Strategic Storyboarding

Gain An Almost Unfair Advantage Over Your Competitors With A SWOT Analysis

Sure you've heard of a SWOT Analysis…it stands for Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities and Threats. No? You're new to it? (Don't worry--you'll catch on in seconds.) Don't Leave Home Without It! Although many business graphics and organizers may seem like you don't really need them--this is just not one of those. The SWOT is like a sturdy workhorse, ready to pull you out of muddy spots in the road, and get you right to where you want to go. And the best news is--it's fast. Whether you are starting out in online or offline business or planning growth in your business, you will want to frequently use this planning tool to stay on track. The fastest way to do a SWOT is to draw a window pane grid, with four panels. In the upper left panel, write Strengths. In the lower left, Weaknesses. In upper right, Opportunities. And in the lower right Threats. Start filling in your answers about your business in general or about specific decisions you need to make, opportunities you're considering or any situation that's keeping you up at night. If you get into the nitty-gritty of this and start mixing things up…asking yourself, "Hmm…is this a weakness or a threat?" use this simple method to stay on course. Write 'now' on the outside of the windowpane--to the left hand side of your chart. All your strengths and weaknesses are in the present. Write 'future' outside the window pane, along the right hand side of your grid. All your opportunities and threats are in the future. Get busy filling in your chart. Once you have all your ideas, thoughts and issues laid out, step back. Check to see if there is anything you notice when you look at the BIG picture. But Don't Stop there… The best is yet to come in these next steps that super charge your thinking.  Power Step 1: Challenge Each Threat Do you see any threats that show up today as weaknesses? If so--write them in the weakness quadrant. If not, cross them off--they are not anything you can take action on--just random threats that you need to track for the future. Power Step 2: Leverage Your Weaknesses Next, see how you can leverage any weaknesses into opportunities. For example, if you have a solo business and hate doing your administration work…but have a temp agency in your building…there's an opportunity there! See how you can leverage all your weaknesses into specific and tangible opportunities. And of course, I saved the best for last. Power Step 3: Super Charge Your Strengths There's always more that you can do to act on your natural abilities and strengths--in yourself and in your business. Now is the perfect time to brainstorm this. And as you do, just write your new Opportunity ideas in the grid in the upper right corner. As you can see, the SWOT is a dynamic thinking tool. Use it for yourself when you want to see your way out of a nasty situation or want to brainstorm how to take advantage of a unique opportunity. Be sure to also use this with colleagues, team members, clients and vendors. You never know what a fresh look will do to discover the new opportunities that are just waiting for your attention. The SWOT analysis is a proven and reliable tool that is in active use in every successful business. Isn't it time to work on yours?