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SWOT Analysis Worksheet

This information can help you outline goals and strategies for your business and marketing efforts.
SWOT Analysis
Discover New Opportunities, Manage and Eliminate Threats

SW OT is a tool used to assist with strategic planning.

Businesses often have to create strategi c plans that focus on how they will make their
products or services faster, better and cheaper. One tool many businesses use to begin the
strategic planning process is SW OT. You don't have to be a powerful business leader to
begin using this very informative tool because once you understand the fundamental
considerations of SW OT, you can use it to create an improved strategic approach

SWOT Basics

According to the University of W ashington's Organizational Effectiveness Initiative, Albert S.

Humphrey created SW OT in the 1960s. SW OT is an acronym for strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities and threats. Strengths and weaknesses are internal factors -- things that you
can control by establishing new rules or routines to create change. Opportunities and threats
are external factors, because they are things you can't control. New laws, regulations,
competitors and changing technology often create opportunities and threats. W hile you may
find different approaches in capturing information for SW OT, the core concepts are the same.

Strengths

Strengths are the qualities you would like to exploit or reinforce to maintain your edge -- the
people who report to you, the relationships you have, intellectual property, patents or
financial resources. W hen considering your strengths, ask questions to focus your thoughts.
For example, what advantages do you have over your competition? W hat makes you or your
business unique? W hom do you have the best relationships with and why? W hat kind of
positive feedback do you get from ot hers?

 What advantages does your organization have?

 What do you do better than anyone else?

 What unique or lowest-cost resources can you draw upon that others can't?
 What do people in your market see as your strengths?

 What factors mean that you "get the sale"?

 What is your organization's Unique Selling Proposition (USP)?

Consider your strengths from both an internal perspective, and from the point of view of
your customers and people in your market.

Also, if you're having any difficulty identifying strengths, try writing down a list of your
organization's characteristics. Some of these will hopefully be strengths!

When looking at your strengths, think about them in relation to your competitors. For
example, if all of your competitors provide high quality products, then a high quality
production process is not a strength in your organization's market, it's a necessity.

Weaknesses

While many people find it difficult to think about their we aknesses, everyone has something
they can improve upon. Weaknesses within the business might be things you do not do well
today but want to become better at in the future. You may take into account where your
performance gaps are, areas you should you try to improve to make yourself better, what
competitors are currently outperforming you and what kind of negative feedback are you
receiving.

 What could you improve?

 What should you avoid?

 What are people in your market likely to see as weaknesses?

 What factors lose you sales?

Again, consider this from an internal and external perspective: do other people seem to
perceive weaknesses that you don't see? Are your competitors doing any better than you?

It's best to be realistic now, and face any unpleasant truths as soon as possible.

Opportunities

Opportunities might be items you may want to pay attention to by devoting more time, money
or resources to in order to achieve future success. Opportunities may surface as an
observation of change that could be happening around you. W hen thinking through
opportunities, focus on technology that may be changing the way things are being done.
Consider whether new laws or legislation might impact how you do things. Analyze how
others are gaining by doing things differently than you.

 What good opportunities can you spot?

 What interesting trends are you aware of?

Useful opportunities can come from such things as:

 Changes in technology and markets on both a broad and narrow scale.

 Changes in government policy related to your field.

 Changes in social patterns, population profiles, lifestyle changes, and so on.

 Local events.

Threats

Threats may come from changes in the competition, technology, weather, customer behavior
or demand. To identify threats, constantly scan the cultural environment to understand the
changes taking place around you. Reflect upon your weaknesses to determine if they are a
threat. Examine your financial resources to determine whether you have what you need.
Research whether any laws exist that would prevent you from responding to a threat.
Analyze how you are protecting yourself from potential threats.

 What obstacles do you face?

 What are your competitors doing?

 Are quality standards or specifications for your job, products or services changing?

 Is changing technology threatening your position?

 Do you have bad debt or cash-flow problems?

 Could any of your weaknesses seriously threaten your business?