Task
Based on the principles that have been introduced in lecture 4 of the Enterprise module and your responses to the previous tasks, evaluate the Strengths and Weaknesses of three practitioners or design agencies as objectively as you can.
What opportunities for your own practice have revealed themselves to you as a result of this analysis and evaluation?
Do not use subjective language or make unfounded comments about other people’s businesses.
It is essential that you make references to SWOT and evaluate its usefulness as an analysis or evaluation tool.
In responding to this task you will need to consider the following questions:
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The results of your research should be posted to your Enterprise blog. and summarised by a 250 word statement/evaluation. You should am to illustrate your opinions with relevant examples of contemporary design practice.
Answer
As at the moment we are working as a group business, setting up our own branding and identity company in Leeds, I thought it would be useful to answer this task for the group, looking at who our competitors are. I thought I would start off by doing the Pest and 4P's on our business first, so I had clearly defined who we are as a company and what affects us. Re: Ltd 
4 P'S
P - Product - The service they offer / work they produce
Our service is a branding and identity graphic design company, focusing on re-branding and reviving older companies whose identity is in need of a refresh.
P - Price
Our package for a new logo will be about £400. We aim to be as cheap as we can at first, to gain a good customer base, and we understand that we won't make much money, and have prepared for this. We need to each charge £15 each an hour to ensure that we can pay our salaries and our overhead costs.
P - Place - Sales environment
We will be based in Leeds City Centre, at the Unit, in a virtual office. This is beneficial as we get a great business address is a professional building, with good facilities and is close to the train station, but it keeps the price down, as we are hotdesking rather than staying there permanently. When we are established and have enough money, we will be able to hire a space.
P - Promotion - Marketing / value proposition
As a branding and identity company we believe we are experts in promotion. We will create an identity for ourselves, then follow the methods from the marketing communication checklist to promote ourselves.
PEST
P - Political
Have to be law abiding citizens and pay for expensive licences, tax, VAT and other things, meaning that our services may end up being more expensive - but this is a problem for everyone
E - Economical
It will be hard for us to start up as there aren't any grants available and it will be difficult for us to get a loan, so to get ensure we get business, we must charge the cheapest prices. This could work in our favour as we build a big customer base as we could be known for our value for money, and people are looking to cut back. People with their own businesses may be in need of more customers, so to do this, they will need our help to re-brand them to get them more business
S - Social
As seen with many examples around us, brands are always having to reinvent themselves to stay modern and to stay in touch with their customers, so this means that with our 'fresh' knowledge, there is an opportunity for us to create identities for older businesses
T - Technological
As design for screen is so popular at the moment, the customer may have their own business but not their own website, so they may want us to design an identity and a website for them so they can cover this area to promote themselves
Design Agency 1
http://www.studiobellytimber.co.uk I have chosen to do the SWOT analysis on SBT as they are based at the Unit in Leeds, which is where we would like to base our business. They aren't a specialist branding and identity graphic design company, but they specialise in print.  
4 P'S
P - Product - The service they offer / work they produce
Graphic designers specialising in print, with good relationships with printers to ensure customers get the best quality
P - Price
Doesn't specify
P - Place - Sales environment
There location will be the same as ours, in The Unit
P - Promotion - Marketing / value proposition
Promote themselves on their website and through business cards, I found out about them through The Unit website. Found owners profile on LinkedIn, and he attends networking events around Leeds and studied at LCA, so may be a well known name
PEST
P - Political
Same as us
E - Economical
Has good relationships with printers so can get the customer better quality deals, this will attract customers who are looking to get lots of business cards printed so could be competition
S - Social
Committed to being eco friendly, may attract customers who this is an issue to
T - Technological
Using modern equipment, but not specialising in screen, with is a popular factor at the moment
SWOT
Strengths
- Expertise in print
- Relationship with printer means cheaper / higher quality prints - Staff with knowledge of: graphic design, photography, print management and copywriting - Well designed website (Designed by catalogue from LCA) - Contains testimonials saying how good they are to work with
Weaknesses
- Don't design for web so potentially losing customers
- Doesn't specify prices - Not a specialist in a particular area - May need more promotion (hadn't heard of them before visiting The Unit website) - Website doesn't seem very personal, want to know more about the staff Opportunities - Customers wanting design for screen - Not specifying a price may put some customers off and may make us seem more attractive if we can offer a package deal - Opportunity for us to collaborate and bring our different skills together as we are in the same building - Customers like to know they are in safe hands so may come to us as we are specifically branding and identity - Our opportunity is that we are 'fresh' as we will have just graduated so may know more modern things Threats - Already designs for lots of local Leeds companies and things for the local council, so this may be a threat as this could be a large chunk of our potential customers gone - Can offer more than us in terms of print, such as we don't have any one specialising in photography - Already has a loyal customer base - Links with printers means they could print things like business cards cheaper - In the same building as us so could potential steal customers away from us
Design Agency 2
http://www.thisispworks.com I found this graphic designer from a google search. I wanted to do the SWOT analysis on him as he is a freelance graphic designer rather than being part of a business, so I wanted to see how this would effect him being competition to us. He focuses on branding and identity.  
4 P'S
P - Product - The service they offer / work they produce
Paul is a freelance graphic designer specialising in creative problem solving in particular branding and identity, so therefore, he is offering the same product as us
P - Price
Not sure of pricing, but it says on his website he offers free consultations (something I had thought about us doing as a business), and requires a deposit at the start of a job (a good idea for making sure you don't get ripped off). As a freelance graphic designer, he possibly won't be earning enough to charge VAT, which means that his prices as an individual may be cheaper than what a company would charge, meaning that he his more appealing to customers
P - Place - Sales environment
Doesn't contain an address so it suggests that he works at home, which is good to keep costs down, meaning that you don't have to charge customers for these costs, but some customers may not find this very professional and may want to meet the designer in their office
P - Promotion - Marketing / value proposition
Paul comes up near the top when I did a google search, so it shows he has used google search optimisation. As a designer in branding and identity he probably knows a lot about promotion. Promotes himself on twitter
PEST
P - Political
Same as us
E - Economical
Provides cost effective graphic design, so he appeals to both large businesses and smaller ones without much money, as he tailors the job to what is being asked, which is good as no business wants to waste money in todays economical environment
S - Social
Working by himself may be a downfall as he won't be able to bounce ideas around with other people, people feel like they trust companies more
T - Technological
Seems to have good technical knowledge and be up to date, such as with his knowledge of search engine optimisation, so this could gain him more customers
SWOT
Strengths
- Has worked in both print and web
- Specialism in branding and identity, seems trustworthy - Also works with illustration - Works freelance, possibly working from home to cut costs - Website contains testimonials to show he is good to work with - Website seems personal by containing a picture and a detailed about me section, makes customers trust him - Seems to have knowledge in lots of areas of graphic design
Weaknesses
- Can't take on as much work as there is only one of him, so might miss out on opportunities
- Most featured work seems to be quite commercial rather than creative and that might not appeal to some customers - Might be missing out on some skills that one of us has as theres only one of him
Opportunities
- Doesn't seem to have an address, so may lose out on customers due to this
- If there are jobs available that he doesn't have time to take on they may come to us - List of clients doesn't seem to be that big or specific to Leeds so not necessarily taking on clients that could potentially be ours - As there are four of us, between us we will probably have skills that he doesn't have - Again, we will be recently graduated so our skills will be fresh - Work style seems quite different from ours so potential clients may come to us instead
Threats
- May charge less as he will have less charges to pay as a sole trader compared to a Ltd company
- Already experienced, and seems to have a good knowledge of different areas of graphic design
Design Agency 3
http://www.dsemotion.com Again, I found this company from a google search. I have chosen to do the SWOT analysis on them as they aren't just specifically branding and identity, they offer other services as well.  
4 P'S
P - Product - The service they offer / work they produce
They offer many different services within graphic design and marketing,
P - Price
It doesn't mention a price and with their expert knowledge and well known client base I think they are probably quite expensive, however, they do offer a free 1 hour consultation
P - Place - Sales environment
Located in a good address in Leeds, but also have a location in London. This could work two ways, gaining them more business, or put off smaller companies who want a local company
P - Promotion - Marketing / value proposition
Came up high on a google search so know about search engine optimisation, uses Facebook, twitter and Linked In to advertise company
PEST
P - Political
Same as us
E - Economical
Need to get business in today's economical environment and that is hard, so they off a free one hour consultation, however, they work for well known brands, so may able to charge more
S - Social
Are very modern, and keep up to date with what people want.
T - Technological
Seem to be experts on a number of different technical factors, which are all very relevant today. These are things that we don't really know anything about, such as mobile marketing, so if a company is looking for this then this puts this company ahead
SWOT
Strengths
- Seem to know about just about everything to do with marketing and graphic design!
- Has lots of experience - Already has a client base, with some well known businesses on it, and some clients they have had for ten years - Detailed blog containing lots of information, makes them seem like a reputable company
Weaknesses
- They are located in both Leeds and London, and I think smaller companies may feel more comfortable doing businesses with a local company
- People tend to prefer with companies that specialise in something as they feel they can trust them - Aren't as 'fresh' as us - All staff are male - I think its good to have a mix to help balance - As there is a lot of information to take in on their website it might be a bit off putting, and a simpler website may be more effective
Opportunities
- If we can make our website really personal, I think this will make us seem more approachable and trustworthy and may help us to attract local companies
- Our vision of ourselves as a company is quite different to theirs, so we may be what some customers are looking for - As we only specialise in one thing customers may see as us being more trustworthy
Threats
- They know much, much more than us about certain areas
- Worked for local companies such as the Victoria Quarter - Very professional looking website and examples of work
Opportunities for my own practice
Who am I competing against?
There are so many other graphic designers in Leeds that there will be a lot of competition for us, however, at the same time, there is quite a lot of demand today for graphic design. Therefore we need to promote our USP of being 'fresh' to help us gain business.
What do they offer?
While we aim to specialise in branding and identity, other companies offer everything and some specialise in different areas, however there are others that specialise in the same area.
What makes me better? What makes me different?
What makes us better is that we will be recently graduated from a well known and respected course at Leeds College of Art. Therefore our knowledge of graphic design is fresh and up to date and we know about branding and identity. We will also offer competitive pricing, and make sure our customers feel special, to keep them coming back.
Summary
I am happy that I have managed to link this task to what we are doing as a group business, because it makes it much more realistic actually having a company to compare to, and so has been really useful to us as a business. I realised how important it is to do SWOT analyses on your competitors, to help you to define what your USP is, and what will set you out from the others. It is also useful to help you think of other things you can offer as you realise your competitors don't offer them, and this is taking the most of an opportunity, as well as warning you about things that have already been done before. I think if I was really starting up this business I would need to do many more SWOT analyses, as there is so much competition, we need to make sure that what we think is unique to us isn't already being done by someone else. I think we would need to continue to use the method of SWOT analysis, as businesses are constantly changing, and as our business is about being fresh, we need to keep on top of the competition and make sure we are offering the 'freshest' branding and identity service around to make us better than our competitors. I think doing the 4 P's and the PEST analysis for our business at the start was also a good idea meaning that the comparisons between us and our competition could be accurate.
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