SWOT Analysis

Before starting any business, it is necessary to analyze the market conditions. Whether there is market for the products that you would be manufacturing? Or are you manufacturing as per the need of the market? How is the competition? Analysis is important, whether it is in exploring stage, start up stage or for an established company. The structured way of doing this analysis is 'SWOT' method. This SWOT method is nothing but putting all the strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats in one place. Ideally, it would be better if you take a big sheet or a big white board. If you are doing this along with your team, it is ideal to use a white board. 

What you need to do?

You need to divide the white board into four quadrants. In the Left hand side Top quadrant, write Strengths that your company, your team, your product has or how you can improve those. Here, you can list all the strengths like the location of your company, the speed in the development, the product quality, your team & how it brings experience to the table, etc. In the Top Right quadrant, write all the weaknesses that you might know of your product, company or your team. You might know that there are some weaknesses like your financial strength is less, you don't have all the facilities, your distribution network which is non-existent. In the bottom left quadrant, you need to write all the opportunities that you have. You may list all types of opportunities that you have like B2B market, B2C market, regionwise, productwise opportunities, etc. And in the bottom right quadrant write all the threats that you have. You may know that you are starting anew, so you may not get easy entry in the market. You may know that your facilities are not so big that bigger companies are attracted by you. Such all threats come into one place.

Now, once you have analyzed the whole situation and put it in one place, you know where do you need to strike to gain momentum and where you need to work to keep the threats away. All such things, where your weakness and threats are there need to be worked upon before they become big enough to gobble you. And all those opportunities need to be taken up so that you strengthen yourself.