What is a SWOT Analysis?
SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis is a framework used to evaluate a company’s competitive position and to develop strategic planning.
Like SEMrush says, you need to list and analyze the following:
- Strengths. What’s working for your business internally right now (strengths)
- Weakness. What’s not working
- Opportunities. The external factors your business could capitalize on
- Threats. The external factors that could harm your business
Basically, SWOT is a tool that can help you can advance your business. SWOT can guide businesses towards strategies that are more likely to succeed, and away from those which are more than likely not as successful.
Although a SWOT analysis isn’t going to solve every major question a company has, there are some good benefits of SWOT, including:
- A SWOT analysis makes complex problems more manageable
- A SWOT analysis covers both internal and external factors that can be difficult to control
- A SWOT analysis can be applied to almost every business question
- A SWOT analysis leverages different data sources, like broad markets, competitors, or macroeconomic forces for opportunities and threats.
- A SWOT analysis may not be overly costly to prepare.
Here are the six steps you need to cover in order to perform a SWOT analysis:
- Establish your goals
- Asses strengths
- Write down weaknesses
- Outline opportunities
- Identify threats
- Narrow your lists
You can learn more about each of these six steps by visiting SEMrush’s guide to SWOT analysis over here!