Page 16 - MICROHUB Handbook - ENGLISH

AM I GOOD ENOUGH?

THE MYSTERY OF SWOT AND MARKET ANALYSIS

SWOT stands for S – strengths, W – weaknesses, O – opportunities and T –

threats. It is an analytic tool you can use to evaluate the potential of your
microbusiness and factors influencing it. It is a useful strategic planning tool
that informs you about your actual performance, industry, and product, and it
can be very helpful when you are considering a new opportunity.

Firstly, what you should know is that strengths and weaknesses come from
within your business. It is something that you can influence directly, but the
opportunities and threats are something you have little or no control over, for
example COVID-19 or a recession in the market. Let's break it down:

STRENGTHS: list the strengths of your business. What do you think makes your
business/product better than your competition? You can list everything – do
you have good working space? Loyal client base? Are you using the newest

technology? Or do you have handy people around you? List it!

WEAKNESSES: where are your downfalls? What can be done better, more

efficiently? Maybe your brand is weak, maybe you work long hours, but
you are not gaining as much as you'd wished. We are not trying to
demotivate you. In time, you will be able to see the progress you have

made by many of your weaknesses being resolved.

OPPORTUNITIES: as we said earlier, opportunities come from outside. It
can be a new training programme you have an opportunity to attend to

gain new skills; maybe there's a new law allowing you to export to new
countries; or you formed a new collaboration. Some opportunities can be
threats at the same time. In that case you add it to both.

THREATS: what could harm your business that you have no control over?

Threats can be for example climate change causing droughts with
negative impact on the crop yield, market oversaturation and so on.

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