Tweet

How To Use A SWOT Analysis To Improve Your Business

Written by:

Article Overview: SWOT is short for Strengths, Weakness, Opportunity and Threats. A SWOT Analysis is a powerful tool often used by business consultants when reviewing a business that is not performing as well as it should be. It’s a simple to understand but powerful tool that you should be able to use yourself. So how can you use it to improve your own business.

How To Use A SWOT Analysis To Improve Your Business

SWOT is short for Strengths, Weakness, Opportunity and Threats. A SWOT Analysis is a powerful tool often used by business consultants when reviewing a business that is not performing as well as it should be. It’s a simple to understand but powerful tool that you should be able to use yourself. So how can you use it to improve your own business.

Well first of all you need to set some time aside and tell yourself that you are going to be perfectly honest with yourself about the state of your business. Sit down and set up a grid with Strengths and Weaknesses at the top and Opportunities and Threats at the bottom.

Strengths and weaknesses are internal to your business and are factors that you, the entrepreneur, can change. Opportunities and threats are external forces on your company that you need to be aware of so that you can either take advantage of, or mitigate the risks to your company. Thus you should capitalise on everything on the left hand side and avoid or mitigate everything on the right hand side. When reviewing your SWOT’s you should look at:
• People
• Technology
• Processes
• Market
• Products
• Customers
• Management
• Suppliers
• Pricing

So lets look at some SWOT’s:

Strengths
• What does your company do well?
• What does it do better than your competitors?
• What competitive advantage does it have?
• What advances have you made lately?
• Are you as profitable as you can be?
• Are you as efficient as you can be?

Weaknesses:
• What is not going so well?
• What are your competitors doing that you can’t?
• What products don’t you have that you really would like?
• Do you have any staff or personal problems that are reflecting on your business?
• Do your processes work end to end?
• Is your technology up to date?
• Do you have enough working capital?
• Do you have control over your suppliers?

Opportunities:
• Are there any gaps in the market?
• Are there any emerging trends?
• Can we launch a new product profitably?
• Can you change your raw materials to cheaper products?
• Do you have the opportunity to employ some talented staff?
• Is there some legislation coming that will help your company?

Threats:
• Are you competitors getting stronger and squeezing you out of the market?
• Have you lost some key staff?
• I their a current recession?
• Do you have banking problem?
• Are you facing a shortage of raw materials?
• Are you facing labour problems?
• Are you facing more costly bureaucracy?


If you spend time finding out answers to your SWOT’s and how to avoid, mitigate and profit from them and are true to yourself, you will find that your business improves in no time!

Related Articles
  Use Creativity when Generating a SWOT
  Don't SWAG Your SWOT!
  GAPS, SWOT and Segments, Oh, My
  To SWOT or not to SWOT?
  SWOT Analysis Is No Magic 8 Ball

Article Tags: business consultants, competitive advantage, entrepreneur, gaps, left hand side, own business, personal problems, strengths and weaknesses, strengths weakness, swot analysis, technology processes, working capital



Related Forum Posts
Re: Reduce Bounce Rate - Website bounce rate matters most today. You can decrease by providing 1. Good Web Layout And Design 2. Relevant and unique content 3. Content clear and proper navigation 4. Improve website loading speed 5. Add relevant images 6. Analysis of keywords 7. Minimize pages 8. optimize your target keywords 9. Good quality of links 10. Take People Where They Want to Go
Re: What makes a good business plan? - The SWOT analysis should be taken care of. I prefer using business plan software template myself and clients
Looking for creative ideas - I’m a student of Business management. I have been given a task by a local business to Improve there marketing to increase their sales, after a drop in interest in a certain service. The Business is a Local Health and leisure centre and is currently suffering from a drop in sales and interest in the adult swimming service. The Business have suffered from a drop in sales by nearly 50% in the past two years. They have asked me to create a business plan and an idea to how they can improve their marketing and increase their sales in adult swimming sessions. I am posting on here, to seek advice on any ideas that you may have about how a small leisure centre can increase sales in the adult swimming market. Any ideas would be welcome as I am currently struggling to come up with an idea that is very effective and cheap to carry out, so any ideas would be welcome. Hope I have given you enough basic info, don't hesitate to ask if you need more information. Again any ideas would be very welcome and I would appreciate your help. I will be looking forward to hearing some of your ideas. Looking for a quick reply as i have not got long to complete the task and organise my presentation to local businesses. Thanks for your time and interest.
My entry - 1. The Best Business Books Ever: The 100 Most Influential Business Books You'll Never Have Time to Read - this is a fascinating book about the history of Business theory, and I'd recommend it to anybody. 2. The Big Book of Small Business: You Don't Have to Run Your Business by the Seat of Your Pants, by Tom Gegax. Ditto. 3. PADI: The Business of Diving Book Okay, so this book won't be of use to anyone who doesn't want to start a scuba store, but I did, and this book was of course invaluable to me in reaching that goal.
Re: What I Enjoyed Reading This Week - Oct 14 - I really enjoyed the Improve your vision with an app article in the New Scientist. I don't wear glasses and think a lot of people cripple their vision by wearing specs from an early age instead of exercising their eyes... Nice to see someone has developed an ap that will help.


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

WHAT IS MANAGEMENT CONSULTING

Convening a focus group for a niche product

Steps For Starting A Small Business

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.