SWOT Analysis

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SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats.

Strengths and weaknesses are internal to your company—things that you have some control over and can change. Examples include who is on your team, your patents and intellectual property, and your location.

Opportunities and threats are external—things that are going on outside your company, in the larger market.
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You want to gather a team of people together to work on a SWOT analysis to help prioritize the work that you need to do to grow your business. Some of the steps you should take to do the SWOT analysis are:

1. Gather the right people

Gather people from different parts of your company and make sure that you have representatives from every department and team. You’ll find that different groups within your company will have entirely different perspectives that will be critical to making your SWOT analysis successful.

2. Throw your ideas at the wall

Doing a SWOT analysis is similar to brainstorming meetings, and there are right and wrong ways to run them. Giving everyone a pad of sticky-notes and having everyone quietly generate ideas on their own to start things off. This prevents groupthink and ensures that all voices are heard.
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After five to 10 minutes of private brainstorming, put all the sticky-notes up on the wall and group similar ideas together. Allow anyone to add additional notes at this point if someone else’s idea sparks a new thought.

3. Rank the ideas

Once all of the ideas are organized, it’s time to rank the ideas.Voting system where everyone gets five or ten “votes” that they can distribute in any way they like is a good idea . Sticky dots in different colors are useful for this portion of the exercise.

Based on the voting exercise, you should have a prioritized list of ideas. Of course, the list is now up for discussion and debate, and someone in the room should be able to make the final call on the priority.

Questions that can help inspire your analysisHere are a few questions that you can ask your team when you’re building your SWOT analysis. These questions can help explain each section and spark creative thinking.

Strengths

Strengths are internal, positive attributes of your company. These are things that are within your control.

  • What business processes are successful?
  • What assets do you have in your teams? (ie. knowledge, education, network, skills, and reputation)
  • What physical assets do you have, such as customers, equipment, technology, cash, and patents?
  • What competitive advantages do you have over your competition?
Weaknesses

Weaknesses are negative factors that detract from your strengths. These are things that you might need to improve on to be competitive.

  • Are there things that your business needs to be competitive?
  • What business processes need improvement?
  • Are there tangible assets that your company needs, such as money or equipment?
  • Are there gaps on your team?
  • Is your location ideal for your success?
Opportunities

Opportunities are external factors in your business environment that are likely to contribute to your success.

  • Is your market growing and are there trends that will encourage people to buy more of what you are selling?
  • Are there upcoming events that your company may be able to take advantage of to grow the business?
  • Are there upcoming changes to regulations that might impact your company positively?
  • If your business is up and running, do customers think highly of you?
Threats

Threats are external factors that you have no control over.

  • Do you have potential competitors who may enter your market?
  • Will suppliers always be able to supply the raw materials you need at the prices you need?
  • Could future developments in technology change how you do business?
  • Is consumer behavior changing in a way that could negatively impact your business?
  • Are there market trends that could become a threat?

SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats.

Strengths and weaknesses are internal to your company—things that you have some control over and can change. Examples include who is on your team, your patents and intellectual property, and your location.

Opportunities and threats are external—things that are going on outside your company, in the larger market.
​
You want to gather a team of people together to work on a SWOT analysis to help prioritize the work that you need to do to grow your business. Some of the steps you should take to do the SWOT analysis are:

1. Gather the right people

Gather people from different parts of your company and make sure that you have representatives from every department and team. You’ll find that different groups within your company will have entirely different perspectives that will be critical to making your SWOT analysis successful.

2. Throw your ideas at the wall

Doing a SWOT analysis is similar to brainstorming meetings, and there are right and wrong ways to run them. Giving everyone a pad of sticky-notes and having everyone quietly generate ideas on their own to start things off. This prevents groupthink and ensures that all voices are heard.
​
After five to 10 minutes of private brainstorming, put all the sticky-notes up on the wall and group similar ideas together. Allow anyone to add additional notes at this point if someone else’s idea sparks a new thought.

3. Rank the ideas

Once all of the ideas are organized, it’s time to rank the ideas.Voting system where everyone gets five or ten “votes” that they can distribute in any way they like is a good idea . Sticky dots in different colors are useful for this portion of the exercise.

Based on the voting exercise, you should have a prioritized list of ideas. Of course, the list is now up for discussion and debate, and someone in the room should be able to make the final call on the priority.

Questions that can help inspire your analysisHere are a few questions that you can ask your team when you’re building your SWOT analysis. These questions can help explain each section and spark creative thinking.

Strengths

Strengths are internal, positive attributes of your company. These are things that are within your control.

  • What business processes are successful?
  • What assets do you have in your teams? (ie. knowledge, education, network, skills, and reputation)
  • What physical assets do you have, such as customers, equipment, technology, cash, and patents?
  • What competitive advantages do you have over your competition?
Weaknesses

Weaknesses are negative factors that detract from your strengths. These are things that you might need to improve on to be competitive.

  • Are there things that your business needs to be competitive?
  • What business processes need improvement?
  • Are there tangible assets that your company needs, such as money or equipment?
  • Are there gaps on your team?
  • Is your location ideal for your success?
Opportunities

Opportunities are external factors in your business environment that are likely to contribute to your success.

  • Is your market growing and are there trends that will encourage people to buy more of what you are selling?
  • Are there upcoming events that your company may be able to take advantage of to grow the business?
  • Are there upcoming changes to regulations that might impact your company positively?
  • If your business is up and running, do customers think highly of you?
Threats

Threats are external factors that you have no control over.

  • Do you have potential competitors who may enter your market?
  • Will suppliers always be able to supply the raw materials you need at the prices you need?
  • Could future developments in technology change how you do business?
  • Is consumer behavior changing in a way that could negatively impact your business?
  • Are there market trends that could become a threat?