SWOT analysis- Vermont Specialties

Vermont Specialties is something of an unconventional venture. While there are plenty

of mom-and-pop e-commerce sites, and plenty more sleek high-budget concerns, VTS is
in a position to combine the flexibility and low pressure of the former with the
functionality and ease of use of the latter. It's vital that VTS know its competitive
advantages and corporate disadvantages in order to grow to its potential and stay within
its realistic limits.

Strengths
 low start-up and operating costs: hosting, many software components, some
design work, and much development has been provided for free through the
client's employer/mentor and an intern. The client has also been able to do much
of the development, content generation and marketing herself. No inventory is
carried, with the exception of some consignment items, at simply the cost of
storage.
 low maintenance system: database-backed dynamic site generation allows for
quick updates and eliminates the need to edit a number of static pages
 low-pressure finances increases feasibility: because of the low initial
investment, and because the client views it as a source of "side" revenue, not as a
sole source of income, the required revenue to make the project worthwhile is
considerably less than it might otherwise be in a start-up. Additionally, because the
project does not have to pay off for wary investors, Houghton can afford to take
chances and change directions without internal politics or outside pressure.
 ecommerce and marketing expertise: The client has a strong background in
marketing; she's directed international campaigns for companies such as AGFA
and written on technology for most of the past two decades. She has been
involved in Web work for more than six years on projects including the first Internet
mall. This background will assist in setting realistic targets, assessing success, and
refining plans on the fly.
 strong working relationship: the client and her tech advisor/mentor have worked
together since 1993 on various high-tech projects. They share a love of innovation,
their technical and business skills and interests complement each other well, and
they describe their working relationship as 'familial.'
 model familiarity: both the client and her technical advisor are experienced in
creation of low-maintenance, dynamically generated sites, and are directly
applying that experience to this development process
 flexibility: because the concern is small and does not have several employees
and/or investors relying on it or slowing down the decision process, it can afford to
experiment and to change direction as opportunities arise.
 supplier cooperation: current wholesaler is enthusiastic about prospect of
another channel to help move slower items, and will provide support by way of
regular inventory updates and promised order availability time

Weaknesses
  part-time venture: 'real' job and other demands may not provide sufficient time to
handle marketing, order fulfillment, maintenance, monitoring. Worse, it may result
in uneven customer service and brand damage. However, the client has already
considerably scaled back hours working elsewhere since moving to Vermont some
time ago, so that more time than would be apparent is available for this venture.
 staffing issues: although the eventual use of part-time staff is planned to handle
order fulfillment, such staff may prove difficult to retain in strong economy, or may
prove prohibitively expensive. However, the client has already lined up two part-
time casual workers whose schedules allow for as-needed work on order
fulfillment, so this weakness has somewhat been countered.
 perceived danger of free lunches: any change in freely available resources
might prove damaging financially. They may be a weakness only on paper,
however, as the client is aware of the business' strengths and boundaries and
plans to grow within them.
 supplier cooperation: accurate online inventory and timely order fulfillment
depends largely on service and information from supplier -- especially critical as
VTS works with a single supplier during start-up. May be countered by strength
outlined above.
 supplier juggling: expanding product offerings is attractive and desirable. But
while working with a single supplier for thousands of products might be easy,
adding additional suppliers for small numbers of items may prove a logistical
nightmare in keeping site inventory accurate and in filling orders. Suppliers should
thus be added judiciously -- which is in keeping with our premium product
offerings, anyway.
 space: although VTS will carry no product inventory other than the occasional
consigned artwork, it will require an inventory of packaging materials, as well as
space in which to perform order fulfillment. Currently, the client has home office
space and free access to a larger space, so this is not an issue early on. However,
as sales grow, VTS may have to seek rental space of its own.
 perception is everything: it's difficult to make a go of selling commodities. It's
imperative that we establish our products as specialties, not something that can be
found at any corner grocer.

Opportunities

 doing it better: while there are a number of small sites offering Vermont specialty
food products, most are not as attractive or easy to use as they could be. Given
equal access to the same consumers, we should be able to make the shopping
experience smoother (close to real-time inventory, dealing with a single entity, etc.)
 focus on Vermont products: some of our best-known competitors -- namely,
Vermont Country Store -- do not in fact focus solely on Vermont-made products.
They cover some of the ground, but not completely and not exclusively. There's
room to establish our brand here..
 affiliations with Real Live country stores: many small operations not in a
position to access the same technological advantages we enjoy may not have
ways to reach tourists once they've passed through Vermont, leaving open the
potential for partnerships.
  ease of co-branding: because the site is dynamically generated and uses
templates for ease of maintenance, co-branding would be a relatively simple
technical affair, and might offer a fruitful additional revenue stream. Not only could
such arrangements work with establishments as discussed above, but on a small
scale with a host of other Vermont sites.

Threats

 established brands: while we may not sell the same product lines as Vermont
Country Store, we don't have their name recognition. Customers may well assume
that if they don't find it there, they won't find it anywhere, and make their purchase
without ever reaching us.
 competitive field: while the landscape is rosy when we think of Vermont (food)
products, once we see ourselves in the more general specialty item/gift market,
competition is stiffer. Maple candy by mail from an unknown company may not
stand up well to flowers from a shop you trust. Focussing our scarce marketing
dollars will be key in avoiding being lost in a sea of gift shops.
 low barriers to entry: it would be relatively easy for any number of existing sites
to add small product offerings that cut into our market.
 boredom: because this is, at least in part, driven by the client's interest in proving
it can be done, it may eventually suffer from a shift in that interest to another
area/project. This seems unlikely to happen anytime soon, but should be identified
as a risk early on.