Iva Stigmatism’s business, North/South Eyeland Specs has many strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats from both the internal and external environment. In the beginning Iva saw an opportunity to break into a market that he viewed as having weaknesses within its management levels. Although the company in question was not going to be in direct competition with Iva’s, the opportunity to start a new business was there. The loophole Iva found that allowed a medical practitioner to test eyes and hand out prescriptions was a definite opportunity, as it meant Iva was able to conduct his business without an optometrist. This would otherwise have created a weakness, as there are not very many optometrists in training.
One of the main threats to Iva and his newly formed business was the competition from around 350 other practising optometrists in New Zealand. Iva needed an edge that would make customers change to North/South Eyeland Specs and he came up with several strengths that achieved this aim.
First of all Iva expanded his business and set up an on-site glazing machine at their Victoria Street location. This meant that all the work for peoples’ lenses could be done within Iva’s own company, which eliminated external costs and time. Iva created another strength for his company by developing more branches of his business outside of Auckland. This was a wise strategy, because Iva could then target more than just the Auckland market. This created a significant advantage, since many overseas competitors were looking to move into the New Zealand market and Iva believed that Auckland would be the most likely first location for these major competitor’s businesses. This was a looming threat that Iva eliminated. After expanding Iva then began to focus on the actual service he was providing and many of the company’s strengths are found here. Due to the on-site glazing machine North/South Eyeland Specs was able to provide customers with their glasses approximately 24 hours after the initial appointment. This strength came from competitor weakness, as no other optometrist provided the service this quickly. Sometimes customers waited around two weeks before receiving their frames. Aside from speed, North/South Eyeland Specs was able to offer lower prices then their competitors also offering “ready-made reading glasses”. These came with a case and were substantially lower in price than any other frames on the market. Iva’s company also had an edge over the competition by having more varieties of frames available to customers. In the beginning New Zealanders seemed to stick with practical glasses in practical colours, but North/South Eyeland Specs guaranteed that customers purchasing brightly coloured glasses would be eligible for a replacement within one year if they changed their mind.
One other strength of Iva’s business was its impeccable customer service. After one incident taking place where North/South Eyeland Specs took great care of a customer that had just been mugged, their reputation for great customer service began and they received calls congratulating them. Reputations have to be built and cannot be bought, so for Iva and his business this strength is one that cannot be replicated by others. Unfortunately though, there are still threats hindering North/South Eyeland Specs’ move forward. Overseas companies are a lot larger than North/South Eyeland Specs and are able to offer more than Iva can. They have a large number of strengths that Iva does not. They have between two thousand and three thousand frames customers can choose from, compared with Iva’s limit of four hundred to five hundred frames. They also claim to be able to provide approximately 90 – 95 percent of customers with their glasses within one hour. The strengths of the competitors are definite threats for Iva’s business, although at the moment as these business have not yet moved into the New Zealand market, they are only potential threats at the moment. Iva has the opportunity to try to increase the ratio of spectacle lenses sold to spectacle frames. At the moment for every seven customers that purchase lenses through North/South Eyeland Specs, only six of them buy frames. There is definite potential to increase that number so that every customer buys their frames from this company. There is also the potential to increase sales through the amount of frames each New Zealander owns. Overseas, glasses are seen as a fashion item and many people own more than one pair. Breaking New Zealand’s way of viewing glasses, and changing attitudes to see them as a fashion accessory is a great opportunity that no other optometrist in New Zealand seems to have done yet. A great way to do this is through advertising which is yet another opportunity to increase sales and revenue. At the moment advertising is a small weakness for North/South Eyeland Specs as Iva has a limited budget and therefore only advertises when he has to. However, he may get more clients if he advertised all the time, not just when it is needed.
Another weakness giving Iva problems was the fact that North/South Eyeland Specs does not have much money available for investment. This means the expansion happens slowly for this company and if new technology hits the optical market Iva may not have the means to keep up. This is a threat that may never take place but Iva should keep in the back of his mind. His high level of liabilities is also a weakness and a threat if Iva’s ability to repay debts becomes uncertain.
At the moment North/South Eyeland Specs seems to have a good advantage over current local optometrists. They are faster, cheaper, have more variety and good customer service practises. Looking to the future, other optometrists can only catch up to the way Iva runs his business unless he adopts new advantages. Diversifying is one way Iva could break into a new market while continuously expanding on his old one. By changing and adding another service he can appeal to another market and range of people. Targeting the older generation would be a good way to start. If Iva moved into hearing aids he would make it so much more convenient for older people to go out and get themselves checked out. Instead of going to two shops, these people can now just go to one to get everything done. Iva still offers glasses to other types of people, but he has just appealed to the older generation of people that wear glasses and require a hearing aid. Existing older customers may bring more business to Iva and older customers of other optometrists may change where they go for glasses and go to North/South Eyeland Specs instead. There is also the market for people who require hearing aids but do not wear glasses that Iva could then get as business.
Iva also needs to try and build on his reputation for great customer service before big international businesses bring their companies to New Zealand. These businesses offer what Iva has as his advantage over local optometrists, but they are able to do it better than Iva. Iva will therefore lose his competitive edge if these companies set up business in New Zealand. By having a strong reputation customers may stick by Iva and North/South Eyeland Specs if they do not want to receive the impersonal treatment from larger businesses.
To work out what sort of opportunities are available to Iva and his business, North/South Eyeland Specs, Iva could conduct a series of market research surveys. Firstly Iva could find out how many of his customers that went to North/South Eyeland Specs for their glasses in the beginning, were still frequenting his company when they needed new frames or new lenses. He could ask these people what it was that made them keep coming back to his business for their eyesight needs and come to a conclusion about what it was that appealed to these people. Secondly, he could find people that used to go to his business that had taken their business elsewhere and ask them why they chose another optometrist. When new clients arrived at North/South Eyeland Specs he could ask them why they had chosen his business and how they heard about it in order to see what was appealing to them to change their minds about where they went. Lastly Iva could find people that did not go to North/South Eyeland Specs and ask them why they did not choose his business as somewhere they could go for their eyesight needs. These four surveys would hopefully give Iva a good deal of information about how his business was seen in the consumer market, what were his strong points and what things he appeared to be doing wrong that alienated customers. Iva should look at this information as constructive criticism and attempt to iron out all the problems that his business had when attracting new or retaining old business. This may help him understand a bit more about what customers were after which could help give him a good edge in the future. It may also help Iva know when expanding and changing North/South Eyeland Specs in the future, what practises he needs to keep up to ensure customers continue to chose North/South Eyeland Specs, and to keep the new ones coming.
If Iva were to start up an Internet website for North/South Eyeland Specs many aspects of his business could benefit. One store could check online to see if another store had the type of frame it was after and order it straight away. Stores could also order frames directly from the Victoria St branch where the glazing machine is located. This would save a lot of effort and could help to cut down on the time taken to provide the customer with their frames. This would be great for North/South Eyeland Specs, as it would help them to remain competitive with their major overseas competitors. An Internet service would also greatly benefit North/South Eyeland Specs if it set up the site in such a way that customers could go online and order the frames themselves. This would mean North/South Eyeland Specs would be able to reach a lot more customers than just their branches throughout New Zealand. People living in remote places could go online to North/South Eyeland Specs instead of being restricted to only one local optometrist and the range of frames they have to offer. If a customer was in need of new frames and knew the type of lenses they required they could just go online and order everything they needed with a credit card. Frames would then be delivered to their door in a short period of time. Customers could also order frames if for example they went on holiday and left their glasses behind. One day later they could have new glasses and their holiday would not be ruined. This convenience may make a lot of consumers choose North/South Eyeland Specs over another optometrist. There are down sides to having an Internet website however. Monitoring it would be a big job as it would need to be watched all the time if North/South Eyeland Specs wanted to keep the process of ordering glasses online a quick one. This may require a person full time to check orders and send them through to the appropriate shops which means Iva would need to hire another staff member. One of the qualities North/South Eyeland Specs prides itself on is its great customer service, which it would no longer be able to provide online. Many people could place fake orders for glasses, or due to the fact that customers cannot try on the frames, North/South Eyeland Specs may have to deal with many returns from unsatisfied customers. This would result in a lot of wasted time, effort and money, which in no way benefits Iva’s business.
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