Back to Basics- Call in the SWOT Team Technology Business Owners!

That's right, I said SWOT team not SWAT.

It's time to get back to basics and check out your Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. A regrouping of your business would be a very good idea right now.

SWOT is often looked at in a pure marketing light, but it has many uses. For this discussion we're talking about it as a company wide strategic brainstorming and planning tool.

What we want to do is see where you stand now and how to apply that to the near and distant future of your business.

Here's what I mean:

STRENGTHS- These are internal factors such as some kind of technical certification or specialty, expert knowledge of a particular vertical industry, a unique process or procedure, value added benefits of products/services, etc.

WEAKNESSES- These are also internal factors such as a lack of expertise, too many "me too" things/no differentiation from competition, quality issues, reputation issues, etc.


As a side note, location and size of the business can be a strength or a weakness depending on how you look at it. A location could help you corner a market and a smaller business with good infrastructure can change with client and environment needs much faster than a larger, less nimble business.


OPPORTUNITIES- These are external factors such as joint venture possibilities, new market entry opportunities, weakened competitors, new technologies to leverage, etc. Look at opportunities that you can take action on within the next 6 months.

THREATS- These are also external factors such as new top notch competitors, government rule changes, new tools that out date the ones you use, etc. Look at imminent threats that you need to take care of within the next 6 months.


Now that you have everything written down, you need to prioritize what needs to be taken care of. After that, come up with an actionable plan to capitalize on strengths and opportunities and to get rid of weaknesses and threats.

Sounds simple but it's rarely done as is most strategic planning in small businesses.

But seriously, now is the time to get back to these basics. No company is too big or small to do this kind of strategic planning. As a business owner, this is your core job for working on your business vesus in it.

Get to it and let me know if you need any help.


To Your Business Success-

George Sierchio
The Consultant's Coach