Auto Repair Shop Swot Analysis

The situation of this case is the dilemma George Withers a man who has run an auto repair shop that specializes in handling sports cars that require precision work with so much success for the past 29 years faces.

According to the article, George who is 68 years old does not plan on retiring anytime soon therefore he has not developed a succession plan regarding who is meant to take over the business in the event he eventually retires or is unable to run the shop for whatever reasons.

SWOT Analysis:

Strengths:

- Effective workers

- Work quality

- Goodwill

- Job specialization

- Work force and ethics

- Customer Loyalty

Weaknesses:

- Costs to customers

- Short sightedness (wanting to keep the business in the family which doesn’t necessarily guarantee the business will still be successful).

- Labor will be costly to the business due to the high number of mechanics hired

Opportunities:

- Expansion and enhancement plans

- New ideas and innovations such as changing their specialization from only sport cars.

Threats:

- Rising competition

- Fall out among employees of the company who might be taking sides

Problem Statements:

The problem comes from the fact that George himself is not ready to let go of the business, so he has not created a succession plan therefore if George was to become permanently indisposed, whoever that’s in charge is going to have a hard time keeping the company afloat at the beginning of taking over. An example will be of when George was absent for 10 days and Sam had difficulties of running the place as efficiently.

There is also the issue of Tim Keating who has been with the business since start up and would like an opportunity to run the place when George retires. Meanwhile the latter already has plans of handing the business down to his son Sam eventually.

Alternatives:

The alternatives can be the possibility of Sam being in a partnership with Tim Keating, George drawing up a succession plan or the opening of a new branch of the business.

Alternative #1: Partnership

Pros:

- Raising