By: Danna Ostan

Internal Factor
Situations within the company: pricing, costs,

skills and so on.

External factor
Situations presented by the environment:

audience, markets, competition and so on.

SWOT Analysis is a structured planning method used to evaluate Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats involved in a project or in a business venture. This involves specifying the objective of the business venture and identifying the internal and external factors that are favorable and unfavorable to achieving that objective.

Characteristics of the business or project that give it an advantage over others. Which make it stronger than competitors. This involve:
Brand Competition Costs Creativity Employees Resources

Attributes that is harmful to business objective which place the team at a disadvantage over others. EX:
High rental costs Cash Flow Problems Poor Record keeping Lack of Competitive Strengths

Elements that the project could exploit to its advantage. Possible factors for a business to exploit:
Competitor Economic changes Global Environment Global Influences Perceptions: popularity Greater Technology

Elements in the environment that could cause trouble for the business or project. EX:
Your competitor may be poised to expand operations or focus to its business more on the customers that you hope to serve.

Matching
Is used to find competitive advantage by

matching the strengths and opportunities.

Converting
Is to apply conversion strategies to convert

weaknesses or threats into strengths or opportunities.

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Start by identifying as many SWOTs as possible, but include only the most important in your diagram. Identify what you could do right now to eliminate or reduce the impact of threats and weaknesses. Identify how you could exploit strengths and opportunities, or lock them for a long term.

Remember, your goal is to make it easy for the lender/investor to say yes, by clearing away the obstacles & highlighting the opportunities. Your business plan should be written to capitalized on them. To truly exploit what is unique about your business, your opportunities should be well matched to your strengths.