86-87.qxp_Grid 24/10/2018 12:51 Page 86
JEREMY’S JOURNAL Business blogging by publisher Jeremy Corner of Blue Eyed Sun.
SWOT-ing Up... Jeremy Corner, owner of greeting card publisher Blue Eyed Sun, SWOTs up on business strategy. Last month I was pleased to see Ged Mace of The Art File win the Honorary Achievement award at The Henries this year. He has a been a great mentor of mine, who along with my friend Lynn Tait, inspired me to get involved with The Ladder Club in 2004. This November will be my fifteenth year of speaking at The Ladder Club for start up cardies. If you haven’t attended and are new to greeting card publishing then I highly recommend getting yourself to the first day seminar. At last year’s Ladder Club, Ged reminded me of a great business tool for retailers, publishers and suppliers: the SWOT Analysis.
down, but using the SWOT analysis can help us to tread more carefully and keep our eyes wide open as we go. Let’s take a look at each of the elements and how retailers and publishers might use them. I’ll also talk about how Blue Eyed Sun used the tool to decide whether or not to take on distributing BambooCup.
Your Objective It’s important to get clear on what your goal is so that you use the SWOT analysis to examine the way forward with that objective. You might alter your objective at the end and redo the analysis, but it needs a focus to work. Most businesses, whether retailers or publishers, will probably be looking at how they can grow their sales. To decide on distributing BambooCup or not, we started by looking at our strengths.
Strengths
What Is A SWOT Analysis? A SWOT analysis is a strategic planning technique to help you achieve your business and personal goals. By considering your internal Strengths and Weaknesses and external Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) it forces you to be specific about your objectives and to identify the key factors that will hinder or support your success. I think it’s a great tool for thinking things through, making decisions and most importantly taking action. There are no guarantees with any road we chose to walk 86
PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
What do you currently do well in relation to the objective that you have in mind? A retailer might list their prime location as a strength, or even the fact that they own their own premises. The power of their customer relationships and the knowledge that they have of their customers are also strengths as is their business experience and a well-trained team. For a publisher, the strengths might an innovative design team or that it’s financially stable and profitable. It could have a recognisable brand or a strong and active database.
Above: Swot up on SWOT. Below left: The Ladder Club class of 2015. Bottom: SWOT - Strengths and Weaknesses and external Opportunities and Threats.
With BambooCup I knew that we were strong on marketing, PR and social media. Blue Eyed Sun is a familiar name with many retailers. We also have a great operational team and our own warehouse space to accommodate the project. Personally, I also have a passion for taking care of the environment - it’s one of the main reasons I don’t eat meat for example (not a weakness).
Weaknesses Where do you need to improve in order to reach your goal, and is this possible? A retailer may list ‘buying power’ as a weakness. It simply might not be possible to compete with supermarkets on price for example. Poor window displays on the other hand is a weakness that they can do something about. Other weaknesses might include inadequate staff training, poor upselling and bad stock control of best sellers. A publisher might need to improve its business structure and be more demanding