Pacific Business Review International

Volume 10 Issue 5, November 2017 Article Section

Tows Analysis for Strategic Choice of Business Opportunity

and Sustainable Growth of Small Businesses
Dr Shobha Kulshrestha,
Vice President
International Collaboration & Innovation, The Venkateshwara Group

Parul Puri
Advisor - Training
NIESBUD, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Government of India

Abstract
For every entrepreneur, it is very important to have the foresight and quality of sensing right opportunity. It is an important
entrepreneurial function which calls for the ability and eagerness to perceive and receive the curious signals, sieve and
process them for arriving at a final decision in favor of an 'enterprise'. Thus, a correct business opportunity is the feasible
economic idea which can be implemented to create an enterprise, earn profit, and leads to sustainable growth. This requires
careful study and investigation of the inter-relationship between entrepreneur, environment and the enterprise through which
the best business opportunity is identified. Typically, SWOT analysis is being done by prospective entrepreneurs for the
screening of best business idea/opportunity which is followed by Project report formulation, Appraisal and Resourcing.
Despite the fact that entrepreneurs and professionals perform very mindful and prudent SWOT analysis for opportunity
sensing, a major of Small businesses fail and shut down in their initial years only. in 2016, more than 1000 startups shut down
their operations in India. More than half of these were founded in the Indian startup ecosystem's takeoff period between 2013
and 2014. According to reports, these sizeable numbers of startups were ventures with very promising ideas and no shortage
of funds. This is the rough estimate of failed enterprises which were registered or incorporated and started by trained
personnel, however no official data is available for unregistered small and micro enterprises and the last year has seen
tremendous increase in the number of enterprises shutting down their operations due to some or various reasons. According to
Forbes, most of them failed as they started for wrong reasons, improper planning, poor management and leadership, failure to
market, lack of differentiation, etc. This grabs the attention of experts, consultants, entrepreneurs, bankers, policy makers, etc
to analyze the reasons behind such failures as they lead to huge waste of resources of society. They need to reevaluate the very
first of step of starting an enterprise i.e. selection of the project. While selection, instead of merely focusing on maximizing
Strengths of entrepreneur and Opportunities available in environment, these days it's equally important to minimize threats
posed by environment and weaknesses of entrepreneur in order to have sustainable growth of business and preventing a
startup from death. Therefore, this paper will focus on TOWS analysis which is Threat, Opportunity, Weakness and Strength
analysis matrix which helps to select not the best but a better business opportunity and strategy formulation for minimizing
the impact of threats and weakness on enterprise and maximizing strengths and opportunities, helping in clear mentioning of
the Aspirations (preferred future/what an organization desires to be known for) and Results (measurable) which is crucial to
decide whether an enterprise will have sustainable growth or shut down in future.
Keywords: Entrepreneurship, Project Selection, TOWS Analysis, Strategic decision making

Introduction person who searches for and identifies an opportunity before

working energetically to convert it into a business reality.
Entrepreneurship refers to “identification/innovating ideas;
(Robert W Ferrel,1977). He does it by being alert to the
products and services; mobilizing resources; organizing
world around him,that is, his curiosity and interest helps in
production/services; and finally marketing them covering
sensing opportunity. The anxiety and eagerness to know, can
the risk with constant strive for growth and excellence”
be further heightened by providing opportunity for
(Akhouri,1988). For an entrepreneur, it is very important to
have the foresight and quality of sensing right opportunity • Interaction with consultants, area experts and
which is the first and foremost crucial decision to be taken entrepreneurs;
by him. It is an important entrepreneurial function which
• Providing published or unpublished literature;
calls for the ability and eagerness to perceive and receive the
curious signals, sieve and process them for arriving at a final • Industrial visits and field study; and
decision in favor of an ‘enterprise’. An entrepreneur is a
• Greater Information flow on new product/ processes.

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Sensing Opportunities Environment scanning process and intensity vary in terms of

large and small scale industries. Bigger firms may have
These are the few ways through an entrepreneur smells the
specialized environment staff, but small scale
opportunity around him and takes further action.
entrepreneurs/managers might follow different environ-
Opportunity sensing, however, is completed through three
mental scanning practices. Moreover, in large scale
stages:
industries,s target planning is done at the highest cement
1. Scanning the environment level, but a small firm manager concurrently work both at
operational and strategic level. Again the structure of the
2. Product Identification and Selection
organization also affects the nature and type of
3. Settling with an idea. environmental scanning. For example, in a large scale firm,
environmental scanning can be done by either a specialized
Scanning the Environment
department or a sales.In case of a small firm, however, all
Thorough scanning of the environment coves the these functions are performed by a single individual. Again
understanding of socio cultural, economic, technological there is much more formalized nature of environmental
fashion and even the changing life styles and aspiration of scanning in larger firms that in smaller ones. External
local people. It is not a matter of just observing the ‘obvious’ organizational linkages also influence the nature of
in the environment but sensing the emerging opportunities environmental scanning between a large and a small firm.
out of the interaction of such futuristic/emerging needs of The smaller firms may be handicapped in scanning services
goods and services which otherwise are not perceived by of specialized agencies for environmental scanning due to
general masses, is the unique and basic quality of an financial constraints.
entrepreneur.
Smeltzer, Faun and Nikolaisen (1988) conducted a study on
According to Bracker and Pearson (1986), even though the “Environmental scanning process in small business” in USA
practitioners and academicians are engaged in inconclusive and concluded that more than 75% respondents considered
debate about the merits of strategic planning, some clear link economic conditions or the market place as the most
between strategic planning and small business have been important units of environmental scanning; family, friends
established through some researches. Thus, the and customers were most relevant sources of information
environmental scanning becomes a part of strategic along with informal sources like magazines, journals,
planning in small firms in particular. Scanning has also been newspapers, etc. All this information is required to ensure
found to be positively correlated with the financial that the identified entrepreneurial opportunity is compatible
performance of the firm (Dollinger, 1984). with various environmental factors like developmental and
institutional factor, political, financial, social, culture, etc.
Environmental scanning can be defined as the process of
collection, interpretation of relevant information and Identification and Selection of Project
forging the results into the organizations’ decision making
Proper project/business opportunity identification based on
process (Lenz and Engledow, 1986). An entrepreneur scans
environmental scanning will be a major determinant of the
the environment to find out and external changes or events
success of an entrepreneur. Entrepreneurial decision
which may affect his/her enterprise. In fact, the concept of
regarding a particular project, however, is the function of
environmental scanning has been developed as a part of
entrepreneur’s personal characteristics and environmental
open systems concept. The open systems theory implies that
factors (Singh, 1986). A graphical depiction of an
the growth and development of an organization directly
entrepreneur’s business sensing ability would be extremely
depends on its ability to adjust to its environment. Hence, it
complex but would have a general trend as portrayed in
is essential for the organization/entrepreneur to be well
Figure 1:
aware of current environment and also what it would be in
course of time.
Figure 1: Business Opportunity Sensing Ability

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When personal characteristics are less entrepreneurial, even The identification and selection of a project therefore, is an
increasingly favorable environmental factors do not outcome of the interaction between the three - the enterprise;
heighten the business opportunity sensing ability, whereas a the entrepreneurial personality and the environment. The
highly entrepreneurial personality sees a business interactive model is depicted in figure 2.
opportunity when others do not and this ability to sense and
grab the opportunity heightens sharply with a favorable
business climate.
Figure 2: Dynamics of Project Identification/Selection

The model clearly brings out the two way interaction sensing ability of an entrepreneur. Attitude and
between the factors. Thus, the type of environment in which encouragement of parents directly effects the entrepreneurs’
an entrepreneur would operate shall determine the sensing and decision. In the Psychodynamic model,
coordinates of his project in terms of type and size. Elizabeth Chell (1985) propounds “early life experiences
Similarly, the type and size of the project will decide the kind are said to shape prominent patterns of behaviour amongst
of environment in which the entrepreneur should operate. entrepreneurs”. Thus an entrepreneur is quite at ease with a
The personal background of the entrepreneur will also be project whose elements he can match with familiar
determinant of the type and size of a project. And the project concepts. Besides, such a personality traits as self
in turn, will determine the traits required of an entrepreneur confidence, creativity, innovativeness and willingness to
who wishes to operate successfully. Thus a hi-tech project take risks, have been found influencing entrepreneurial
initiated by a person with weak technical background decision regarding product/services.
demands his acquiring sufficient knowledge or else he
Identifying good projects is synonymous with locating
builds up a team of technically competent persons to
sound business opportunities. An opportunity can be sensed
successfully operate his enterprise. A similar correlation is
provided there is a felt need. Availability of resources can be
perceived between the entrepreneur and his environment.
fructified with entrepreneurs’ capability. Without capability,
Among the personal factors, family background, previous the available resources are not resources and the felt need
experience, special interest, managerial and technical skills, remains unsatisfied. This can be put up as an equation
and other personality traits have been found to influence the
Need + Capability + Resources = Opportunity

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Fundamentally anything seen under the sun should offer a startups are always driven by providing solution to major
good opportunity. After all, if an item is being manufactured problem of large potential market. One of the major reasons
and supplied, it must be technically feasible and of startup failure is a short lifespan business model. The
economically viable. No person can continue to be in main reasons of startup business model failure are Product
business in such product/s if these were not so. But an doesn’t solve Any Problem, Product doesn’t Stand against
entrepreneur who wishes to take up a similar product may Competitors, Product doesn’t infiltrate in the Market or
not experience so unless he knows the methods that are Product is not Scalable,
being employed.
Startup Management Failure - Proper management is the
It is in this sense that no two ventures are identical even if the major requirement for any of the startup. Since the strategies
inputs and outputs are similar. The set of associated factors need to be modified as per market trends and competitors
like the timing and the set of enveloping environmental strategies, a strong management is necessary to ensure the
factors would never be identical. And for this reason, any achievement of fluctuating and demarcated baselines.
business venture becomes a distinctive project. Startups fail because new entrepreneurs have limited
experience due to which there is poor planning, Improper
Settling with an Idea
Approach to Capture the Market and Disharmony on Team/
The final selection of project is best done by matching the Investors.
entrepreneur, enterprise and environment related factors.
Startup Financial Failure - Funds are the most critical to
Any entrepreneur would not work in seclusion but shall
run a business model in long terms. Success of startup
constantly interact with the environment around him.
depends on the proper utilization of its funds to generate a
Rising Small Business Failure profitable business. Around 91% of the startups fail because
of improper funds management. Startup financial failure
At early stage, every entrepreneur can effortlessly visualize
occurs due to unsustainable Business Model, Cash crunch,
the success trajectory of startup, but harsh truth is that the
Pricing / Cost Issue, etc.
success probability of startup is 1/10 i.e. 9 out of 10 startups
fail. According to survey conducted by FS Labs, results Other Failures - Legal Issues, lack of passion, wrong
shows that only 1% of startups get funds based on their selection of location are some other reasons too. The failure
distinguished business model, potential team and reasons vary for individual cases but ultimately its results in
sustainability limits, around 80% of the running startups are the motivational loss of new entrepreneurs. According to
self-funded and around 19% of the running startups are worldwide survey, around 75% of the founders give up after
dependent of the angel investors, friends and relatives. This their one failure, remaining 25% learns from their failure
fund dependency rate of running startups when combined and moves forward with another model.
with success probability produced horrible results for
Literature Review
overall scenario.
There have been various studies conducted by researchers
The above saying is 100% true as majority of the
and experts to identify the best method of sensing and
entrepreneurs get inspired by the success trajectories of
screening business opportunities. Most of them revolve
efficacious entrepreneurs and start implementing their
around the concept of scanning the environment for idea
concepts into reality without knowing the entire practice.
generation and selection of appropriate project. Several
Initial stage of startup is quite promising as every co-founder
researchers have worked on the same concept.
has high motivation but eventually it comes on a down track
once the actual hurdles start entrapping the market base. FS According to Akhouri, MMP (1988), the whole exercise of
Labs did a comprehensive analysis on failed startups and the sensing opportunity embodies an introspection of the self to
major factors of their failure. A general survey comprehends identify personal strengths and weaknesses and analyze the
that around 98% of the startups fail because of their business environment to determine the opportunities and threats.
model i.e. the wrong selection of project or product idea; According to figure 3, it clearly shows that coordinate 2, 2 is
around 87% startups failures are driven by poor the optimum and 2, 1 or 1,2 require care and caution while
management, around 91% failures are because of financial 1,1 is not recommended under any circumstance. To be
issues. successful an entrepreneur has to choose a project where he
has strengths, can overcome his weakness, grab
Startup Business Model Failure - A sustainable business
opportunities offered by the environment and prepare for the
model is the most critical requirement of any startup.
threats posed. In the dynamics of project identification a
Product or service of any of the startup would only be
movement from coordinate 1, 1 to 2, 2 becomes a desirable
appreciated by mass if it addresses some problem and
trend.
provides better solution than the existing ones. Successful

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Figure 3: SWOT Analysis for Opportunity Selection

This model is very popular and still used extensively for or 1, 2 will be more sustainable because they consider threats
project identification or product selection. However, the or weakness too. Projects in coordinate 2, 1 are have
major limitation of this model is that it focuses mainly on advantage of internal strengths which can be further fortified
strengths of entrepreneur and opportunities from and projects in coordinate 1, 2 have advantage of more
environment for decision making. A startup is just like a opportunities and internal weakness which can be overcome
newly born child who learns crawling, walking, standing tall through hiring of right people. Now, the question arises how
only with the passage of time and thus needs care and to decide which business idea is sustainable among 2, 2 or 2,
protection in initial years of learning. Similarly, a small 1 or 1, 2 coordinates. This strategic choice of business idea
business learns to overcome problems with experience and requires clearly defined strategies formulated in advance
passage of time. However, in dynamic world where wherein the Strengths and Opportunities are maximized as
technology and customer needs change very fast, time is not well as Weaknesses and Threats are minimized so that the
an excuse and it is impossible to ignore the threats external enterprise is fully equipped to bear the shocks of external
to organization as well the weaknesses internal to threats and internal vulnerabilities, at the same time
entrepreneur. The large firms can overcome internal dominates strengths in the environment and opportunities
weakness by building up team of technically competent within. And clearly explain the Aspirations of enterprise i.e.
persons, but the small firm owners cannot do so initially due what it wants to be known for or it's preferred future as well
to financial constraints. Moreover, the threats like as the measurable results of enterprise in terms of growth
competition change in fashion and technology, etc can be rate, return on investment, etc.
coped up easily by big firms but not by small enterprises.
Keeping in mind the above points, a strategic choice for idea
Therefore, the results are lacking uniqueness and value, poor
selection can be done through TOWS Analysis in which
marketing, low sales, leadership failure, unprofitable
Threats and Opportunities are examined first and
business model, poor financial management and finally the
weaknesses and strengths are examined last unlike SWOT
SHUTDOWN. And in such situation, the opinion of small
and entrepreneurs can examine ways an enterprise can take
business owners is that they were wrong in selection of
advantage of opportunities and minimize threats by
business idea and thus, everything went wrong.
exploiting strengths and overcoming weaknesses.
It is very essential to focus equally on threats and weakness, According to Michael Watkins of the "Harvard Business
so if a project selected from coordinate 2,2 cannot face Review”, focusing on threats and opportunities first helps
threats or the weakness of entrepreneur comes in the way of lead to productive discussions about what is going on in the
enterprise's success, the so called best project will not turn external environment rather than getting bogged down in
out to be best and have higher chances of failure. An ideal abstract discussions about what a company is good at or bad
selection of project may not give ideal results as the real at.
world changes constantly. So a project from coordinate 2, 1

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TOWS Analysis stimulate the development of an enterprise and weaken the

threat. An opportunity is always something outside,
As we are aware that the identification and selection of a
something on what the leadership does not have direct
project is an outcome of the interaction between the three -
influence, something that can change in an unexpected way
the enterprise; the entrepreneurial personality and the
like favorable entrepreneurial culture, ease of technology,
environment. TOWS analysis is a method of strategic
change in lifestyles, increased purchasing power, easy
analysis used to study the environment and the
access to intellectual inputs and knowledge, government
entrepreneurial personality analysis. TOWS concept is
incentives, etc.
closely related to SWOT analysis. According to H. Weihrich
(1982), “Threats, Opportunities (in the environment) Threats (external negative) are all external factors which are
Weaknesses, Strengths (of the organization) should be perceived as barriers to the development of the enterprise,
analyzed in this order, as a problem solving sequence in the inconveniences causing additional costs of action. A threat
process of strategy formulation. He also states that many according to strategic management is always something
experts suggest that a firm uses its strength to take advantage outside of an enterprise, something on what
of opportunities, but they ignore other important entrepreneurs/managers do not have an influence and can
relationships, such as the challenge of overcoming change in an unexpected way. For example, underestimation
weaknesses to exploit opportunities”. of competition, change in customer choice, new entrants,
new competitive products, channel conflicts, change in IT
TOWS analysis is the method of strategic analysis,
trends, etc. Comparing opportunities and threats with
involving systematic and comprehensive assessment of
strengths and weaknesses of entrepreneur allows to define
external and internal factors that determine current
its strategic position, and can also be a source of innovation,
competitive position and growth potential of an enterprise.
and ideas of breakthrough products or services.
As Michael Watkins of the "Harvard Business Review” has
stated that SWOT implies wrong order of doing things and The next step is the preparation of TOWS Matrix of strategic
starting from analysis of Strengths is wrong, because alternatives which enables selection of sustainable
managers should first identify all threats from environment opportunity easier and measurable in terms of results.
in order to do following steps of planning and preparation to TOWS matrix provides four basis strategies depending on
protect against these threats. This concept of TOWS analysis the prevalence of the analyzed group of factors (negative or
can be used while sensing and screening business positive) in the environment and within an entrepreneur.
opportunities for better decision making. This can be better Internal are the weaknesses and strengths and external are
understood with the help of description of various the threats and weaknesses. Four quadrants with different
components of TOWS analysis with respect to enterprise strategic situations are developed as follows:
development.
SO situation - maxi-maxi strategy. This situation applies to
Analytical categories in TOWS analysis the situation for which dominates strengths in the
environment and opportunities within. This situation
Just like SWOT analysis, TOWS analysis has following
corresponds to the maxi-maxi strategy whereby it is possible
fields:
to have strong expansion and diversified development.
Strengths of an Entrepreneur are the internal traits, positive
WO situation - mini-maxi strategy. This situation has more
characteristics which distinguish him in the environment
vulnerabilities - weaknesses, but its environment gives more
and from the competition. They also enable adaptation to
opportunities. The strategy should include the use of these
changing conditions of the environment and are key success
opportunities while reducing or correcting weaknesses
factors. For example - the personal factors like family
within.
background, previous experience, special interest,
managerial and technical skills, self confidence, creativity, ST situation - maxi-mini strategy. The source of difficulties
innovativeness and willingness to take risks, etc. in growth and development are unfavorable external
conditions (prevalence of threats). The strategy should use
Weaknesses (internal negative factors or challenge) are
large internal strengths in attempt to overcome threats from
mostly due to insufficient skills, bad work habits or traits
environment.
like poor communication skills, poor networking,
ineffective leadership qualities, lack of technical expertise, WT situation - mini-mini strategy. This situation is devoid of
lack of IT knowledge, lack of understanding of market any development opportunities. It operates in hostile
research, lack of marketing expertise, etc due to which environments, and its potential for change is small. It does
wrong decisions are usually taken. not have significant strengths, which could withstand
threats. Mini-mini strategy boils down to a pessimistic
Opportunities (external positive) are the phenomena and
version of the shut down or in optimistic situation - to strive
trends in the environment that if used appropriately can
for survival with hopes of revival.

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Figure 4: TOWS Matrix of Strategic Choices

How to use TOWS Matrix for proper idea selection 4. Let's assume we have selected only 3 opportunities.
Evaluate them one by one.
1. Draw up this matrix on paper or computer, four
quadrants namely SO, WO, ST and WT, Now, keeping 5. Consider Business Opportunity No. 1, look at the
in mind the business opportunity selected from quadrant WT, the strategies made to minimize
coordinate 2, 2 of Figure 3 (say Business Opportunity Weaknesses and minimize Threats (which tells what an
No. 1), write in place the strategies for all four quadrants entrepreneur will do in worst or hostile conditions) and
i.e. maxi Strengths maxi Opportunities, mini match them with strategies made for SO quadrant (maxi
Weaknesses maxi Opportunities, maxi Strengths mini Strengths maxi Opportunities). This will inform a
Threats and finally mini Weaknesses mini Threats. decision maker/entrepreneur about three things -
Keep special focus on two quadrants SO and WT i.e. Sustainability (life of an enterprise), Aspirations (the
maxi Strengths maxi Opportunities, & mini preferred future/ what an enterprise desire to be known
Weaknesses mini Threats of Business Opportunity No. for) and measurable Results (expected growth rate) of
1. business opportunity. In detail, matching WT with SO
provides an information that if the business opportunity
2. Now repeat this step 1 for business opportunity selected
no. 1 is selected and project plan formulation and
from coordinate 2, 1 of Figure 3 (say Business
resourcing are done, then after some time (say 3
Opportunity No. 2). Keep special focus on two
months) will an enterprise have defensive mechanism
quadrants SO and WT i.e. maxi Strengths maxi
or strong immunity in place to reduce the impact of
Opportunities,& mini Weaknesses mini Threats of
weaknesses or threats as the enterprise has been
Business Opportunity No. 2.
launched and the decision cannot be reversed, while
3. Again repeat the step 1 for business opportunity using maximum strengths to take maximum advantage
selected from coordinate 1, 2 of Figure 3 (say Business of the opportunities. And this should be expressed
Opportunity No. 3). Keep special focus on two quantitatively, not qualitatively. Through the strategies
quadrants SO and WT i.e. maxi Strengths maxi decided in SO & WT quadrants, make rough estimation
Opportunities, and mini Weaknesses mini Threats of about life span, expected growth rate of enterprise and
Business Opportunity No. 3. Repeat the whole exercise its competitive position if Business Opportunity No. 1 is
for all opportunities available. selected.

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6. Repeat same process for Opportunity No. 2 and which makes next steps easier, viable and sustainable. This
Opportunity no. 3. will also reduce the risk of major startup failures resulting
due to poor business models. This will help entrepreneurs
7. Compare the results of three in terms of expected life
from losing interest or passion and also encourage them to
span, growth rate and position of product/service in
diversify or expand business lines. And overall, reduce the
market.
wastage of economic, natural and human resources of
8. Select the one with better results, preferably with higher society and nation, at large.
life span as growth rate may fluctuate depending upon
Recommendation
real time financial management. Higher life span
indicates more chances of sustainability of small Due to rapidly changing times, it is advisable to consider
business and potential to learn and cope up with time dimension in TOWS Analysis which will help to
setbacks in future. predict future in better way by considering past trends. Due
to dynamic character of external and internal environments,
With the help of TOWS matrix, better and strategic decision
some or all factors change in time. Therefore, entrepreneurs
can be made while settling with an idea and proceeding
should then prepare at least 3 TOWS matrices (fig. 5),
further with project preparation, appraisal and resourcing.
starting analysis in past (year or two before present
Therefore, by using rational and logical TOWS analysis
moment), continuing with an analysis of the present
matrix in combination with SWOT analysis model (fig. 3)
situation, and then focus on analysis of the future external
described by Dr M M P Akhouri (1988), an entrepreneur
and internal situation. This will give better results for
reduces the risk of wrong selection of business opportunity,
decision making.
Figure 5: Time Dimension in TOWS Analysis

Conclusion Learning and Development, 5(4), 13-23.

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Dollinger M J, “Environmental Boundary Spanning &
matrix it is possible to select not the best but a better business
Information Processing Effects on Organizational
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Performance”, Academy of Management Journal,
impact of threats and weakness on enterprise and
Vol. 23 (1984), pp 351-368
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crucial to decide whether an enterprise will have sustainable Business”, Journal of Small Business Management
growth or likely chances to shut down in future. (1988), pp 55-62
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