SWOT Analysis is just a brainstorm exercise and has no real value in everyday business 🧠
The SWOT analysis framework is often associated with startups or business planning, but it’s a tool that should be updated regularly. By continuously evaluating your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, you can keep your business adaptable and competitive. This ongoing analysis helps with business development, guiding decisions on how to grow and improve. It’s also invaluable for assessing individual departments, allowing you to identify inefficiencies and areas for improvement.
Additionally, a SWOT analysis can reveal where outsourcing might be beneficial, helping you streamline operations by focusing on core strengths while delegating specialised tasks to external experts. This ensures that your business remains agile and efficient.
One of the most significant advantages of keeping your SWOT analysis current is the competitive edge it provides. By continuously monitoring internal and external factors, you’ll be better positioned to act quickly on emerging opportunities and mitigate potential risks before they become critical. Whether it’s entering new markets, refining your product offering, or adjusting to industry changes, regularly revisiting your SWOT analysis helps align your business strategy with real-time data.
Incorporating SWOT analysis into your regular business review process is not just for startups or business plans. It’s a tool for businesses of all sizes, offering invaluable insights that can drive success in everyday operations. By using it as part of your long-term strategy, you can create a more resilient and responsive business, ready to thrive in a constantly evolving market.
This framework is much more than just a brainstorming exercise; it is a powerful strategic tool that can influence decision-making across all levels of your business.
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Vocab
00:49
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Myth busting
01:37
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Strengths
03:00
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Weakness
04:13
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Opportunities
05:33
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Threats
07:41
A framework for evaluating a business’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.
The process of defining a business’s direction and allocating resources to achieve its goals.
A tool for assessing external factors (Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal, Environmental) that impact a business.
The SWOT analysis was developed in the 1960s by Albert Humphrey, a business and management consultant at the Stanford Research Institute. He led a research project aimed at identifying why corporate planning often failed, and from that research, the SWOT framework (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) emerged as a way to improve strategic decision-making. It has since become a widely used tool in business strategy and analysis.
Questions mentioned in the episode for each of the quadrants –
- Strengths – Maintain and leverage these
- What are we good at?
- What do people compliment us on?
- What features do we have that our competitors don’t have?
- Weakness – Develop strategies to address these
- What are we not so good at?
- What in-house skills we may be lacking?
- Opportunities – Seek and exploit these as Business Development
- What partnerships could we consider?
- Is there any new technology that can enhance our customer experience?
- What strengths can you leverage further e.g. a high Word Of Mouth turn into a Refer A Friend programme
- Threats – Create contingency plans to mitigate these external factors
- Industry regulations
- Single-channel marketing focus
- Marketing plans of competitors e.g. use of Influencers
- Rate of competition entering the market
- Burn rate
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