SWOT ANALYSIS

Strengths

RSM McGladrey's State and Local Tax practice is experienced in sales and use tax, income and franchise tax, payroll and employment tax, and escheat taxes. The practice regularly provides advice regarding voluntary disclosure, nexus determination, due diligence and credits and incentives RSM McGladrey is a leading provider of financially focused business services. The RSM McGladrey group of companies offers accounting, tax services, business consulting, retirement resources, employer services, corporate finance, wealth management and financial process outsourcing. RSM McGladrey Inc. serves clients' global business needs through its membership in RSM International (an affiliation of separate and independent legal entities). RSM McGladrey Business Services is a wholly owned indirect subsidiary US market is the worlds largest homogeneous market; this opens your door to over 300 million people who, with some exceptions, will respond to the same marketing triggers unlike Europe where everything is fragmented and businesses need to customize their offer for each market. We provide innovative solutions to help guide our clients through these turbulent times. Increase business/sales activities by understanding your competitors businesses better. Obtain details and analysis of the market and competitors as well as internal and external factors which could impact the industry. Tax Services segment includes tax return preparation, and related services and products. The Business Services segment of the company consists of

accounting, wealth management, tax and business consulting services, and capital markets services through RSM McGladrey, Inc. to middle-market companies. The company's Consumer Financial Services segment offers retail banking services through H&R Block Bank Weaknesses Retailers have and expect high margins as well as high listing fees for each SKU. Entering the US market also involves high shipping costs which make it harder to compete on price with domestic suppliers. Depending on the industry, regulatory compliance can be an obstacle in entering the US market and sometimes a long and cumbersome process. Fluctuating energy costs continue to be a concern, as more than 86 percent of respondents see a cost increase of six percent or more in the coming year. But many executives see a similar rise in other operating expenses. Companies today face a myriad of complex business challenges. It is not always possible to keep your senior managerial team trained with the breadth of experience and skills necessary to develop and implement effective improvement strategies. In many situations, it is commonplace to look externally and source the required skills on a short, medium or long-term basis. Audit, accounting & business services need high quality audit and assurance services to meet their legal and statutory requirements. It requires international, corporate, personal tax or wealth management

Opportunities Working with smaller retailers that have less stringent terms will allow you to learn more about the market and build a reputation before approaching the large retail chains. However, the major retailers cover the entire market which gives your product exposure to a high percentage of the population. The US is an inspirational market, getting your product endorsed by a celebrity will open many doors. Threats Although the market is huge so is the competition; this not only makes it hard to get on the retailers shelves but also to maintain a high turnover as consumers have more choices as well as less expensive private label alternatives. The large homogenous market also means high advertising and promotion costs. As mentioned above, this SWOT analysis should be customized for each industry as what might seem an opportunity for one company could be a threat for another. An assessment of your category should be carefully analyzed before deciding which markets to approach.