Jones-Blair Company’s SWOT Analysis

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Table of Contents

Internal Strengths

SWOT	Quality and experience	Sales and Services	Market
Internal Strengths	Jones-Blair Company is known for providing the best quality products. The Company follows ISO 9001:2000 quality system and has an additional lab which performs quality assurance tests (Jones-Blair, 2010). Jones-Blair company was founded in 1928 and has mastered its field over the past many years. The company has an experience of 82 years giving it advantage over its competitors.	The company provides quality services to its customers and gives a quick response to all the queries. The sales persons of the company know their customers well and are know how to satisfy the needs of the customer. The sales representatives of the company don’t only have a strong relationship with its customers, but also with the retail stores (Aldrete, Davis, Robinson, & Lin, 2010)	Jones-Blair Company has the total market of 80 million dollars with a 35 per cent of total market share in urban areas and 45 per cent share in the rural areas (Aldrete, Davis, Robinson, & Lin, 2010). The clients of the company mostly comprises of business giants who prefer quality products. Jones-Blair company targets both, professionals and people who do not seek professional help.

SWOT	Cost	Sales and Limited Market	Advertisement
Internal Weaknesses	To maintain the quality of their products, Jones-Blair spends too much on its internal quality program and its compliance with ISO 9001:2000 increases its manufacturing costs even more compared to its competitors who spend very little on quality maintenance (Jones-Blair, 2010). Jones-Blair company follows the rules laid down by Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) which decreases its profit margin (U.S. EPA, 2010).	The cost of the goods sold by Jones-Blair is 60 per cent of the sales, leaving only 40 per cent of the profit for the company (Aldrete, Davis, Robinson, & Lin, 2010). Because of the high cost, the market of the company is limited to only a number of people who can afford it. The company has only 8 sales representatives (Aldrete, Davis, Robinson, & Lin, 2010).	There is not much awareness of the brand outside Dallas Fort Worth making it more of a regional than a national brand. The company does not spend more than 3 per cent of its total sale on advertisement making the brand rather unpopular (Aldrete, Davis, Robinson, & Lin, 2010). Because of its lack of advertisement, the company is unable to exploit market outside Dallas Fort Worth.

SWOT	Multiple Product Line and Sales	Market	Advertising outside DFW
External Opportunities	There are a number of services, other than paint, offered by the company which include industrial products, such as powder coatings, paint sundries, wall covering, and resins for operations (PCI, 2002). The company can hire more sales representative which can bring the company more profit. The company offers interior paint along with exterior coatings.	The customers of Jones-Blair include professionals and do-it-yourselfers which gives is advantage over other companies. Most of the market is still unexplored by Jones-Blair Company; the firm can significantly increase its market by making a few efforts. The market growth of Jones-Blair is 1 to 2 per cent per year (Aldrete, Davis, Robinson, & Lin, 2010). The number of paint companies is declining each year, giving Jones-Blair an opportunity to attract more customers (IBIS World, 2010).	The company can spend more on advertising its brand to increase awareness outside the Dallas Fort Worth. The company was rated 27^thin the top 50 paint manufacturers list by the Paint and Coatings Industry in 2002 (PCI, 2002); this can be used by the company to attract more customers nationally. Jones-Blair has an advantage over other paint companies because of its high quality which attracts many professionals who prefer durable paints of high quality.

SWOT	Brand awareness and regulations	External Competition	Consumer Threats
External Threats	There is not much awareness about Jones-Blair nationally. The Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) regulations are also a threat for the company.	The company has to compete with around 600 other paint companies (Aldrete, Davis, Robinson, & Lin, 2010). The competitors of Jones-Blair have an advantage of the company because they offer low prices to their customers. The companies offering cheap paint are a big threat to Jones-Blair because contractors as well as DIYers prefer brands which are inexpensive. The competitors of Jones-Blair are spending more on advertisement than Jones-Blair (Aldrete, Davis, Robinson, & Lin, 2010), and so are more popular among the masses. The biggest threat to Jones-Blair is the Sherwin-Williams since it is the second largest paint manufacturer in the U.S. (Hoovers, 2010).	The number of DYI paint sales is decreasing which may have an effect on the company’s sales in the future (Challener, 2004). There is no room for Jones-Blair company to make a mistake since there are plenty of other companies the consumers can chose from at a cheaper price, such as Sherwin Williams, Benjamin Moore, Kmart, Home Depot etc.

Aldrete, A., Davis, A., Robinson, J., & Lin, M. (2010). Jones Blair. Web.

Challener, C. (2004). DIY paint sales are on the decline as consumers choose to enjoy more leisure time. Web.

Hoovers. (2010). The Serwin-Williams Company. Web.

IBIS World. (2010). Paint manufacturing in the US – Industry risk rating report. IBIS World.

Jones-Blair. (2010). Our manufacturing process. Web.

PCI. (2002). The PCI 50 % global top 10. Web.

U.S. EPA. (2010). Facility Registry System. Web.