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How To Make a SWOT Analysis Your Best Friend

by Elli St.George Godfrey on November 25th, 2009
17 Comments



How to Make a SWOT Analysis Your Best Friend

Is that a groan I hear? Usually when small business owners even think of SWOT analyses, there is an intense desire to be doing anything else. They feel a sudden need to organise old files or maybe even Hoover the home office. Typical responses are “I don’t need to do that. It’s all in my head” or “that’s for bigger businesses.”

What’s driving this reaction? Simply put, it’s the nervousness that somehow you are not measuring up. There is an assumption that it will be only bad news if you examine closely how your business is progressing. Granted the current economy is sluggish on a good day but there are plenty of businesses who were founded, grown, and even profited during these challenging time.

How could a SWOT analysis be my best friend? Think about the last time you had a really deep, soul-connecting conversation with a gHappy business partnersood friend. Your business is such a major part of your life, even at times, a consuming part. This analysis is really a conversation between your business and you and/or your business partners about how your business is performing.

If you are not familiar with a SWOT analysis, you evaluate the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats of your business.  Sure, it is challenging to look at your shortcomings but you also get to look at your successes.

While working with entrepreneurial small business owners, I’ve added a departure from the usual way of evaluating your business. Notice changes in revenue, your client base, and the business environment. Here is the twist, add in any personal information that directly relates to the business. Personal crises such as divorces, serious illness, or other family crises that affect your energy level and ability to perform well as the leader of your business. Positive events such as moving to a new community or a new marriage can also affect your performance. This information makes a difference in how your design your strategic planning, goals, and growth.

Smart entrepreneurs do not consider this business analysis as a measure of how badly they are doing. Instead, they consider the process as an opportunity for clarity, truth-telling, creativity, and action. It’s like having a conversation with a best friend who cares deeply about what happens to you.

What is your best friend telling you?



Category: Business expansion

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The Author:

Elli St.George Godfrey guides small business owners as they expand in their own community or internationally using her 3 Keys Coaching process helps clients not only navigate growth stages. With each stage of the 3 Keys coaching process, we tackle strategic planning, goal setting, managing change, organizational development and managing the stress and feelings of overwhelm that often plague small to mid-size business owners and executives. This results in clients feeling confident in identifying and developing strategies to be more effective leaders, plan more creatively, increase revenues and overcome the fears and obstacles that interfere with building thriving small to mid-sized businesses. I am also Chief Community Manager of Kaizen Biz and Host of Twitter chat, #KaizenBiz (a chat that uses the concept of "kaizen" for continual improvement in how we think and act in business). Please visit www.abilitysuccessgrowth.com/about/ to learn more and I look forward to meeting you in a complimentary coaching session. http://www.abilitysuccessgrowth.com

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  • http://twitter.com/barneyausten Barney Austen

    Hi Elli. SWOT is a great tool for analysing your business and helping to create plans of action. I recently did one as a foundation to finding out the what we needed to work on to grow to where we want to be in our business development plan. It really helped focus us on creating a relevant and realistic plan of action. You have to be honest with ourself – and don't worry if there are not strengths!

  • ElliStGeorgeGodfrey

    Hello Barney,Totally spot on! That's exactly what a SWOT analysis is supposed to do for you and your business! Keeping the “should-a, could-a, would-a” out of the process may be hard but you can only move forward when you are honest! The great thing is that there are always strengths! Your strength may be your high level of commitment to see a tough situation through. Whatever it is, no matter how small, it counts!

  • nialldevitt

    Hi Elli, welcome to Bloggertone.”This analysis is really a conversation between your business and you”This is a SUBERB way of explaining it, I may need to borrow this explanation :)

  • http://blog.myprojecttracker.com Barney Austen

    Hi Elli. SWOT is a great tool for analysing your business and helping to create plans of action. I recently did one as a foundation to finding out the what we needed to work on to grow to where we want to be in our business development plan. It really helped focus us on creating a relevant and realistic plan of action. You have to be honest with ourself – and don’t worry if there are not strengths!

  • http://twitter.com/IrishSmiley Frederique Murphy

    Hi Elli,Great post!I LOVE your analogy; it is the first time that I see the SWOT analysis being explained like this and I love it!I often use this with my clients as it is a “50/50″ analysis and by experience, I have found that business owners particularly at the moment, are so focused on the negative bits that they could talk and talk, and list and list all of their negative points; however, thanks to the SWOT analysis, they also have to list their positives ones, which is great!

  • Anonymous

    Hello Barney,

    Totally spot on! That’s exactly what a SWOT analysis is supposed to do for you and your business!

    Keeping the “should-a, could-a, would-a” out of the process may be hard but you can only move forward when you are honest! The great thing is that there are always strengths! Your strength may be your high level of commitment to see a tough situation through. Whatever it is, no matter how small, it counts!

  • http://www.btbtraining.com/blog Niall Devitt

    Hi Elli, welcome to Bloggertone.

    “This analysis is really a conversation between your business and you”

    This is a SUBERB way of explaining it, I may need to borrow this explanation :)

  • http://twitter.com/IrishSmiley Frederique Murphy

    Hi Elli,

    Great post!

    I LOVE your analogy; it is the first time that I see the SWOT analysis being explained like this and I love it!

    I often use this with my clients as it is a “50/50″ analysis and by experience, I have found that business owners particularly at the moment, are so focused on the negative bits that they could talk and talk, and list and list all of their negative points; however, thanks to the SWOT analysis, they also have to list their positives ones, which is great!

  • ElliStGeorgeGodfrey

    Hello Niall,Delighted to be part of Bloggertone! Feel free to borrow this explanation! It makes the whole process much less intimidating!

  • ElliStGeorgeGodfrey

    Hello Frederique,Thanks so much for your kind words! It is easy to get bogged down in the negatives! We can always see what needs to be done and what needs to be learned. Taking a moment to celebrate what is going right can be a great morale booster as well as bring relief from the pressure we place on ourselves to build the perfect small business.

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  • Anonymous

    Hello Niall,

    Delighted to be part of Bloggertone! Feel free to borrow this explanation! It makes the whole process much less intimidating!

  • Anonymous

    Hello Frederique,

    Thanks so much for your kind words! It is easy to get bogged down in the negatives! We can always see what needs to be done and what needs to be learned. Taking a moment to celebrate what is going right can be a great morale booster as well as bring relief from the pressure we place on ourselves to build the perfect small business.

  • miriamahern

    Great post Elli. I particularly like your twist for the entrepreneur or small business owner. I run a network for start-up entrepreneurs. I'm going to recommend that they try out your 'Twisted SWOT' as they face into the new year. Thanks for a fresh idea on an old and familiar framework.

  • Anonymous

    Great post Elli. I particularly like your twist for the entrepreneur or small business owner. I run a network for start-up entrepreneurs. I’m going to recommend that they try out your ‘Twisted SWOT’ as they face into the new year. Thanks for a fresh idea on an old and familiar framework.

  • miriamahern

    Great post Elli. I particularly like your twist for the entrepreneur or small business owner. I run a network for start-up entrepreneurs. I'm going to recommend that they try out your 'Twisted SWOT' as they face into the new year. Thanks for a fresh idea on an old and familiar framework.

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