The SWOT Analysis and Why Your Business Needs To Do One NOW
A SWOT analysis assesses the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats of a business, venture or project. In plain english, a SWOT will help you determine your niche, your unique abilities and talents, and the internal (strengths and weaknesses) and external (opportunities and threats) factors that can affect your business. As someone who loves you (hopefully) told you, you are unique and possess strengths completely different than others. This is true in business as well, not matter how broad the industry. For example, I have determined that some of our strengths lie in our sheer longevity in the Digital Marketing business. We have a ‘unique’ passion and obsession with this industry. Our team has been devouring social media marketing content, innovating, and planning for the future of the web since Day 1. Thought leadership means something to the right consumer. We’re also pretty charismatic and love teaching people about the power of the net. These strengths are layered by years of content, books, and classes. Weaknesses however can come from the boutique size of our organization. We are a talented, informed and genius group, but don’t possess the hundreds of employees that say an Ogilvy does. While some feel that a boutique shop can cater better to the needs of a small business, or even give a brand of a larger corporation specialized attention, some simply don’t. One might perceive this as a weakness.
Opportunities can present themselves in a myriad of ways. Our ability to provide attention to the details of our customer’s projects, has allowed for very grateful and long-term and clients. Our business has been primarily referral based. There lies an opportunity to allocate additional funds to the marketing budget we have saved on for years. Did we mention that we are a marketing firm? Opportunity! There are some threats however. In addition to the large corporations with droves of employees (if that’s what you prefer), there is also a newfound saturation that can make everyone a ‘Social Media Expert.’ Yes, this is meant to sound both cynical and empowering. If one can create a status on Facebook, log in to Twitter, or discover a nifty management tool they are an ‘expert.’ But how cool is it that if one can create a status on Facebook, log in to Twitter, or discover a nifty management tool they can become an expert? These are valid threats nonetheless and have to be analyzed.
I challenge you to think about your Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. SWOTS can provide a perspective that you will most undoubtedly overlook in your day-to-day ‘hustle.’ I give my robust SWOT Kit for free with the $5 purchase of an Editorial Calendar Template and your review from Fiverr. You can also find some great resources on developing a SWOT for free on the net. Hope this has helped you. If it does, let me know.
Lindsey
