SWOT analysis is a well-known framework that is a combination of internal and external analysis. This stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats that have a great impact on your business development. By looking at these elements of a business, you will be able to form strategies and make clear decisions to grow a business. Similarly, it can be used to assess a person’s abilities to make the most of someone’s potential. As you read along, you will have in-depth knowledge about SWOT analysis, and a few examples to make this analysis.
SWOT Analysis: Definition and Examples
Characteristics of SWOT Analysis
As mentioned, there are four major elements that influence the development of business particularly in taking actions, initiative, making decisions, or strategies. There’s far more to look into these elements. Here we’ll explain each element in detail. So if you want to begin your business and get a systematic analysis, the following paragraph discusses the characteristics of each aspect of the SWOT matrix.
Strengths
An internal factor of a company that makes it competitive in the market or a positive attribute that makes it stand out among other companies. You can determine the strengths of your business as well as conduct a personal SWOT analysis focusing on your strength by answering some of the questions below.
- What are the successful processes of the business?
- What are the assets of your team? Knowledge, skills, connections, reputation, resources, etc.
- What is your advantage that others don’t have? Is it your education, certification, or skills?
- What is your attitude towards work and colleagues or your boss?
Weaknesses
If a company has strengths, it also comes with its weaknesses. It’s beneficial to conduct a company SWOT analysis as it includes exploring the weaknesses of an organization so you can pay attention to what’s lacking in the process and the limitations of the business. This will help you develop an awareness of the factors that will affect your decision making. Following are questions you can try to answer to evaluate your business and personal weaknesses.
- Have you established and maintained team harmony?
- Is there enough customer traffic on the location of your business?
- What are the tasks you are not confident enough doing?
Opportunities
By performing a SWOT analysis, you will not just be able to tackle strengths and weaknesses of a businesses. Another important element you can evaluate are the opportunities. These are external factors that should not be taken for granted as even the smallest opportunities can open up great possibilities that will contribute to your business success. Below are questions to ponder to identify the opportunities of a business.
- Will sales promotion encourage buyers to purchase more products?
- Can the company cope with the new trends or technology?
- Is there a vacant position that will help you develop your skills?
Threats
SWOT matrix or analysis will not be complete without examining the threats. This refers to the negative attributes or external limitations of an individual or organization. Here are a few questions to determine the threats in the analysis process.
- Are there upcoming companies that could become a threat in your market?
- Can your company adjust to the advancement of technologies?
- Do your set of skills enough to the demand of the company?
SWOT Analysis Examples
There’s is no right or wrong when it comes to constructing a SWOT analysis. You can simply start with a square divided into four sections. Every section must contain one aspect of SWOT. Interestingly, you can make SWOT in the form of a mind map. And for a free mind mapping tool, GitMind is one of the great programs to use. To see how it looks like, you may refer to the examples below. These examples can be downloaded and edited.
Software SWOT Analysis
This figure illustrates a SWOT analysis of the software system. This is helpful if you want to make software products to understand the scope and limitations as part of the planning stage and before conducting operations.
Personal SWOT Analysis
This illustration gives you an idea of how individuals can assess their potential, talents, and limitations. This will help you land a better job that suits your set of skills.
Conclusion
SWOT analysis is an effective technique not just to improve your company but also in evaluating an individual’s ability. This will help you clarify decisions, bring directions to your career and personal life which gives you motivation towards success.
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