What is a SWOT Analysis: uses and examples
To start a business project, it is necessary to carry out a market analysis. By ‘looking’ we will discover opportunities, that is, we will see how to satisfy existing needs in a different way for our target audience.
This study is carried out from both the macro environment and the microenvironment. We present what a SWOT analysis is and how to do it.
To develop a business project, the first thing to do is carry out an analysis and then be able to make future decisions. In other words, an analysis of the macro-environment and the micro-environment reflected in the SWOT will help us to conclude on objectives, strategies, and actions. In this way, a Marketing Plan, a Production Plan, a Human Resources Plan, a Financial Plan, a Control Plan, or a Contingency Plan can be correctly developed.
SWOT analysis: what it is and how to apply it to your project
The SWOT corresponds to the Weaknesses, Threats, Strengths, and Opportunities of a business, product, brand, or even oneself. It is a tool that collects a summary of the analysis we have carried out.
A space that welcomes the main conclusions that have been deduced from the analyzes developed at a previous time.
Internal analysis: factors
Market analysis carries out both a study of internal factors and external factors. Knowing the macro environment is a point common to the market in the same sector.
We talk about Threats and Opportunities. These spaces host demographic, economic, environmental, technological, cultural, political, and legal issues.
STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES
Regarding the analysis of the microenvironment, it offers us a vision of the internal context of the company. Reflected in the Weaknesses and Strengths, it covers issues related to the company itself, such as its philosophy, legal aspects, location, product lines, or Human Resources. It also includes what is related to target audiences, competition, suppliers, distribution channels, Marketing intermediaries, and Lobbies.
SWOT analysis uses
Market research helps us identify where they fit and what they are looking for. With this, it is necessary to answer a series of questions. Markets must be quantified in the current context:
What are they buying?
As well as in potential: What will they buy?
Define the needs that the product covers, that is, why do they buy? It is essential to know the solution to those needs since we sell ideas/solutions that are specified in products/services.
It is also important to know consumer habits, know how to respond to how they buy our product/service and when they do it
In the first moment, before opening a business it is a mandatory task since it shows us a study about the context, as well as the market and our own brand to see if it will be viable. In the same way, even if we have been in a company for years, conducting an analysis on whether it is still working and what advantages it offers compared to the competition are key points. When we have on the table a study of both internal and external factors that affect the brand, we facilitate future decision-making.
EXTERNAL ANALYSIS: FACTORS
After the analysis, it is necessary to draw up a strategy to enhance strengths, overcome weaknesses, control threats and benefit from opportunities.
A SWOT analysis is specific to each product or service that a company launches. We have to study both its internal and external factors in order to develop its objectives. As we have previously reflected, a SWOT analysis is mandatory in every business project.
In addition, we can do it ourselves. A personal SWOT analysis will help us improve self-confidence. Knowing our strengths, as well as knowing where we want to go, will help us strengthen those keys to achieve our objectives.
SWOT analysis example
To better establish the concept of SWOT analysis, we are going to see it in a practical example. Once the study is done, we show the conclusions in a SWOT matrix. It is a table in which, in a simple way, we see reflected on the left the internal factors that affect us (Weaknesses and Strengths). On the right side, we see the external factors that could have an influence on our project (Threats and Opportunities).
In this case, we are going to carry out a study on the situation of a photographer who decides to reinvent himself in his working life. With Digital Transformation, this person has decided to turn his professional career around. It is time to adapt, but he is a staunch defender of professional photography. The image is a way to tell stories. You want to start a new business project, so to establish your professional goals you would first have to carry out a market study.
To summarize the SWOT analysis, we will capture the aspects that influence both the microenvironment and the macroenvironment in a matrix.
Once we have the SWOT analysis in the matrix we can start making decisions. It will be the time to set goals. A good strategy will have to be devised to enhance strengths, overcome weaknesses, control threats and benefit from opportunities. And in this way define the actions to achieve the established objectives.
Did you already know the SWOT analysis? Have you used it on a personal level? Tell us about everything you want to delve into. If you found the article interesting, share it!
