TO SWOT OR NOT TO SWOT?0

Posted on March 31st, 2014 in News

swotI read somewhere recently that only 5% of companies ever carry out a detailed SWOT analysis on their business. This is quite a frightening statistic and perhaps your own company is included in the majority bracket.

Can you imagine a general going to war or a sports team manager taking the field without spending time to consider what his army’s strength and weaknesses are before they engage with the opposition?

Sun Tzu the famous Chinese Philosopher who wrote the book “Art of War” famously stated:

“Know yourself and you will win all battles” 

Working with a Professional Management Consultant is a great starting point for a company who wants to get a snapshot of where they are now with their business. When I work with clients one of my first tasks is to determine where the owner wants to go with the business and the next piece of the jigsaw is to determine where the business is actually starting from.

One of the biggest benefits of the SWOT approach is that it drives the business owner to take an explicit look at what could harm, or kill, their business, beyond the usual fears of not having enough clients. It takes a helicopter view of their business model and works “on” the business rather than “in” the business.

What’s the benefit of SWOT for your business?

Carrying out a professional detailed SWOT analysis on your business is a simple but powerful business consulting framework for assessing your business Strengths and Weaknesses, and the Opportunities and Threats you face.

The SWOT analysis helps you to focus on your strengths, minimize threats, and take the greatest possible advantage of opportunities available to you.

A lot of management consultants are inclined to focus a lot of their time on the weaknesses and threats. I prefer to focus on the items we can control – seeing how the company can maximise their existing strengths in order to avail of the external opportunities.

A business strength is something that really sets you apart from competitors. Quite often I find that many business owners don’t really know what clients value most about working with them.

Failure to recognise one’s own strengths and market those is one of the most common factors I find that’s holding professional firms back from growing their business.

When I present a detailed SWOT analysis to business owners they usually find this very illuminating – both in terms of pointing out what needs to be done, putting problems into perspective and targeting the opportunities for growth.

“Opportunities multiply as they are seized.”  ~ Sun Tzu

If you would like to consider a SWOT analysis for your business I can offer you a free template to get the process started. For a free copy just email me: peter@managementsolutions.ie