2. Perform a SWOT analysis on Preserve. Identify their core competency and their weaknesses in the marketplace?

When Eric Hudson started the Massachusetts-based consumer products company, Preserve, in 1996, he wasn’t necessarily trying to make a “green” company. Armed with an MBA, a love of the outdoors, and a desire to be his own boss, he came up with a product and set out to find a way to make it. That product was the Preserve toothbrush. Made from recycled plastic, the brush was not only environmentally friendly, but featured a unique 45-degree angled head designed by his dad, an industrial designer specializing in automobiles and boats, and with help from several dentists. It is hard to believe today, with the popularity of green products and our increased environmental awareness, but in the late 1990s, green products were considered “fringe” and could be found mostly around college towns on both coasts. Most of the products were considered less effective and low quality. Many actually were. That’s why, from the beginning, Hudson felt strongly that Preserve’s mission would be to make it easy to be green by offering environmentally friendly products for the mass market—without sacrificing quality or performance.