Research

No business that stands still will thrive without constant change.

Back in the mid 1990s I produced a dissertation paper on the threats to the UK Royal Mail due to Socio-economic, Political, & Technological threats posed.

A good framework, that is used in Marketing is SLEPT analysis. SLEPT is short for Social, Legal, Economic, Political, Technological.

Try applying SLEPT analysis to your business.

Social

Have consumer tastes changed, but your product offering has no kept pace?

Does the styling and functionality give potential customers what they demand?

Legal

Does your product or service comply with relevant, and changing legislation covering your target market?

Economic

What is the strength of the economy that you are, or wish to, sell your products to.

A product may be cheap in some markets, but highly expensive and unaffordable in your newly identified target market.

One solution might be producing a cheaper version of your product, with less functionality, for a particular target market.

Political

Governments may be encoraging research and development in a particular area of the economy. Therefore there may be opportunities to develop products that leverage government help available, such as tax relief and grants.

Conversely, government policies may penalise certain products and industries, think cigarettes.

Technological

Back in the 90s, email emerged as a significant threat to the traditional letter service. It also had an impact on the manufacturers of FAX machines.

Your business needs to constantly be vigilant as to changes that could affect your future success.

Yesway Ltd can help research and develop practical solutions for your business to stay ahead, and further achieve competitive advantage using emerging technologies.

(c) Craig Miles 2016

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