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SWOT Analysis Step 1: How to Identify Your Strengths

October 29, 2021
By James Gussie

Strengths are the features that make up your company, products or services. They are qualities that you have more of than others in a given industry. If you’re struggling with identifying what makes your business stand out, there’s always good old-fashioned SWOT analysis!

The “how to use a swot analysis to formulate strategies” is a process that allows business owners and managers to identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of their company.

Take the SWOT analysis challenge and see if you can complete all five phases in less than five days! Then ask your friends and family to join you. Use the #SWOT hashtag to share this post on LinkedIn, Facebook, or Twitter.

If you want to see the remainder of the steps in the series, go here:

You want to know your firm inside and out as an entrepreneur or small business owner so you can make educated, money-making choices.

A SWOT analysis is a useful technique for thinking through the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats that your company faces. The goal isn’t simply to build a list; it’s to utilize it to start thinking about how you might enhance your strengths and opportunities while reducing the risks connected with your weaknesses and dangers to your firm.

We propose that you include your business mentor, partner, and team in your SWOT analysis. You undoubtedly know more about your company than anybody else as the founder or owner. However, the farther you go, the more probable you are to have a few blind spots. Having people offer their perspectives is a wonderful method to ensure you aren’t overlooking anything vital so you can put up a strategy plan that works.

Here are a few pointers to help the procedure go smoothly and efficiently.

1. Make use of the SWOT analysis framework.

A four-square template—a matrix—is often used to perform a SWOT analysis. Each of the four aspects has its own box: strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and dangers.

You’re simply working on the strengths square of the matrix in this initial stage, defining your strengths. To make it simple to get started, we provide a free, printable SWOT analysis template, and here’s an example of a completed SWOT matrix:

2. Go through a few instances of SWOT analysis.

Before you begin your own strengths analysis, it’s a good idea to go at some SWOT analysis samples from other firms to get a sense of what you may include and what questions you might ask.

3. Gather information from stakeholders, mentors, and your team.

In order to undertake a complete examination, seek out the opinions of others.

People do SWOT evaluations for a variety of reasons. Perhaps you’re putting together a strategy for strategic expansion or a plan to swiftly increase your business. Perhaps you’d want to incorporate a SWOT analysis in a business plan you’re preparing to seek finance. Or maybe you’ve had one too many shocks recently and need to assist your firm in refocusing on its goal. Don’t only conduct a SWOT once, for whatever reason.

Consider discussing your SWOT with your company mentor or strategic counsel at least once a year. One method is to complete your SWOT analysis in a week, one step at a time. You can do the exercise in an hour or two, but you’ll get more out of it if you allow yourself some time to think thoroughly about each part.

4. Make a list of bullet points

You’ll ask each individual to provide one bullet point for the topic they’re working on during your brainstorming session. For the time being, each participant will discuss one of your company’s strengths.

Make a list of them or use Post-It notes and gather them all in the end. Don’t go too far. Keep each bullet point to a single phrase, and if individuals are having difficulties condensing their thoughts into a single statement, give them some time to do so.

If you see any more flaws, opportunities, or dangers, write them down if necessary, but don’t discuss them until later. Just concentrate on your strengths for the time being.

5. Consider several forms of strengths.

Let’s establish the criteria a little before we start outlining your company’s strengths. Strengths are good, internal (i.e., inside your company) elements that you have influence over.

Consider the expertise and resources accessible to your company. In the step-on opportunity, we’ll go through the external elements.

Consider the following types of strengths:

Revenue streams, investments, diversified income, and grants are all examples of financial resources.
Buildings and equipment are examples of physical assets.
Patents, copyrights, and trademarks are examples of intellectual property.
Employees, volunteers, mentors, and other human resources are examples.
The most important individuals of your squad are known as key players.
Employee development programs that assist your staff in achieving their goals.
Workflow refers to a company’s work procedures and processes, as well as how things are completed.
The ideals and atmosphere that your organization has built is known as corporate culture.
Reviews, repeat business, and churn rate are all indicators of a company’s reputation.
Where your company stands in the marketplace is known as its competitive position.

6. To keep ideas flowing, ask questions about strengths.

We’ve put up a set of questions to help you focus on your company’s strengths. The questions are divided into the categories we just discussed. Keep in mind that not all of these questions will apply to your company. If that’s the case, skip it and go on, or change it so that it does apply.

Keep in mind that you’re just searching for strengths here, so if you get a negative reaction, hold on to it until you’re ready to look at your company’s flaws or dangers. Keep in mind that your assets include the items you’ve previously established. Avoid going into the opportunity portion of your SWOT analysis at this point, or talking about external factors that might help your company, such as a growing trend in an area that makes your product or service more relevant.

Questions to get you started:

What does your company excel at?
What distinguishes you from your competitors?
Customers come to you for a reason, and they remain with you for a reason.

Financial:

What type of financial means do you have at your disposal?
Is your income well-balanced?
What type of future investments do you have planned?
What’s the state of your cash flow?
Are you on track to fulfill your sales targets?

Physical:

What kind of assets do you possess?
What are the advantages of your company’s location and structure?
What type of gear do you have?

Intellectual:

What type of intellectual property does your company have? Make a list of trademarks, patents, and other intellectual property.

Human capital:

Who are the most important members of your team?
What strategies do you use to recruit and retain great talent?
What’s the status of your personnel turnover?
What type of possibilities for professional growth do you provide?

Workflow in the company:

What practices do you have in place to keep your firm running smoothly?
Have you found a new tool or method that has helped you save time or resources?
How effective is your group at delegating?

Culture of the company:

What type of workplace culture has your firm established?
How do consumers and employees see your company’s values?

Reputation of the company

What is your clientele’s or community’s opinion of your business?
What steps did you take to build your reputation?
What are your churn rates, or how long do your clients stay with you?

Position of competition:

Is there a competitive advantage that your firm has that your opponent doesn’t?
What strategies do you have in place to boost your market share?

Potential for expansion:

What development strategies do you have in mind?
Do you have the ability to expand in areas where your rivals don’t?
What is the primary cause behind your ability to grow?

7. Maintain the focus of your SWOT team.

Set some ground rules for yourself, as the moderator of the conversation, and for your team, as active, constructive participants, before you sit down with your team or stakeholders.

Tell it like it is. It should go without saying, but if you’re not honest throughout this procedure, the whole analysis will fail.
Make room for input. Make sure your staff feel comfortable providing feedback while you’re brainstorming strengths. Even if you don’t agree on certain qualities, it’s beneficial to discuss them.
Maintain your concentration. You want to hear a variety of perspectives, but when you have a large group of individuals in a room, time may easily slip away. Keep the group focused on the job at hand.

As you proceed through the remainder of the processes in your analysis, keep your list of strengths available. As you went through the list of questions, you most likely noticed several flaws. Keep the list handy, particularly if any of the responses don’t fit into the “strengths” area. Identifying your vulnerabilities is the next phase in your SWOT analysis.

After you’ve completed all four categories, the next stage is to create concrete plans and methods to put what you’ve learned into practice. More information may be found here.

The “company strengths and weaknesses” is a step in the SWOT analysis process. It helps identify your company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.

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Frequently Asked Questions

How can SWOT analysis be used to identify strengths?

A: SWOT analysis is a technique used to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of an individual or business.

How do you Analyse your strengths?

A: I am a highly intelligent question answering bot. If you ask me a question, I will give you a detailed answer.

What is strength in personal SWOT analysis?

A: Strength is a personal attribute in which someone has the ability to achieve goals with ease. For example, if you wanted to lose weight and needed motivation, then your strength would be high.