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Casual Articles - SWOT Analysis
I’ve been accused of being opinionated by more than one person in my life, but try as I might to work on that part of my personality, it remains pretty much the same. So, in this article, I’m going to discuss my “opinion” on one reason why, even if your target market is strictly local, your small business can’t afford not to have a web site.A few statistics from Statistics Canada to start us on our way-. In 2003, there were about 12 million households in Canada, and of those 8 million had regular access to the internet from work, home and/or school. Around 60% of the total households had a computer and internet access at home.Ok, so n
Threats
Finally, we need to consider threats to the company. Again, threats can be internal as well as external. In fact, I’ve found that internal threats usually come first, which opens the door to external threats. Therefore, it’s important to do a good threat analysis.
Internal threats aren’t usually classified as such, which I think is a mistake. Any internal problem is a threat to the company’s well-being and should be evaluated alongside the external threats. For example, a company that relies on developing innovative products, such as Microsoft or Intel, faces the threat of losing engineering talent every day. This is an internal threat that could easily pave the way for external threat
Things to be considered before you decide to become Freelance Graphic Designer- Place to work First thing first, you are going to need place to work so you can work efficiently and effectively. If you work at home, a separate room would be nice in order to avoid any other home activities. Having a room to place a set of computer is good enough, even better if you have more space to any supporting activity such as writing, drawing, printing, set up final artwork (mock up), because as a freelancer you have to do all work which is supposed to be done by more than one person. Place your telephone or fax machine near you, so you don’t have to
In this article, we review a popular tool for evaluating competitive advantage, called SWOT analysis. SWOT analysis should be done on every company we’re thinking of making an investment in.
SWOT stands for:
Strengths
Weaknesses
Opportunities
Threats
Analyzing these four factors will help you make better investment decisions. It’s a brainstorming exercise, so take your time. A good SWOT analysis takes effort, but the more you put into SWOT analysis the better you will understand the company. Let’s look at each factor in turn.
Strengths
First, we look at the company’s strengths. What does the company do well? What makes it better than others? What does the company have, or do, that sets it apart from its competition?
These are important questions, and should include aspects of the company that made you consider it for investment in the first place. Look at branding, image, pricing power, size, market share, financial position (balance sheet strength), etc.
Here are some strengths to look for:
- The size of the company relative to others in the industry
- Balance Sheet strength
- Cash flows
- Perception of the company’s products
- Perception of the company’s brand(s)
- What advantages the company has over its competitors
- In general, what does the company do well?
Weaknesses
Now that you’ve determined how wonderful the company is, it’s time to look for the weaknesses. The same questions should be asked when looking for weaknesses. What does the company do poorly, or not so well? What are other companies doing better? What is keeping the company from greater success.
It’s important that you don’t gloss over this section. SWOT analysis is a brainstorming effort, so don’t discount anything that comes to mind. If you perceive a weakness, list it. The weakness you fail to list today could be why your investment turns out poorly next year.
Some weaknesses to look for:
- Deteriorating balance sheet
- Poor perception of company’s brand(s) and/or products
- Advantages other company’s have?
- Lack of management or other employee talent
- In general, what does the company do poorly?
Opportunities
We shift our focus to external factors when we look at opportunities. Here we try to identify areas of business we think the company is looking to enter, or should be looking to enter. We also look for opportunities to gain market share from competitors, or grow the company’s market to new customers.
But there are more than just external opportunities. There are opportunities within a company that should be considered. Can the company combine product lines to increase sales? Maybe the company has duplicate costs that can be streamlined. Companies can always find ways to do things better.
Some opportunities to look for:
- New markets for products
- Financial or legal trouble for competitors
- New technologies the company could adopt
- Changes in regulatory / tax burdens
- Strategic investments
- Internal efficiencies
Threats
Finally, we need to consider threats to the company. Again, threats can be internal as well as external. In fact, I’ve found that internal threats usually come first, which opens the door to external threats. Therefore, it’s important to do a good threat analysis.
Internal threats aren’t usually classified as such, which I think is a mistake. Any internal problem is a threat to the company’s well-being and should be evaluated alongside the external threats. For example, a company that relies on developing innovative products, such as Microsoft or Intel, faces the threat of losing engineering talent every day. This is an internal threat that could easily pave the way for external threat
10 Streams of Income You Can Create With Internet TelevisionMost of these different streams of revenue have already been mentioned throughout this manual, but it’s a good idea to recap them all in one place to give you a clear understanding of just how much potential is in this fledgling industry.1.Advertising Revenue- the most obvious.2. Product Placement- Companies pay big money to have their products placed in TV shows and movies.3. Joint Ventures- while JV partnerships with others will make you money, you could also make them money. For example, John Q. Public has offered to market my show to his list of peopl
Strengths
First, we look at the company’s strengths. What does the company do well? What makes it better than others? What does the company have, or do, that sets it apart from its competition?
These are important questions, and should include aspects of the company that made you consider it for investment in the first place. Look at branding, image, pricing power, size, market share, financial position (balance sheet strength), etc.
Here are some strengths to look for:
- The size of the company relative to others in the industry
- Balance Sheet strength
- Cash flows
- Perception of the company’s products
- Perception of the company’s brand(s)
- What advantages the company has over its competitors
- In general, what does the company do well?
Weaknesses
Now that you’ve determined how wonderful the company is, it’s time to look for the weaknesses. The same questions should be asked when looking for weaknesses. What does the company do poorly, or not so well? What are other companies doing better? What is keeping the company from greater success.
It’s important that you don’t gloss over this section. SWOT analysis is a brainstorming effort, so don’t discount anything that comes to mind. If you perceive a weakness, list it. The weakness you fail to list today could be why your investment turns out poorly next year.
Some weaknesses to look for:
- Deteriorating balance sheet
- Poor perception of company’s brand(s) and/or products
- Advantages other company’s have?
- Lack of management or other employee talent
- In general, what does the company do poorly?
Opportunities
We shift our focus to external factors when we look at opportunities. Here we try to identify areas of business we think the company is looking to enter, or should be looking to enter. We also look for opportunities to gain market share from competitors, or grow the company’s market to new customers.
But there are more than just external opportunities. There are opportunities within a company that should be considered. Can the company combine product lines to increase sales? Maybe the company has duplicate costs that can be streamlined. Companies can always find ways to do things better.
Some opportunities to look for:
- New markets for products
- Financial or legal trouble for competitors
- New technologies the company could adopt
- Changes in regulatory / tax burdens
- Strategic investments
- Internal efficiencies
Threats
Finally, we need to consider threats to the company. Again, threats can be internal as well as external. In fact, I’ve found that internal threats usually come first, which opens the door to external threats. Therefore, it’s important to do a good threat analysis.
Internal threats aren’t usually classified as such, which I think is a mistake. Any internal problem is a threat to the company’s well-being and should be evaluated alongside the external threats. For example, a company that relies on developing innovative products, such as Microsoft or Intel, faces the threat of losing engineering talent every day. This is an internal threat that could easily pave the way for external threat
It's a strange world we live in. We expect most things to be a simple matter of ABC. We don't want to have to think. We don't want to have to go outside the box to figure things out. We want it all laid out there for us in plain simple to follow steps. The medical billing world is no different. Medical billing persons don't want to have to think. Just give me the info that I need to get the bill out and move on to the next claim. Unfortunately, there are times when it isn't so nice and neat when it comes to submitting a claim to an insurance carrier, especially when you're sending claim to a heavily regulated carrier like Medicare. Sometimes,
Weaknesses
Now that you’ve determined how wonderful the company is, it’s time to look for the weaknesses. The same questions should be asked when looking for weaknesses. What does the company do poorly, or not so well? What are other companies doing better? What is keeping the company from greater success.
It’s important that you don’t gloss over this section. SWOT analysis is a brainstorming effort, so don’t discount anything that comes to mind. If you perceive a weakness, list it. The weakness you fail to list today could be why your investment turns out poorly next year.
Some weaknesses to look for:
- Deteriorating balance sheet
- Poor perception of company’s brand(s) and/or products
- Advantages other company’s have?
- Lack of management or other employee talent
- In general, what does the company do poorly?
Opportunities
We shift our focus to external factors when we look at opportunities. Here we try to identify areas of business we think the company is looking to enter, or should be looking to enter. We also look for opportunities to gain market share from competitors, or grow the company’s market to new customers.
But there are more than just external opportunities. There are opportunities within a company that should be considered. Can the company combine product lines to increase sales? Maybe the company has duplicate costs that can be streamlined. Companies can always find ways to do things better.
Some opportunities to look for:
- New markets for products
- Financial or legal trouble for competitors
- New technologies the company could adopt
- Changes in regulatory / tax burdens
- Strategic investments
- Internal efficiencies
Threats
Finally, we need to consider threats to the company. Again, threats can be internal as well as external. In fact, I’ve found that internal threats usually come first, which opens the door to external threats. Therefore, it’s important to do a good threat analysis.
Internal threats aren’t usually classified as such, which I think is a mistake. Any internal problem is a threat to the company’s well-being and should be evaluated alongside the external threats. For example, a company that relies on developing innovative products, such as Microsoft or Intel, faces the threat of losing engineering talent every day. This is an internal threat that could easily pave the way for external threat
Large successful corporations started as small companies. They were once unknown entities thriving on with their limited available funds. In a world where large corporations dominate the market, small companies would easily collapse.So what have made these used to be small companies stay in the market? Innovation breeds success. When these companies were just starting out, they were not afraid to try out something new. Innovation is taking improvement to a much higher level. Whereas improvement is just making an existing process or product better, innovation is creating changes and discovering new methods.Innovation is thinking out of th
Opportunities
We shift our focus to external factors when we look at opportunities. Here we try to identify areas of business we think the company is looking to enter, or should be looking to enter. We also look for opportunities to gain market share from competitors, or grow the company’s market to new customers.
But there are more than just external opportunities. There are opportunities within a company that should be considered. Can the company combine product lines to increase sales? Maybe the company has duplicate costs that can be streamlined. Companies can always find ways to do things better.
Some opportunities to look for:
- New markets for products
- Financial or legal trouble for competitors
- New technologies the company could adopt
- Changes in regulatory / tax burdens
- Strategic investments
- Internal efficiencies
Threats
Finally, we need to consider threats to the company. Again, threats can be internal as well as external. In fact, I’ve found that internal threats usually come first, which opens the door to external threats. Therefore, it’s important to do a good threat analysis.
Internal threats aren’t usually classified as such, which I think is a mistake. Any internal problem is a threat to the company’s well-being and should be evaluated alongside the external threats. For example, a company that relies on developing innovative products, such as Microsoft or Intel, faces the threat of losing engineering talent every day. This is an internal threat that could easily pave the way for external threat
If you run a mobile pressure washer business it is extremely important that you know the components so you can trouble shoot in the field while you are online with the manufacturers help desk or equipment vendor. Most problems that are encountered on the job can be easily fixed so you do not lose any money in the field.Your engine has a single crankshaft where all the power goes. In a car, this crankshaft goes to a transmission. On your machine there is a circular pulley pressed or wedged on to the crankshaft. The pulley has two grooves on it. A car has a pulley on the front of the engine block between the engine and the radiator also with g
Threats
Finally, we need to consider threats to the company. Again, threats can be internal as well as external. In fact, I’ve found that internal threats usually come first, which opens the door to external threats. Therefore, it’s important to do a good threat analysis.
Internal threats aren’t usually classified as such, which I think is a mistake. Any internal problem is a threat to the company’s well-being and should be evaluated alongside the external threats. For example, a company that relies on developing innovative products, such as Microsoft or Intel, faces the threat of losing engineering talent every day. This is an internal threat that could easily pave the way for external threats.
Some possible threats are:
- Internal obstacles the company is facing.
- Financial constraints on the company.
- Cash flow problems.
- The relative position of the company’s largest competitors.
- Technological advances in the industry (if the company isn’t keeping pace).
- New technologies that threaten to displace the company’s products.
SWOT analysis is a brainstorming activity, and you should learn from it. Focus on the weaknesses and the threats when doing SWOT, because that’s what will turn around and bite you after you make your investment. I’m not saying you should look only for the negatives, and ignore the company’s potential. But you should analyze the risks with as much, or more, scrutiny then the opportunities. Opportunities don’t always show up, but somehow risks always do.
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