Trap Case

Current Situation

Since the beginning of civilization, mankind had battled to maintain a rodent free living space. As the times have changed, so did the tools and methods available to solve this age old problem. The Trap Easy mouse trap provided a new spin on how people solve their rodent problem. The product it's self is state of the art, and is considered "Mouse Friendly", as in it gives the user an option to dispose of the rodent in a humane way. This state of the art mouse trap has captured the attention of the mainstream media and was voted best new product in a National Hardware show. It has also appeared in an article in Canadian Business and on the Marketplace television show. Martha believed that the trap easy will be an easy sell because it has so many advantages for the consumer when compared with traditional spring-loaded traps or poisons. Yet the company's balance sheet reflects a much grimmer picture, one of a failing product. Thin profit margins and off-track sales projections have left Martha House who is the president, and the only sales person in charge of all marketing scratches her head. This has led Trap-Easy into a variety of problems as will be exploring in the next section as the alternative solutions and recommendation will be made in order have a better understanding for the current situation.

SWOT Analysis

Strengths

The company currently maintains sufficient capital to continue operations without the need for additional positive cash flow. This is particularly important in maintaining current marketing efforts and sales strategies. In other terms, the potential for reversal of the current situation is realizable. The company has a strong unique selling proposition where its product functions better than other similar products in the marketplace. This helps facilitate marketing efforts and provides a convincing argument for consumers to purchase Trap-Ease's product as opposed to current alternatives. Furthermore, the company has witnessed significant visibility in the marketplace, which has built relatively strong brand awareness. In many ways, this is a strong first step for increased sales and overall growth.

Weaknesses

Trap-Ease faces a number of serious and quantifiable weaknesses that are undoubtedly contributing to the current situation. One of the most weaknesses is that fact that their mousetrap is a lot more expensive than similar products in the marketplace. Additionally, as Trap-Ease has focused most of their marketing efforts on women, they have inadvertently alienated fifty percent of the marketplace, namely men. However, this can be viewed within the context that men are also more likely to utilize traditional mousetraps than women. In either case, Trap-Ease will have considerable obstacles