Last week, I published my Strengths and Weaknesses and encouraged you to do the same exercise. I know some of you have and one brave reader, Barb H, even shared hers in the comments. Thank you Barb! And a very good list which is similar to my own.
Today, I’m going to do the second phase of the SWOT analysis. To review, the three phases are:
- Strengths and Weaknesses
- Opportunities and Threats
- Combine all 4 lists and develop a strategy based on them
Looking Outside
While the Strengths and Weaknesses require an honest appraisal of yourself, Opportunities and Threats is a look at the external environment of your business. This can include the local business market, government regulations, physical location, distribution, weather, or anything outside of your business’ walls.
To develop these lists, I’ll be doing some Brainstorming. The thing with brainstorming is, it must be done as quickly as possible with no editing as you go. Don’t stop to think too much. I like to use a pen and paper because it’s fast and I can’t backspace or worry about spelling.
Opportunities
Create a list of opportunities for you outside your current business. Is there a new group that needs your service? Is there a change in local zoning that could work to your benefit? Have you finished a class and added new techniques? Are there other skills you have from a past job that you’re not marketing?
Here are the Opportunities that I identified
- Intra oral certification – dental patients
- Expand the CE classes that I teach
- Move at least one of my CE classes Online
- Helping MTs get a website for their practice
- Design websites
- Setup blogs
- Workshops for office workers
Threats
Not everything outside of the business is good for you. Here you’ll list the things outside of your control that could harm your business. Are there new laws that will limit your client base? Has a new competitor moved into your area? Has a change in the local economy affected your clients’ spending habits? Is there a low barrier to entry and a saturated market?
Here are the Threats that I identified:
- Loss of insurance money due to insurance provider change
- Low barrier to entry (web design)
- Lots of new grads every year
- Local economic recovery continues to lag as it follows state revenues
- Clients “get better” and no longer need as much massage
- Small city – no Groupon or other large online marketing available
- MT’s reluctant to take CE courses
- MT’s procrastinate on signing up for CE courses
- MT’s not as tech savvy
The next phase is where we take all 4 lists and put them in a table to try and match the best Opportunities with our Strengths and the worst Threats with our Weaknesses. This will give us clear direction to take the business and where not to.
Do this now
I think this is so important, I’m going to tell you to take 5 minutes, right now, and write down the first 3 opportunities that come to your mind. Then write down the first 3 threats that come to mind. List them in the comments section.
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