SWOT is an acronym for a brainstorming exercise that analyzes the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats for a business. The first two factors, strengths and weaknesses, are controllable internally by the company. Opportunities and threats are external to the business. Once the SWOT analysis is complete, it may be presented to management or employees.
Prioritize the most important strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. The prioritization could be based on impact on the company, resources available, the small-business owner's personal preferences or a joint decision made as part of the brainstorming sessions.
Define each strength, weakness, opportunity and threat. Develop a computerized slide presentation. On each slide discuss one strength: why it's a strength and what the business can do to optimize it. No more than one factor should be addressed on each slide.
Use bullet points rather than lengthy descriptions. Do a test run of the first few slides by putting them on the screen and standing in the back of the room. Each slide should be clear, uncluttered and visible. Plan on no less than one minute per slide. Otherwise the presentation is too rushed. Decide ahead of time the least important strengths, weaknesses, opportunity and threat slides that could be skipped over if you think you'll run out of time.
Continue with the weaknesses, one per slide. These could be factors such as a lax computer security system. Address how the business plans to improve weaknesses. In this example, installing firewalls and antivirus programs would be the solution. If you plan to include audience input, start the discussion with one suggestion and ask for others.
Note on the slides for opportunities how the company can take advantage of the opportunity, what tasks are necessary and what the cost will be. An opportunity could be a new market niche, a competitor closing or changes in government regulations.
Develop the slides for the threats, noting how the threat will impact the business, what the probability is that the threat will happen and what the company should do if it becomes reality. Threats could be a ground-breaking technology, potential litigation or changes in the customer base because of population shifts.
Break the presentation into 30 minute segments. Give equal time to each SWOT factor. Otherwise, the audience might think the shorter sections are less important.
Finish the presentation with a next step or call to action. Define what you want the attendees to do next with the information they've been discussing. You might ask for their comments after the presentation or hand out a survey to rank each of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Another alternative is to ask each attendee for additional SWOT factors or for their ideas on how to take advantage of the strengths and opportunities.
Katie Rosehill's first book was published in 2000. Since then she has written additional books as well as screenplays, website content and e-books. Her articles have appeared on various websites. Rosehill holds a Master of Business Administration from Arizona State University. Her articles specialize in personal finance, weddings and gardening.
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