SWOT Analysis: How it Can Help Your Business
With the future brimming with possibility, you’ve invested a tremendous amount of money, time, and energy building up your business. One notable idea, a bit of impulse, and here you are, the influential force of your very own company-and this is still only the beginning.
As your business continues to reach personal milestones on it’s nonstop path to improving the world, it’s critical to consider both positive and negative factors which may affect future growth. Here’s where a well-structured SWOT Analysis comes into play.
A SWOT Analysis is a strategic planning technique used to help an individual and/or organization identify its Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats related to its business.
You don’t have to be a giant corporation to utilize a SWOT Analysis, in fact, smaller businesses can benefit from them just as much as a larger organization. The key is pinpointing specifically relevant and unique internal and external factors which can influence your business now and in the future.
When prepared correctly, a SWOT analysis will help you better understand your business and greater define its mission, unify your team, emphasize the best marketing strategies, develop business goals as well as strategies to achieve them. Extremely cost effective, a SWOT analysis can also be used in nearly every objective-encouraging discussion, offering business insight, and providing a visual outline.
To create a SWOT Analysis,
1.Draw a grid: To start, begin by drawing a large square and then dividing that square into four smaller squares. In the top left-hand corner of each box write the title of that box: “Strengths,” “Weaknesses,” “Opportunities,” and “Threats.”
2. Understand your objective: Determine the key objective of the SWOT analysis, such as a part of a digital marketing strategy or project.
3. Identify your strengths: Begin the SWOT analysis by coming up with the strengths of the objective at hand. Is the project you’re working on effective? Write down the best qualities and factors the objective offers.
4. Determine your weaknesses: Once you’ve identified and written down the strengths, look at what it’s missing. Which area of the project or strategy is least profitable?
5. Identify your opportunities: Following potential weaknesses, consider the opportunities that could be available to you if those weaknesses were to be fixed or go away.
6. Determine potential obstacles: The best way to combat threats is to be prepared to meet them or prevent them. Brainstorm potential threats and obstacles to your project, strategy, or objective and then identify the best ways to solve those potential issues.
While it’s critical to note the ways a SWOT analysis can help your business, it’s equally as important to understand that this planning technique does not offer solutions to problems which may arise. Additional limitations are also important to consider, such as
- Not prioritizing issues
- Not providing solutions
- Too many ideas-rather than important ones
- Sometimes useless information
Despite it’s very few limitations, a comprehensive SWOT analysis acts as a cost-effective strategic tool in analyzing the market and its direction, while uncovering competitive advantage for businesses to use over their competition.
Does your business currently have an proper SWOT analysis detailing external and internal situations surrounding it? If not, or if your analysis can use some adjustment, our team at MCDA CCG, INC. is here to help you. With applicable education and experience in pinpointing strengths, weaknesses, opportunity, and threat for a wide array of businesses and industries, our team of professionals are here to help you better understand your business. Contact us today to keep your business growing and ahead of the rest.