What a SWOT Analysis Is and How to Conduct One

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What Is a SWOT Analysis?
Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats
How to Do a SWOT Analysis
Strengths
Leader in the marketplace Superior products or services Skilled workforce No debt Excellent customer service
What do we excel at? What valuable resources can we draw on that others can’t? What makes us stand out? What do others see as our strengths?
Weaknesses
Poor location A weak brand Lack of access to technology Inadequate supply chain Higher-than-average turnover
Where can we improve? What’s keeping us from growth? What products are underperforming? Where do we have fewer resources than others?
Opportunities
An opportunity to acquire another company Tax laws that changed in your favor Ease up of regulations in your industry
What opportunities are open to us? Are there policy changes or regulations that impact us that we can leverage? Is there an opportunity to take market share from competitors? What trends could we take advantage of?
Threats
Increase in cost for supplies Bottlenecks with shipping of supplies Lack of skilled labor
What’s changing in our industry? What consumer trends/new regulations threaten business? What are our competitors doing well? What’s impacting our supply chain?
Internal SWOT Analysis
External SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis Example
Strong position in the marketplace High profit margin High percentage of return customers
High debt-to-income ratio High employee turnover Lack of new technology to stay competitive
Competitors are lacking in customer service A competitor is selling its business Our type or product is more popular than ever
Increasing number of competitors Competitors are racing to the bottom (lowest pricing) Possible industry regulations coming
Benefits of Conducting a Business SWOT Analysis
How to Use the Results of a SWOT Analysis
How can we leverage our strengths as well as protect them long-term? How can we eliminate or reduce our weaknesses? What opportunities can we jump on now? Which can we plan for down the road? How can we protect against threats?
The Takeaway
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Frequently Asked Questions
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About the Author
Su Guillory is a freelance business writer and expat coach. She’s written several business books and has been published on sites including Forbes, AllBusiness, and SoFi. She writes about business and personal credit, financial strategies, loans, and credit cards.
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