Time to start brainstorming!
Go through each category in turn and write down the ideas in each quadrant as they come to mind.
Obviously, the more you know about your company and industry, the easier it will be to complete the questionnaire.
To help you get started, here are a few tips:
Questions about “Strengths”
- What makes your company unique?
- What is your company doing well?
- In what areas are you the most successful?
- What resources do you have that give you an advantage over others?
Questions about “Weaknesses”
- What areas need the most improvement?
- What negative things about your business do you hear from customers?
- Why are prospects not converting?
- What are the common problems you constantly face?
- Where do you feel limited?
- What could your business do better?
- Questions about “Opportunities”
- Where could you find additional prospective clients?
- What external trends will have a positive impact on you?
- What upcoming events might be useful for growing your business?
- Will your market grow in the future?
- Questions about “Threats”
- What competitors can you face in the near future?
- What trends will have a negative impact on you?
- Is your market on a downward trajectory?
- Are there any recent events that might create problems for you?
- Once you’ve written down all the ideas, it’s time to start narrowing down your list.
Some ideas can be combined into one idea.
Others may be left out entirely if they are too vague or only partially related to the topic.
Think of it as a sifting process so that you only have the best ideas for each category.
From there, you can create a final SWOT analysis that will identify the priority areas you need to focus on going forward.
An example of a SWOT analysis
Okay, let’s move away from generalizations and look at a few examples.
We’ll start with a brand that everyone knows: Coca-Cola. A few years ago, a soft drink company conducted a SWOT analysis and published the results. Perhaps they will be of interest to you.
Coca-Cola has a number of notable advantages, such as brand awareness and a huge amount of resources. The company also identified a growing population as an excellent opportunity.
On the other hand, Coca-Cola noted that water management during production was a major weakness. It also said that the growing trend of people to choose healthier drinks is a possible threat.
Obviously, Coca-Cola is a huge business, but you can apply the same mindset to your own company.
So perhaps one of your strengths can be a unique story that you can tell your customers. This hook will help you stand out from your competition.
Perhaps the weakness lies in the lack of returning customers after they originally bought from you.
An opportunity could be increased interest in your industry. So if you’re selling nutritional supplements, a more health-conscious audience is a great opportunity.
The threat can be a glut in your market when many competitors enter it.
Thus, you can see how useful a SWOT analysis is to help you analyze the current state of your company and its potential for the future.
Reach those customers that you could not before. Help your audience convert and stay converted.
These are all within reach, but you will need to conduct a SWOT analysis to determine which specific areas to benefit from.
Why do a SWOT analysis?
Conducting a SWOT analysis is all it takes to improve your business.
But SWOT analysis is not the last step. You need to use the knowledge gained and turn it into real strategies.
Once you have your list of items, develop a plan that will help you be the most successful.
Strategies are often divided into four groups.
Power-Opportunity strategies take into account your strengths and use them to maximize the identified opportunities.
Weakness and Opportunity Strategies plan specific actions based on opportunities that will help you minimize your weaknesses.
Strengths – Threat strategies detail the use of your strengths to combat external threats.
Finally, threat mitigation strategies try to minimize your weaknesses in order to avoid threats.
SWOT Analysis Will Benefit Your Business
A SWOT analysis will help you create a roadmap for your business.
This will help you determine where you want to go.
In other words, it leads to a plan for the future.
You can even use SWOT analysis for specific cases.
Do you have a new product you want to launch? Conduct a SWOT analysis to identify possible strengths and weaknesses.