Intuit Case Study

Intuit
About the Company: Small to Medium Businesses- Develop and sell Tax Solution Software.
History: Founder by a former P&G employee and Stanford Univ. Programmer.

Task 1.
Complete the 5 forces Analysis:

1.1 Threat of new entrants
Intuit was one of the first few to launch softwares like Quicken, QuickBooks and TurboTax, starting as early as 1984. They had an advantage of being the pioneers and hence this reduced the threat of new entrants.

1.2 Threat of substitute products or services
-Intuit recognised that simplicity was the key and designed their products to solve financial and tax problems in a simple manner. They did not get into In-Depth Accounting Analysis. This was a quality that small businesses required and substitute products were not available in the market.
-By 1995, firm held 70 % market share.

1.3 Bargaining power of customers (buyers)
1.3.1To safeguard itself from this threat, Intuit spends 20% of its net revenues on consumer research. They have adopted various ways of conducting this:
1.3.1.a. Site Visit: Researchers visit homes/offices of people to observe current product usage and analyse improvement areas.
1.3.1.b Lab Study: Consumer Invites to test new products and give feedback.
1.3.1.c Remote Study: Telephonic Interviews of consumers.
1.3.2 In addition to these, Intuit does research with Institute for the future to learn about future trends affecting small businesses. By the help of these activities, it upgrades its existing products and also comes up with futuristic ideas on products like Softwares for mobile devices.
1.3.3 During the tax preparation time, it promotes through direct mail, web marketing, print, radio etc.

1.4 Bargaining power of suppliers
1.4.1 Acquisition of personal finance website company like Mint.com to develop mobile solutions for younger generation consumers.
1.4.2 Anticipation of growth from previous Microsoft Money Customers. 

1.5 Intensity of competitive rivalry
1.5.1 Big...