How to Conduct a SWOT Analysis?
A SWOT Analysis is known for its ability to give business owners a better understanding of how their businesses compares against the market. SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. Each of these components should be considered when developing business strategies or revamping them for greater efficiencies.
Strengths: Strengths refer to the advantages your organization has over its competitors. It includes any financial backing, better locations, lower overhead, special products or nearly anything else which gives your business a competitive edge. Focus on what makes your business unique and strong.
Weaknesses: Weaknesses are the opposite of strength. Weaknesses are those problem areas in your organization that are lacking when you compare your business to other businesses in the market. Such weaknesses could be anything from store layout to problem employees.
Opportunities: Opportunities can be found after comparing any under serviced areas of your market. For example, consumers are in need of electronics equipment even though none of your competitors are offering it. Opportunities give a strong indication of what your company can do to improve financial performance.
Threats: Threats are anything that can seriously hurt your business such as rising rent, lack of services, not enough staffing, poor sales, etc… You should consider these threats in order to fix as many problem areas as possible in order to avoid catastrophic decline.
Once you have developed your SWOT by comparing yourself to your competitors you will have a much better understand of how your business operates. At this time you can focus on developing a business strategy that falls in line with your businesses current state of existence. The more accurate you’re SWOT the better able you are able to adjust to the market.
