As the threat of a second wave of coronavirus looms in Western Australia it’s never been more crucial for businesses to ensure they have strategies in place to best cope with any potential changes in trading environments.
A SWOT analysis is a simple yet powerful means of reviewing aspects of an organisation that need to be addressed to ensure profitability and survival into the foreseeable future.
SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats, and your business may undertake a SWOT analysis as a method for assessing and evaluating these four aspects.
By collating information relating to each category an organisation can integrate findings into its own business strategy to build on the existing strengths of the organisation, minimise weaknesses, seize opportunities and mitigate threats.
How do you prepare a SWOT analysis?
A SWOT analysis should be a collaboration between multiple people with varying perspectives of an organisation. A brain storm is a great forum for this. Here’s some things you might consider;
Strengths
– Things your company does well
– Qualities that separate you from your competitors
– Internal resources such as knowledgeable staff
– Intangible assets such as intellectual property, capital proprietary technologies etc.
Weaknesses
– Things your company lacks
– Things your competitors do better than you
– Resource limitations
Opportunities
– Underserved markets for specific products
– Social or regulatory changes creating a market for a new product or service
– Media coverage of your company
Threats
– Emerging competitors
– Negative press/ media coverage
– Social or regulatory changes eliminating markets you currently service
Once you’ve examined all four aspects of SWOT you will have a long list of potential actions your organisation can take.
The biggest limitation of a SWOT analysis is that it provides no actionable tasks for your organisation, this places the responsibility on business owners to implement an actionable strategy based upon significant findings uncovered by the SWOT analysis.
At Francis A Jones we are here to help with more than just tax returns. If you need assistance with creating a SWOT analysis or a strategic plan get in contact with one of our specialists.
Related blogs:
Ready for COVID recovery
You need a business roadmap
Author: Nick Vincent
Email: nick@faj.com.au
