Strengths-Weaknesses-Opportunities-Threats

This is usually carried out as part of a Business Plan, or Competition Analysis. It should produce an action plan for the business.

1. First, define the scope of the SWOT- the company, a department, an individual, a product

Then define the competitors you will compare against.

2. Produce a table like this;-

Strengths	Weaknesses
Opportunities	Threats

Fill in;-

Strengths-where you are better than competitors

Weaknesses-where you are worse than competitors

Opportunities– that affect everyone in the business or sector

Threats -that affect everyone in the business or sector

Strengths which will help to deliver the business strategy may be;-

• Skills
• People
• Products
• Processes
• Past successes
• Technological advances
• Knowledge

Weaknesses which will hinder the business strategy could be;-

• Lack of skills
• Poor performance
• Failures
• Causes of customer complaint

Opportunities which if exploited will help to deliver the business strategy could be;-

• Favourable changes in the market
• Technology
• Learning
• New products
• New services

Threats which may pose a risk to delivering the business strategy could be ;-

• Unfavourable changes in the market
• Changes in customer requirements
• Economic changes
• Technological changes

3. Identify actions and develop an action plan

Link up strengths and opportunities to create an attack plan

Link weaknesses with threats to create a defensive strategy

List any viable actions which arise as a result of the linking or listing process.

Prioritise actions on a cost/benefit basis

Strengths-Weaknesses-Opportunities-Threats