering the right goods at the right time, at the right price, in the right quantities, in the right place. Referring to the process of evolving new products, it is closely associated with market development. It focuses on the future product line, on products that should be added or deleted, on the impact of products on price, promotion, warranty, and service, and on the development of criteria to evaluate product performance (Marketing & Competitive Intelligence. 2009). Global and economic treads in business are important but they will not have a profound impact on a baby store. Social and environmental analyses will help to determine the main demographic trends and identify the main target groups. Decisions in this area determine the products to be produced and stocked, as well as details concerning their appearance, form, size, package, quantities, timing of production, price lines, and anticipated market segments (PESTLE Analysis 2008). Competitive analysis contrasts existing and potential future characteristics of the organization and encourages evaluation of the consequences of alternative actions. The consequences of each From To change should be highlighted, both positive and negative. Based on this, some broad decisions can be taken to pursue, or not pursue, certain strategies. The transition From To is an option and the decision not to change may be taken in some circumstances where the cost/benefit balance of the consequences is not attractive (SWOT analysis 2008). Internal forces and trends will help to determine the main strategic position of the company and its market. Product development combines the scientists function of analyzing, classifying, and organizing information into commercially feasible new products, and the marketers function of assessing unsatisfied wants and needs and identifying profitable market opportunities. Usually this activity necessitates compromise among the engineering, production, marketing, Companies must not lose sight of the ultimate purpose of their business -to satisfy wants and needs of consumers (PESTLE Analysis 2008). Companies are ultimately guided in their industrial purchasing decisions by household consumers. This is not to deny that there are significant differences between the two types of buyers; students should become aware of them. Industrial goods and service, those used by organizations to produce their own products and services (whether the organization is business or government), are certainly significant factors in total sales (Marketing & Competitive Intelligence. 2009). Internal forces and trends will help to determine the main strategic position of the company and its market. Product development combines the scientists function of analyzing, classifying, and organizing information into commercially feasible new products, and the marketers function of assessing unsatisfied wants and needs and identifying profitable market opportunities. Usually this activity necessitates compromise among the engineering, production, marketing, Companies must not lose sight of the ultimate purpose of their business -to satisfy wants and needs of consumers. Companies are ultimately guided in their industrial purchasing decisions by household consumers. This is not to deny that there are significant differences between the two types of buyers; students should become aware of them. Industrial goods and service, those used by organizations to produce their own products and services, are certainly significant factors in total sales.Еe use of ершы фтфднышы enables an assessment to be made of the overall internal state of a business and the direction in which it is heading, through looking at its Strengths and Weaknesses. It also enables a judgment to be made about aspects of the external business environment, which can affect the performance (PESTLE Analysis 2008). Internal forces and trends under considerations will be strategy and resources, goals and strategic capabilities, technologies, innovations and leadership. By the new venture, strategy will be considered as the process of deciding how to best position the organization in its competitive environment in order to achieve and sustain competitive advantage, profitably. Strategy is formed at both corporate level (what industries/markets should we operate in) and business unit level (in what segments should we compete — and how). The technique is commonly used by consultants to document the key factors arising from the review of a particular project or business. Goals should reflect strategic capabilities of the organization and its market potential (PESTLE Analysis 2008). Leadership and innovation are driven forces of business. They have great impact on our economic well-being, and the direction of our life style. The largest purchaser of all, the Federal Government, is an industrial consumer. Industrial goods include major installations and equipment (blast furnaces and rolling mills), light equipment (trucks), accessories (typewriters), components (gears), raw materials (coal), and supplies (paper).It is not only product characteristics that distinguish industrial from consumer goods. Rather, it is mainly the status and motive of the purchaser, supplemented by such factors as quantity purchased and price paid. Products used for "business purposes" are industrial goods (PESTLE Analysis 2008). Resources and strategic capabilities will help to meet changing demands and new threats. Changes in life styles and market environment have had a direct impact on goods and services produced, expenditures, and the consumption process. For example, the effect of increased leisure time, suburban living, shopping centers, automatic vending machines, automobiles, television, and widespread geographic shifts on consumer wants and needs is pronounced. The shift from rural to urban populations, the growing number of women employed in industry, the decrease in the length of the work week, increasing productivity, and higher incomes all shape consumer behavior and, hence, market opportunity. Purchasing decisions are affected by the customers life space. The life space may be segmented into an action and an orientation space. The action space refers to the arena and methods by which transactions take place, including organizational constraints imposed by business. The orientation space includes numerous economic, psychological, and source factors influencing buyer behavior. The purchasing process and the related acts of accumulation and consumption are means of achieving goals both of the purchaser and those he represents. The acts of accumulation and consumption indicate the differences between consumers and purchasers, and between consumption. The proposed summary should be used to consolidate key issues identified through other forms of analysis (e.g. environmental mapping, industry mapping, etc.) References Marketing & Competitive Intelligence. (2009). Retrieved 06 February 2009 http://www.marketing-intelligence.co.uk/help/Q&A/question24.htm PESTLE Analysis. (2008). Retrieved 06 February 2009 http://www.cipd.co.uk/subjects/corpstrtgy/general/pestle-analysis.htm SWOT analysis. (2008). Retrieved 06 February 2009 http://www.cipd.co.uk/subjects/corpstrtgy/general/swot-analysis.htm SWOT Table Strengths Expertise Quality Differentiated product line Unique culture Strong leadership Weaknesses Financial shortages Lack of facilities Financial Investments Feeble brand name Opportunities Technological changes The Internet Marketing New international markets Demographic changes and increased number of newborns Threats Taxation New Financial Standards Changes in regulations Competition New substitute products Read More