Cover Page	Follow HCT guidelines
Contents Page
Introduction	Clearly state the purpose of a SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis	Include all the relevant information describing Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats of your business
Form of Business Ownership	Include all the relevant information you have had to consider when selecting the most appropriate form of business ownership
Reference Page	Show all your resources for this Assignment and follow HCT guidelines
Creativity and originality	Show your creativity and writing skills, originality and thinking outside the box.

Purpose of a SWOT analysis 

Decision making in organisations demands the development and adoption of a rigorous SWOT analysis. It is a powerful tool that must be used by organisations that are yet to be estanlsihed or those that are planning to expand to new geographical locations. SWOT analysis entails a detailed description of the possible strengths, wealknesses, opportunities and threats that a business organisation may face in the course of its expansion or when it is being started. Hence, organisations can be in a better position to review their strategies, position and overall performance metrics when they make use of a well prepared framework of a SWOT analysis. Ideas or proposals put forward by businesses can also be measured using a SWOT analysis. When data is subjectively assessed against the prevailing market conditions, it amounts to a SWOT analysis.  Hence, most decisions in organisations are made after a SWOT analysis has been presented to the relevant organs for execution.

In this particular business proposal, SWOT analysis will be used as a practical tool to assesss or appraise the current market condition of the clothing industry in the United Arab Emirates.  Besides, this section of the paper will discuss all the relevant information to be considered when selecting the most appropriate form of business ownership.

SWOT analysis
Strengths

We expect that the XL Ladies Clothing will gain market dominance after a short period due to the projected strengths of the small business portfolio. To begin with, it is pertinent to mention that the clothing industry in the United Arab Emirates has largely ignored the extra large clothing fashion for women. We intend to make an indelible mark in this line of production due to the prevailing demand. In other words, we will be investing in a demand-driven industry that has a wide customer base for customers who prefer extra large clothing fashion. In addition , the fashion industry has a broad taste and preference for customers. Our new small business will leverage on the strong presence at the local level. It should be understood that we will be the local small business offering extra large clothing for ladies. As a result,, competition will be greatly suppressed. It will take significant time before similar competitors flood the local market. Stiff market competition is usually a major setback for small and new businesses in the market.

The United Arab Emirates is also well endowed with cheap labor. At the local level, we will be in a position to recruit cheap labour. However, the business will also take a keen interest to hire individuals based on professional skills and working experience . it will not just be enough to seek cheap labour. Our human resource pool will be readily obtained at the local level bearing in mind that the United Arab Emirates has thousands of qualified foreign workers. Cheap labour will consequently cut down the cost of production. Therefore, the small business  will be in a vantage position to maximise its profit margin.

Our small business  portfolio will also enjoy the benefit of a strategic and central marketing location. The United Arab Emirates is a centre for global excellence in the clothing fashion  industry. As it stands now, the region exports most of its apparels to foreign destinations. As much as our product line initially targets the needs of the local female population, we will be able to export the same products to overseas markets. In any case, most of the clothing exports from the United Arab emirates are individually purchased and shipped by interested buyers who travel all the way to Dubai and other adjascent locations.

Finally, our small business will significantly benefit from the simple management structure because it will be in its start-up phase. As the business continues to expand, better and more versatile management structure will be embraced.

Weakness

One of the worst projected weaknesses of our small business will be the poor distribution sector of the organisation. Since it is a small business investment, it may be cumbersome to meet the needs of the market for extra large clothing demanded by women. Our distribution network will definitely be weak bearing in mind that the initial phase of the business will not be well endowed with capital investment. The business may take a relatively long period before it can fully meet the growing needs of the targeted market. As a result, the advocacy and loyalty of our customers may be affected if we fail to meet the demand. Besides, distyribution challenges may also lead to a heavy discount stock. If the latter happens, the anticipated gains in profits may be remarkebl;y lowered. Worse still, ourvsmall business entity will obviously be affected by low volumje of sales especially during the low seasons. Even though the United Arab Emirates enjoys a wide market for  fashion clothing, there are off-peak seasons when the sales may go down.

At the start of the small business investment, obsolete technology may hamper our growth agenda. Fashion industry is highly dynamic. Therefore, it requires an equal input in terms of fashion diversity desired by customers in the targeted market. Techonoloy is a major weakness on our part because we may not be financially capable to secure the best machines for designing this line of product.

Raw materials should be available troughout the course of production. Although it is not a direct foresable weakness for our business, it is highly likely that the rise in the cost of raw materials will be an issue to consider in this type of business. When the price of raw materials rise inconsidtently, the proftabbiulity of the business will equally decline.

Moreover, lack of adequate research and development in the apparel industry may slow down our growth prospects due to  the ever-chnaging nature of the industry.
 Opportunities
          ASOS intends to create a strong run of sales by allowing its independent and smaller designers to sell their products through the company’s website. Through its ASOS Marketplace initiative, it will increase traffic to its site by allowing customers to resell unwanted items through the site (Ashworth et al., 2006; Lu, Karpova & Fiore, 2011). Moreover, ASOS intends to boost its performance by launching Fashion Finder, a new feature that will expand its market in oversees by allowing customers to search for both the brands in ASOS and those outside ASOS (Laohapensang, 2009; Marciniak & Bruce, 2004). This together with the language website it intends to launch will drive their sales further and increase the pace at which it sales its products (Karise & Quinn, 2011).
Threats
The Company faces a threat of its brand name getting changed by a rival retailer in Germany (Barnes & Lea-Greenwood, 2010; Gam, 2011; Marciniak & Bruce, 2004).  Anson intends to block ASOS from doing cloth sales in Germany through legal procedures claiming that their names are almost similar (Carrigan, Marinova & Szmigin, 2005; Dias, 2003). This, it say, may cause confusion among customers. 

Works Cited

David Communications. Middle East Fashion Industry to Grow 15% a Year. 2014. Web. 7 May, 2014.

<http://www.arabamerica.com/news.php?id=1325>

Fiber 2 fashion. Fashion Forward highlights Middle Eastern talents. 2014. Web. 7 May, 2014.

<http://www.fibre2fashion.com/news/fashion-news/uae/newsdetails.aspx?news_id=162240>

Marketline. Apparel Retail in United Arab Emirates. 2013. Web. 7 May, 2014.

http://www.marketresearch.com/MarketLine-v3883/Apparel-Retail-United-Arab-Emirates-7677093/

Retail Me. UAE is second-most attractive retail apparel market in the world. 2014. 7 May, 2014.

<http://www.imagesretailme.com/Images-RetailME-Articles.aspx?ArticleId=456>

Sophia, Mary. UAE Ranked World’s 11th Biggest Clothing Importer. 2013. Web. 7 May, 2014.

<http://gulfbusiness.com/2013/12/uae-ranked-worlds-11th-biggest-clothing-importer/#.U2nb9s5qRIg>