Swot Analysis - A User's Guide!

First things first, what exactly is a swot analysis, or swot, and why exactly should you do one?

This is not a tutorial about the most effective way to kill off (or swat) the local fly population. No, more to do with establishing where you are right now with your business and which directions you can go in - and which you shouldn't.

Once you know how to do a swot analysis, they are an incredibly useful tool to use in your business life (and possibly in other areas of your life too!). Every professional marketer out there will carry out a swot analysis before they come up with any great marketing ideas, strategies or plans.

A swot analysis can give you all sorts of hidden gems that you have within your business. Once you've uncovered your gems, you just need to polish them up and put them to work.

Definition of a SWOT

Very simply, a swot analysis is a breakdown (or analysis) of your Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats.

And, in particular, those strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that relate to you and your business.

How do I do one?

Good question.

And let's use this as our second exercise in building your marketing plan. Get another piece of paper (A4 size preferably) and get ready for...

Exercise 2: Your Swot Analysis

OK, divide your piece of paper into quadrants (ie draw a line down the middle from top to bottom, and a line across the middle from left to right so you end up with four squares).

In your top left hand square write 'Strengths' along the top (where you would write a title for that quadrant);
In your top right hand square write 'Weaknesses';
In your bottom left hand square write 'Opportunities';
In your bottom right hand square write 'Threats'.

You should now have four squares with a title across the top of each square.

Now it's time for a bit of brain storming (or is it a thought shower these days?). Anyway, time to get thinking.

In your Strengths square, write a list of all the good, positive things you can think of about you (yes, you as an individual), your company, your company's products, and your company's business opportunity and compensation plan.

This is not the place to write the fact that your company's product is picked in moonlight by garden gnomes - that comes later. But what you can say is that "the products work!" or "heals eczema fast".

NB I know these sound like medical claims, and if you are with a natural health company like I am, then I know you won't be allowed to make medical claims publicly. However this is the beginning of your own personal marketing plan, and you can say what you want here, in your own words. No-one else will have to read it. So feel free to get carried away with how wonderful you are, your company is and so on.

Write as many things as you can think of.

Run out of things to put? OK, we can come back to it later.

Let's move on to your Weaknesses square.

This is where you write a list of all the not so good things...OK, OK the problem areas.

Again, think about you and the areas that you are not so good at. It's OK, no-one is going to read it! Be honest. It's important to know your weak points so that we can develop srategies to overcome them. Or, even better, play to your strengths.

Although this is your business and marketing plan, you shouldn't just concentrate on your business weaknesses. Network marketing is a business where people work with people, and we have to network with people in order to build our businesses.

If one of your weaknesses is that you are shy and completely dislike meeting people in a social situation, then that's important to know. (All is not lost if this is the case by the way. I'll tell you how to overcome this particular issue later on in the tutorials).

You also need to think about weaknesses in relation to your company, its products, its business opportunity and compensation plan. Can't think of any? Is your product perceived as too expensive? Has anyone heard of your company? Can customers buy products on the internet? Do you get paid on as many downline legs as you have built? Or do you only get paid on the strongest leg?

Again, write as many things as you can come up with.

On to your Opportunities square.

This is your place for untapped potential.

What opportunities are there for you to develop your business? Is there a big city near by that you haven't touched with your business yet? Could your products reach some different groups of people than the ones you currently sell to? Do you have any unfulfilled desires to have a business across 20 countries? What about developing an internet business?

This is the area where you need to think laterally, or 'outside the box'. Think big too if this is in line with your goals.

If you're struggling (and sometimes this is the area where people have the smallest list), then how about doing some research?

Got some opportunities to exlore?

Swot analysis shaping up nicely?

Good. Let's move on to our last square - Threats.

In this quadrant you'll write a list of all the things that are or could be a threat to you and your business.

I suspect no-one is actually threatening you (hopefully!), but having too many distributors in your particular area could be perceived as a threat. Personally it doesn't bother me, but to some it could be seen as a problem.

Another example could be that you are about to have a baby which is going to severely limit (and threaten) the time that you can spend on your business. (In my personal experience, other than the first few weeks, it's actually pretty easy to build your business whilst your baby is small and sleeps alot. It's when they get older (1 year +) that it becomes a little more challenging. Not impossible though!).

Or maybe you just haven't got enough money to fund the growth of your business. (If this is the case, I'll tell you how to overcome this particular hurdle later on in the site).

This is another area where you'll need to think outside the box a bit.

*******

Phew!

Finished?

What I'd like you to do now is put your swot analysis away for the rest of the day. Go have some fun. Do something ceative.

Do something to put a smile on your face. And...

..come back to your lists tomorrow.

Why?

Because we can get stuck in a particular way of thinking, and sometimes just can't think of things which are perfectly obvious at any other time.

So, let your brain rest and re-energise.

Come back to your swot analysis tomorrow and you'll be amazed at all the extra strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that have popped up to the surface over night.

Done that? Great!

Before you declare it finished, give it to your partner, best friend in the business, mentor, coach or whoever else you trust to see if they can add anything.

What you've probably got now is an A4 piece of paper with scribblings all over the place as you've added more and more items to your list. What I suggest is that you type or write all that up neatly and feel extremely pleased and proud with yourself that you've completed your very own swot analysis.

Well done!!

A Warning!

If you've been tempted to skip parts, or not think too thoroughly about your SWOT, then I strongly recommend that you go back and go through this exercise fully.

Don't forget a swot analysis is a tool, and a very useful one at that. What if the screwdriver inventor had got bored at the handle design stage and hadn't carried on? Everything would fall apart! ;o)

A tool is only useful if it's fully functioning. So make your swot analysis fully functioning for you and do it in detail.

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