So it is said that if you know others and know yourself, you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles; if you do not know others but do know yourself, you win one and lose one; if you do not know others and do not know yourself, you will be imperiled in every single battle. - Sun Tzu "The Art of War"
SWOT Analysis is a powerful technique for understanding your strengths and weaknesses, and for looking at the opportunities and threats you face. What makes SWOT particularly powerful is that it can help you uncover opportunities that you are well placed to exploit. In addition, by understanding the weaknesses of your situation, you can manage and eliminate threats that would otherwise catch you unawares. To carry out a SWOT Analysis, start by answering the following questions:
Strengths
What advantages does your project / team / organisation / business have?
What do you do better than anyone else?
What do people in your arena see as your strengths?
What factors mean that you performance well / achieve impact?
What are your strengths? Consider this from an internal perspective, and from the point of view of your customers and people in your market. Be realistic – it's far too easy to fall prey to the "not invented here syndrome."
Weaknesses
What could you improve?
What should you avoid?
What are people in your market likely to see as weaknesses?
What factors lose your sales?
Again, consider this from an internal and external basis. Do other people seem to perceive weaknesses that you do not see? Are your competitors doing any better than you? It is best to be realistic now, and face any unpleasant truths as soon as possible.
Opportunities
Where are the good opportunities facing you? What are the interesting trends you are 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; local events. A useful approach for looking at opportunities is to look at your strengths and ask yourself whether these open up any opportunities. Alternatively, look at your weaknesses and ask yourself whether you could create opportunities by eliminating them.
Threats
What obstacles do you face?
What is your competition doing that you should be worried about?
Are the required specifications for your job, products or services changing?
Is changing technology threatening your position?
Do you have problems such as bad debt or cash-flow issues?
Could any of your weaknesses seriously threaten your business?
Carrying out this analysis will often be illuminating – both in terms of pointing out what needs to be done, and in putting problems into perspective. You can also apply SWOT Analysis to your competitors. As you do this, you will start to see how and where you should compete against them.
A worksheet to help conduct a SWOT analysis is provided below.