SWOT Analysis for AlJamiah Internet Cafe
A SWOT Analysis looks at a company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. It aims to reveal the competitive advantages of the company as well as analyze its prospects for sales and profitability.
It also aims to prepare a company for problems which may arise, allowing for the development of contingency plans.
An analysis of the company’s strengths and weaknesses is an internal examination. It is usually based on an analysis of facts and assumptions about the company and on market research findings.
The opportunity and threat analysis is carried out by examining external factors, e.g. economic or social trends, changes in your competitors’ behavior etc.
Actually I faced difficulties to choose certain company or topic to apply SWOT analyses on it. Because I want to choose smoothing I fell familiar with it. Finally I decided to choose AL-Jamiah internet cafe shop. Because I spend daily many hours in this internet coffee shop and I know exactly what is going on there. Also I can simply identify and clarify the strengths, weakness, opportunities and threads. Also I have distributed some sheet to the employees to help me in this case.
Strengths
1) The coffee shop is very close to the university campus. Just in front of engineering college.
2) The coffee shop is in al-jamiah district, the place that university students and teachers from outside Jeddah prefer to live in.
3) The coffee shop provide very fast satellite connection.
4) the coffee shop provide many services to its costumers such as cafeteria, satellite channels in the waiting hall, printing service, and they are also buying cigarettes to their smoking customers.
5) They purchased new computer system technology such as flat-screen displays, fast machines, and high-quality printers.
6) They use computer system that has a USB in the front side of the computer case. So, you can attach your USB devices easily.
7) They work 24 hours per day 7 days per week even in prayer times except al-jomaah prayer (they have small mosque inside the coffee).
8) They have good cleaning team to clean and rearrange cabins after customer leaving.
9) They have good ventilation and air conditioning system.
10) They have good general lighting system and private lighting system for each computer.
11) The price system is 5 riyals per hour and there is special discount for the costumers who spend many hours.
12) They provide free web cam to their customers.
13) al-jamiah internet cafe is famous in its district.
14) they have DVD movies to play as cinema and subscription in ART television network especially sports channels.
15) Growth of economy.
16) they provide CD's copy service.
17) great sources and outcomes.
18) great experience in this field (5 years).
Weaknesses
1) The private system is not good enough.
2) They have 35 cabins and that is not enough (the coffee shop is small). A lot of people have to wait their turn in waiting hall especially in week ends.
3) There is one bathroom serve over than 35 persons in case if the cabins are full.
4) There is no pay hours system or month subscription system. So, the costumer does not know how many time he spent?
5) There is no special offer to influence people to spend many hours in the coffee shop.
6) There is no private section for non-smokers people.
7) They do not have other branches.
8) They do not have women branch (most internet coffee shops do not have women branch).
9) The cafeteria meals and beverages do not meet customer expectations.
10) Dependence on quickly changing technology.
11) The cost factor associated with keeping state-of-the art computer hardware.
12) Language abilities for employee.
13) high printing service cost.
14) there is no good advertising technique to tell customers about their business.
Opportunities
1) constructing new women branch.
2) constructing special section for non-people smokers.
3) constructing wireless network to people that have laptops.
4) dealing with people that specialist in catering and coffee makers.
5) make some special courses for using computer for beginners.
6) selling diskettes, CD's and flash memories … etc
7) Growing population of daily Internet users.
8) Social bonds fostered by the new Internet communities.
9) providing special offers to VIP customers.
10) constructing new branches.
11) providing exiting new software such as games on line, chatting programs and share files programs.
12) making investments in designing, constructing and hosting web sites.
13) making investments in advertising by using computer desktop background or home page.
14) purchasing new printer and photocopier to serve students and teachers.
15) they can invest their unique satellite channels for gain some many especially in big sporty events.
16) e-conferences services.
Threats
1) Rapidly falling cost of Internet access.
2) Emerging local competitors.
3) damages occurred by some uncared customers.
SO-Alternatives
1) they can use their great sources, outcomes and experiences to construct new branches, women branches, laptops section and non-smoker section.
2) they can use the strength of being very close to the university campus to produce some courses for beginners and to provide high quality printing service for students.
3) they can use the strength of high satellite connection to download huge programs and copy them on CD's to sell them.
4) they can develop their cafeteria services by merging with catering company.
5) they can gain some money by investing their unique satellite channels especially in big sporty events such as (world cup).
6) they can use the benefits of high internet speed and the availability of web cams to develop their e-conferences services.
7) they can use the university newspaper to make advertise that targeting students.
WO-Alternatives
1) they can deal with "not enough cabins and one bathroom problems" by constructing new branches, make new sections or construct new bathroom.
2) they can solve the weakness of no pay system or month subscription by providing special offers for VIP customers or by using special program to carry out this situation.
3) they can solve the weakness of non-smokers section availability by construct the non-smokers section.
4) they can invest the chance of being no one have women branch by constructing one also to serve girls in the university.
5) they can avoid the weakness of low cafeteria service by dealing with catering companies and cafe makers companies.
ST and WT-Alternatives
1) they can re-engineer their services by changing the concepts of classical internet cafe such as:
*make some special courses for using computer for beginners.
* selling diskettes, CD's and flash memories … etc.
* making investments in designing, constructing and hosting web sites.
* making investments in advertising by using computer desktop background or home page.
* they can invest their unique satellite channels for gain some many especially in big sporty events.
* e-conferences services.
By this ideas they can avoid the threats also and start new business related to their real business.
Conclusion
I have learned many things during this exiting assignments and I hope that I apply SWOT analysis very well. And I think this assignment is a good preparation for the first step in project team.
Actually, I find that SWOT analysis is very helpful method in strategic planning but would be better if we have take the marketing research first before assignment because marketing research will help us in gathering information about specific market and then we will be able to apply SWOT analysis very well.
Written by: Ahmed Abdurrahman AL-Khammash (Eng.Management Student Spring 2006)
