How to do a SWOT analysis of your business

Whether you’re a small business owner or you’re running a charity or organisation, it’s important to get a birdseye view of your business – that’s where a SWOT analysis comes in.

In this beginner’s guide, we’ll walk you through the steps you need to take to conduct a SWOT analysis in your organisation and how you can use it to take action and grow your business 💪

So what is a SWOT analysis?

SWOT is an acronym for:

Strengths – these are what set you apart from your competition

Weaknesses – these are areas that may need a little improvement (don’t worry, every business has them!)

Opportunities – these are new possibilities or areas you may be able to branch into to keep strengthening your business!

Threats – these are anything that could threaten or prevent your business from growing

Conducting your own SWOT analysis

Examples to help you get started

Strengths: What makes you different from others in your industry?

• exceptional customer service
• high-quality materials
• personalisation
• talented team

Weaknesses: What areas need a little more love and improvement to help your business excel?

• need additional training in particular skills
• struggling to keep up with social media trends
• limited marketing budget

Remember, by being honest and acknowledging your weaknesses, you then have a better idea of what you need to work on which will feed into your strategy – making you a stronger business overall 💪

Opportunities: What haven’t you tapped into that might positively impact your business?

• online marketplaces like Etsy
• Facebook communities/ word of mouth to promote business
• industry collaborations

Threats: What could potentially threaten your business from growing?

• financial pressures (cost of living etc.)
• changes in regulations
• competitors producing products for lower price points

Putting It All Together: Developing a Strategy

Once you’ve completed your SWOT analysis, it’s time to transform insights into action 💪

Prioritise the most critical things from each category and brainstorm ways that you can leverage your strength and opportunities to overcome your weaknesses and threats.

You’ll be surprised how many new ideas this exercise opens up! 💡

Once you’ve brainstormed, you’ll be able to feed everything you’ve learnt into your business strategy. If you’re looking for a business strategy framework, check out our blog post on creating a business strategy that actually works!

Remember, it’s important to regularly review your business, so we recommend reassing your business with this framework at least once a year, if not more depending on the changes happening in your market.

Don’t struggle alone!

Whether you’re needing some support to go through your SWOT analysis, you’re worried about how to overcome threats, or you want to develop a concrete business strategy, our free mentoring can help!

Our mentors are on hand to support you through all these challenges and more, totally free of charge 💜