When your car starts to make funny noises and quits running well, what do you do? You either stop to do a check-up or you take it to a mechanic. But what about when your business is struggling and you’re not meeting your goals? That’s where SWOT analysis comes in.
SWOT analysis is a method used to understand the strengths, opportunities, weaknesses, and threats of a company and provides both a high level and in depth look at internal and external factors; a sort of business “check-up.”
Investopedia says:
“The method of SWOT analysis is to take the information from an environmental analysis and separate it into internal (strengths and weaknesses) and external issues (opportunities and threats). Once this is completed, SWOT analysis determines what may assist the firm in accomplishing its objectives, and what obstacles must be overcome or minimized to achieve desired results.” http://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/swot.asp
Basically, you look at what’s working/not working on the inside (strengths and weaknesses) and what could happen both good and bad on the outside (opportunities and threats). Here is a visual example of a company considering a government contract (click to enlarge):
Just like procrastinating a trip to the mechanic could cost you big when your car goes belly up, it’s best to perform business “check-ups” regularly. SWOT analysis is a great tool for doing so.
As always, GQLaw is here for your tax, legal and financial check-ups. We look forward to hearing from you.