Every business should do a SWOT analysis on a regular basis.
The reason for this is change. Change in the Human resources segment of your
business enterprise and change in your business environment with new
competition coming into your sphere of influence or market and existing
businesses expanding or leaving your area of expertise.
While you have no control over what happens to your
competition or how they expand, the differences occurring in your competition’s
business will reflect one way or another on yours. To understand these effects
it is important to refer to your SWOT analysis and update it regularly.
What is a SWOT
analysis?
A SWOT analysis is monitoring your Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities
and/Threats.
People lay these out differently but here is my preferred
system.
I get a sheet of paper and divide it into four. I then label
each quarter with a title of Strength, Weakness, Opportunity or Threat. I am of
the old-fashioned school and can see things more clearly on a piece of paper
rather than fiddle with a computer.
There is my first threat – lack of computer skills. Write it all down and note what you need to do
about it. Do you already know which programme would benefit you the most to
learn for your business?
If you do, then you need to put another entry into the
Opportunity side so that you can do something about it. Knowing what you need
to do can often be a big part of the solution to a threat and will offer you opportunities
once you have completed another skill.
Strengths
The strengths in your business need to be quantified. That
is, do you know exactly what the value is that these strengths bring to your
business? It is surprising to note that there are many managers ‘out-there’ who
recognize that they have a good employee but don’t add this into their SWOT
analysis as a plus. Needless to say, these good customers and employees who
aren’t looked after will soon not appreciate working or dealing with such a
person and will move on.
So if you consider that you offer good customer service and are
a fair employer, then this will count as a big plus. Make sure you add it to the
strengths quarter to remind yourself regularly that you need to stay this way.
Weaknesses
If on honest consideration and thought, you conclude that
you could be a better manager because you don’t appreciate good staff or
customers like you should, then note this into the weaknesses quarter and
determine to do better before the next SWOT analysis.
Opportunity
This determination to improve on staff relations gives you
an opportunity to reward and appreciate your efficient and money-making staff
for their efforts and diligence. This becomes your opportunity to offer a bonus
system for those who aren’t as good as you would like them to be but they are
too loyal to fire. Loyalty is an opportunity waiting to be encouraged to be
more productive.
Customer loyalty is something that can’t be bought – it has
to be earned. This should remain a permanent fixture in the Opportunities
section of every SWOT analysis.
Threats
A serious threat to your business will be if you disregard
the opportunity to appreciate your loyal customers by continuing to provide
them with the very best service that you can offer.
Another serious threat to your business could be
disregarding your staff’s needs and they have to resign and move on.
A SWOT analysis done on a regular basis can save a lot of
heartache and loss.
It would be good advice to remember first the old adage “not
knowing what you have until it is gone” meaning it is then too late for a SWOT
analysis. But by doing a SWOT analysis regularly can activate one of Aesop’s
fables “A stitch in time, saves nine”.
No comments:
Post a Comment