Basics of SWOT Analysis and How You Can Benefit from It

2022-09-13 12:52:56

By : JSB Market Research

In : BLOG

For a business to succeed, a review of internal and external factors can help to gauge areas of improvement and chances. It can allow identification of problems and vulnerabilities, which you can learn and close the loopholes to, along with enhancement of strategies to give a strong background and future to your initiative. This is what the SWOT analysis is all about. It assists in understanding the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats to your plan.

You can use the information gained to then plot the marketing activities and strategic steps that will pitch your company forward above all the competitors. So, what is a SWOT analysis, and when should you use it? How do you stand to benefit from it? All these pointers we will discuss in the following post:

1. Strengths (S)

You must take a look at your internal factors and skills that perform well. Ask questions such as what is special about your company and what do your customers like the most about your product/service. Which things your business is good at and the assets you have or which features and aspects you can utilize to match the competition? One of the examples of strengths is suppose you have a talented workforce to deliver tasks in a timely manner.

2. Weaknesses (W)

Which factors in your organization you falter at? Or, what is underperforming in your firm? But before you run into calculating the weaknesses, jot down the strengths so that you have a clear picture of success and failure and what can be done to answer the issues at hand. Remember that like strengths, the weaknesses are internal as well.

Once you know what your business is weak at, you can work on it and bring these down to minimum so that they do not pose a threat or harm the resources. An example of weakness is lack of funds so you need to optimize on fund-generating planning.

3. Opportunities (O)

There are several areas, which you can explore and create new avenues to win over challenges. Thus, opportunities are related to your existing strengths and external initiatives along with how you decide to overcome weaknesses. It gives you an edge over any hurdle and prepares you to focus on the futuristic vision of growth.

For instance, you know there are consumers out there ready to try your product if you can communicate with them on a larger platform. In this respect, you can widen your scope of reach by launching campaigns on social media, broadcast, and online modes, along with traditional media.

4. Threats (T)

Sometimes, you may have no control over your surroundings as they are external in nature. But what you can do is change the way you adapt and react to those threats. In SWOT analysis, knowing the threats is the identification of those changes and presets that are beyond your landscape of authority. Like how the Covid pandemic affected the biggest global players but several companies fine-tuned their services to meet the need of the hour.

For instance, suppose a new competitor is around the block with a better product than yours. So, you have the option to upscale your existing offering to match the competition or launch a new product that outdoes your competitor.

What Are the Benefits of SWOT Analysis?

Here are some of the advantages of SWOT analysis:

· With SWOT Analysis, you can tap the market trends and shape your business plan to inculcate the same into your company.

· You can build a better framework of success, and the next step to take having complete knowledge of the areas of improvement and deficits.

· Know what you are up against, and what you can do to beat the issues while trusting and developing the key skills you possess.

To Conclude

You can perform a SWOT analysis when you want to introduce a new idea or business proposal, understand why something is not working the way you want, get an overview of your company activities, start a project, and similar. When you use SWOT properly, you can evaluate the company’s strong points and what it is weak at, associated with external opportunities and threats.