SWOT ANALYSIS Through running a SWOT analysis on Buffalo Wild Wings, we were able to pinpoint the franchise’s internal strengths and weaknesses and its external opportunities and threats. As a franchise that has been open for more than 30 years, Buffalo Wild Wings has strong name recognition among people and boasts 16 signature sauces for their wings, which help the franchise stands out in the intensely competitive restaurant and sports bar industry. Since the franchise is heavily centered on sports, restaurants can expect to be packed with costumers on game nights during the football and basketball seasons. However, since BWW is strongly based around the single concept of “Wings. Beer. Sports.” a restaurant encounters frequent downtimes. …show more content…
According to their 2015 Annual Report, Buffalo Wild Wings has no debt and has been gradually moving towards expanding their business without incurring debt. An obvious solution for the company would be to expand and set up new restaurants farther away from the Midwest region, but the franchise runs into the issue of liquor licensing requirements which differs among the states and often delays the process of opening up new restaurants. Along with expanding nation wise, Buffalo Wild Wings also has the opportunity to expand internationally. Due to the company’s heavy emphasis on sports, the franchise could be easily marketed to customers in other countries. Stated in their 2015 annual report, the franchise and its competitors currently share approximately equal market shares, so international expansion would help BWW gain a larger market share over their competitors and also bring in additional …show more content…
Another threat to Buffalo Wild Wings is the price of chicken wings. After alcohol, a majority of their sales come from the sale of wings. Thus, the franchise is highly dependent on the supply of chicken wings, causing their menu to be easily affected by the unpredictability of the prices of chicken wings. For example, in 2014, a drought caused a shortage on chicken wings and led to price increases on the menu at restaurants to reflect this shortage. It is reasonably to infer that any form of price increase is likely to deter some customers from coming to