SWOT inventory: strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats
List what makes your business strong and weak, and what is happening outside it.
Step 5 of 18: Online business plan
Video: how to build your SWOT inventory in the Business Planner.
A SWOT analysis is quick to make, and even quicker to make vague. "Good service" as a strength and "competition" as a threat: it appears in plenty of plans and tells a financier very little. In this step of the Business Planner, you list the points that really matter for your business. They become the starting point for the confrontation matrix and your strategic choices.
Internal and external
Strengths and weaknesses
These are about your own business: clients, location, skills, organization and costs. You have influence over them.
Opportunities and threats
These come from outside: the market, competitors, the labor market, technology, regulation or the economy. You respond to them.
How to record your SWOT
- 01
Open Strategy
Strategy has three sub-steps. The first is the SWOT inventory, with two tables: strengths and weaknesses, and opportunities and threats.
- 02
Add an item
Choose the type, give it a category and write a short description. On the right of the page are questions to help you along.
- 03
Sharpen it
The pencil icon at the end of a row lets you edit a point. Replace general terms with facts from your own business.
Being specific makes the difference
The salon in our demo lists a loyal base of regular clients, many of whom have seen the same stylist for years, as a strength. One weakness is that the color work relies heavily on the owner: when she is away, a large part of the revenue stalls. As an opportunity, the salon sees a haircut subscription for regular clients, and as a threat, the shortage of good stylists.
For cost items, a comparison with your industry helps. If your rent or staff costs are clearly above average, say so and add them as a share of revenue. The Firmfocus industry figures give you that point of comparison.
Use PESTEL for opportunities and threats
To make sure you don't miss anything, walk through the PESTEL factors: political, economic, social, technological, environmental and legal developments. The model goes back to the work of Francis Aguilar of Harvard Business School on scanning the business environment. In the planner, you can use the factor as the category, so you can later see where an opportunity or threat comes from.