How long does a swot analysis take

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This article outlines the planning process that should follow a SWOT analysis. From here you should develop an action item. Step 2: Prioritize your strategic alternatives. Step 3: Balance your priorities. Step 4: Build a roadmap. Opportunities external, positive factors Opportunities are external attractive factors that represent reasons your business is likely to prosper.

What opportunities exist in your market or the environment that you can benefit from? Is the perception of your business positive? Has there been recent market growth or have there been other changes in the market the create an opportunity?

Is the opportunity ongoing, or is there just a window for it? In other words, how critical is your timing? Threats external, negative factors Threats include external factors beyond your control that could place your strategy, or the business itself, at risk.

Who are your existing or potential competitors? What factors beyond your control could place your business at risk? Are there challenges created by an unfavorable trend or development that may lead to deteriorating revenues or profits? What situations might threaten your marketing efforts? Has there been a significant change in supplier prices or the availability of raw materials? What about shifts in consumer behavior, the economy, or government regulations that could reduce your sales?

Has a new product or technology been introduced that makes your products, equipment, or services obsolete? Looking for more? Tim Berry. Starting or Growing a Business? Check out these Offerings. You may think that you already know everything that you need to do to succeed, but a SWOT analysis will force you to look at your business in new ways and from new directions.

For a SWOT analysis to be effective, company founders and leaders need to be deeply involved. Select people who can represent different aspects of your company, from sales and customer service to marketing and product development. Everyone should have a seat at the table. Innovative companies even look outside their own internal ranks when they perform a SWOT analysis and get input from customers to add their unique voice to the mix.

Recruit additional points of view from friends who know a little about your business, your accountant, or even vendors and suppliers. The key is to have different points of view. Existing businesses can use a SWOT analysis to assess their current situation and determine a strategy to move forward. For startups, a SWOT analysis is part of the business planning process. One or two hours should be more than plenty. Gather people from different parts of your company and make sure that you have representatives from every department and team.

Doing a SWOT analysis is similar to brainstorming meetings, and there are right and wrong ways to run them. I suggest giving everyone a pad of sticky-notes and have everyone quietly generate ideas on their own to start things off.

This prevents groupthink and ensures that all voices are heard. After five to 10 minutes of private brainstorming, put all the sticky-notes up on the wall and group similar ideas together. Sticky dots in different colors are useful for this portion of the exercise. Based on the voting exercise, you should have a prioritized list of ideas. Of course, the list is now up for discussion and debate, and someone in the room should be able to make the final call on the priority.

After an hour of brainstorming, this is the SWOT analysis they developed. Everyone who participated got something valuable from the exercise. The owner got enough actionable information to guide his planning efforts over the next 2 years. Once he developed the strategic plan, he posted it on the back office wall so that everyone could see it.