March 31, 2024 • 14 mins
Ready to harness the full potential of your business with a time-tested strategy?
Let me, Tonya D. Harrison, be your guide on the Operations Toolbox podcast as we unwrap the power of SWOT analysis to build a robust blueprint for success. We're not just talking about averting burnout; we're setting the stage for explosive growth across the five foundational pillars of business.
As we chart a course for proactive growth, distractions like the social media vortex threaten to upend even the most disciplined entrepreneur. Fear not, as I share tactical advice to sharpen your focus,
By the end of our time together, you'll be equipped with a tailored plan that champions success and sustainability.
Join me on this journey to thriving operations with the Operations Toolbox podcast, and let's build a future-proof business together.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Do you sometimes wish you could be more prepared to
handle potential obstacles inyour business or more focused on
achieving your goals?
Well, there is a way.
In today's episode, I am goingto share a simple but powerful
way to get more in touch withyour business and external
(00:23):
factors that may impact yourbusiness.
Welcome to the OperationsToolbox podcast.
I'm your host, tonya D Harrison.
Let's create version 2.0 ofyour business, and this is the
version that is called GrowthWithout Burnout.
So let's get started.
Today, I want to share with youa powerful tool, a simple but
(00:47):
yet powerful tool, and it iscalled a SWOT analysis.
A SWOT analysis is a strategicplanning tool that is used to
identify and evaluate thestrengths, weaknesses,
opportunities and threats facingyour business.
Now we're going to go into alittle bit more detail, but
(01:09):
let's talk a little bit moreabout the SWOT analysis.
This SWOT analysis has beenaround since the 1960s, so
businesses have been using itfor a while now, and it is still
widely used today.
Not only is it used in business, but it's also used in the
professional growth arena and issomething that I used to use
(01:33):
when I was a career coach.
Performing a SWOT analysisallows you to take an objective,
look at the risks andopportunities for your business,
and it gives you time toprepare and put a game in place
to minimize or mitigate therisks or take advantage of the
(01:53):
opportunities.
Now I advise that, when you arepreparing to conduct your SWOT
analysis, that you take a lookat the five pillars of business.
These are the five areas that Irecommend for all solopreneurs
as well as small businesses.
These five areas are number onefinancial stability and growth.
(02:19):
So the first thing you want todo is you want to make sure
you're you are financiallystable, and then you want to
look at.
You want to make sure you arefinancially stable and then you
want to look at how you can grow.
This is a specific area thatyou want to focus on.
The second one is customervalue and success.
How do you create more valuefor your customers or potential
(02:39):
customers, and how do youincrease lifetime value of the
customers that you already have?
We've heard the saying thatit's cheaper to keep a customer
than it is to get a new one.
The third area is operationalexcellence.
This is your operations.
In this area, we're mainlytalking about how efficiently
(03:01):
you get things done.
So this is around yourprocesses, tools, technology,
anything that creates efficiencyand increases your profits.
Sales and marketing is thefourth area, and this is taking
a look at your marketing.
Is it landing?
Is it converting into sales?
How is all of that working foryou?
(03:22):
The fifth area is professionalgrowth and team development.
As a solopreneur, you want tomake sure that you are growing
professionally, since you areone of the or the primary
resource within your business.
Also, you want to think aboutways that you can expand your
(03:44):
team as well as develop themonce they're on board.
So let's talk about, or let'sbreak down, each component of
the SWOT analysis.
Let's dig a little bit deeper.
The first one is strengths.
So these are internal.
These are within your business,so you have more control.
(04:06):
These are internal factors thatcontribute positively to your
business's success.
Strengths may include thingslike a unique skill or expertise
, a strong brand recognition,customer loyalty, efficient
processes, access to valuableresources.
(04:28):
These are your strengths withinyour business.
Weaknesses they are internal aswell, but these are things that
hinder your business'sperformance or your growth
potential.
These may include things likelack of expertise, limited
(04:49):
financial resources, inefficientprocesses or poor brand
recognition Anything thatinternally that impedes growth.
The next two areas are externalfactors.
The first one is opportunities.
So this is an external factorthat the business could take
(05:12):
advantage of, capitalize on toachieve growth or competitive
advantage.
This could include things likeemerging market trends that you
can jump on, new technologiesyou could use.
Expanding customer segmentsright, so you may have a product
or services that you're usingin one industry that could be
(05:35):
expanded to another industry, ormaybe there are gaps in a
market that you could feel.
The fourth one is threats.
This is again external, butthese are things that could
potentially harm your businessor pose obstacles to its success
(05:56):
.
This could be increasedcompetition, like a lot of
people talk about.
The market is saturated, somaybe that is a potential threat
.
Economic downturns, the talkabout inflation we're in a
depression All of those thingsmay have a direct impact on your
(06:17):
business or could potentiallyhave a direct impact on your
business.
Changes in regulations therecould be a law or something
that's coming into place thatmay directly impact how you do
things.
Shifting in consumerpreferences they now like
something different, right thatcould be a threat.
Or technology disruptions.
(06:39):
So think about all of thesethings.
Be objective, look across thedifferent areas within your
business and think about whatare the potential threat.
Now, when you're doing youranalysis, because it's only you
as a solopreneur, you're goingto have to do some research.
Some of this information you'regoing to have readily about
(07:01):
available because it'sinternally, so you're just
objectively looking at yourbusiness.
But for the external things,you're going to have to do some
research, some market research.
You're going to have to go outthere and do some analysis as to
what is going on, looking atyour competitors, looking at
again any laws, looking atdifferent marketing trends and
(07:22):
things like that.
So you are really going to haveto do your work, your homework,
in order to make this aseffective as possible.
The ultimate goal is, when youidentify these things, you want
to have a plan how you canutilize them to your benefit, or
things that you could put inplace to minimize or mitigate
(07:43):
risk.
Now here's why small businessesin general should conduct a
small SWOT analysis.
The first thing is strategicplanning.
So conducting the SWOT analysishelps small businesses identify
key factors affecting theirsuccess, right?
So it's just like we justtalked about.
(08:04):
You're able to developstrategies to leverage your
strengths and address yourweaknesses, capitalize on
opportunities and mitigatethreats.
So you are in a position whereyou have a roadmap for strategic
decision making and resourceallocation.
The second thing is riskmanagement.
(08:25):
It puts you in a position whereyou can now manage your risk by
identifying potential threatsand weaknesses.
You are able to proactivelyaddress these risks and
vulnerabilities before theyescalate into major problems.
So you could put something inplace.
You could be proactive, whichis what we want to do.
(08:48):
We don't want to wait untilsomething happens right.
We want to make sure we areproactively doing things.
Resource allocation Now,understanding your business
strengths and opportunities, youcan allocate resources more
effectively.
You can prioritize thoseinvestments and those things in
(09:08):
areas that is going to help youachieve a competitive advantage
or where there is potentialgrowth.
So you could really optimizeyour resources, and we know that
we have limited resources.
The last one is competitiveadvantage.
So a SWOT analysis helps smallbusinesses identify unique
(09:29):
strengths and competitiveadvantages, allowing you to
separate yourselves in themarket, differentiate yourselves
and attract customers.
It also enables businesses tostay agile and responsive to
changes in the market.
Now, when it comes tosolopreneurs specifically, there
(09:52):
are some additional benefitsBecause we are the primary
resource within our businesssolopreneur.
One of the benefits isself-awareness.
It allows solopreneurs to gaina deeper understanding of their
own strengths and weaknesses,and now you can leverage these
(10:14):
skills more effectively.
Leverage these skills moreeffectively or, for the areas
that you have a weakness, nowyou can implement some personal
and professional development sothat you could get ahead of it.
And when I say self-awareness,I'm talking about everything,
(10:38):
right?
Something as simple as if youscroll social media too, too
long, if you're spending two,three hours on social media
scrolling, that could be two tothree hours that you are working
in your business.
So nothing is too big or toosmall.
Really, think about everythingwhen you're doing this SWOT
analysis.
The second thing is focus, soyou can gain insights from SWOT
(11:03):
analysis to help you prioritizeyour activities.
Again, we are going to focus onthose strengths and
opportunities so that we canleverage them.
So you could think about whatthose tasks are.
We're going back to the 80-20rule, right?
20% of the activities usuallylead to 80% of the outcomes.
(11:23):
What are those activities thatyou need to be focusing on to
achieve greater results?
Efficiency is the next one.
By identifying potentialthreats and weaknesses, you can
take proactive measures toaddress these issues and
minimize the impact to yourbusiness.
(11:45):
Again, this proactive approachhelps solopreneurs operate more
efficiently and effectively.
Now, the SWOT analysis althoughit's been around for a while and
a lot of companies use it,there are alternative approaches
.
A lot of companies use it,there are alternative approaches
.
There's something called thescore analysis, the PESTO
(12:06):
analysis, soar, noise analysis,and each of these tools have
pros and cons, so you can go outand you can research some of
them.
I like the SWOT analysisbecause it is simple and
straightforward.
What are your strengths, whatare your weaknesses, what are
(12:27):
your opportunities, what areyour threats?
I like it because it's simple,it's straightforward.
It forces you to look at thingsthat you may not have
necessarily looked at before, aslong as you're doing it from an
objective perspective.
Again, you gotta do yourresearch so that it is complete.
And then also, the other thingis, like I said, once you
(12:51):
complete your SWOT analysis, youwant to make sure that you have
a plan that addresses each ofthese your strengths and
opportunities, as well as yourweaknesses and your threats.
That's how you're going to getthe most out of it, by doing
something about it.
So, if we go back to the exampleof the weakness of scrolling
(13:13):
social media, what is the planto stop that right?
So it may be to put.
Where notifications don't comethrough on your computer or on
your phone, or block certainapps during a certain time of
day, there has to be a plan toaddress it in order for it to be
effective and useful.
(13:34):
This wraps up another episodeof the Operations Toolbox
podcast.
I hope you found thisinformation helpful.
Go forth and do your SWOTanalysis and create that
proactive plan so that you cancontinue to grow your business
without burnout.
I'm your host, tanya D Harrison, and I want to thank you for
(13:57):
joining me.
Until next time, keep pushingforward on your entrepreneurial
journey.
Do you sometimes wish you could be more prepared to
handle potential obstacles inyour business or more focused on
achieving your goals?
Well, there is a way.
In today's episode, I am goingto share a simple but powerful
way to get more in touch withyour business and external
(00:23):
factors that may impact yourbusiness.
Welcome to the OperationsToolbox podcast.
I'm your host, tonya D Harrison.
Let's create version 2.0 ofyour business, and this is the
version that is called GrowthWithout Burnout.
So let's get started.
Today, I want to share with youa powerful tool, a simple but
(00:47):
yet powerful tool, and it iscalled a SWOT analysis.
A SWOT analysis is a strategicplanning tool that is used to
identify and evaluate thestrengths, weaknesses,
opportunities and threats facingyour business.
Now we're going to go into alittle bit more detail, but
(01:09):
let's talk a little bit moreabout the SWOT analysis.
This SWOT analysis has beenaround since the 1960s, so
businesses have been using itfor a while now, and it is still
widely used today.
Not only is it used in business, but it's also used in the
professional growth arena and issomething that I used to use
(01:33):
when I was a career coach.
Performing a SWOT analysisallows you to take an objective,
look at the risks andopportunities for your business,
and it gives you time toprepare and put a game in place
to minimize or mitigate therisks or take advantage of the
(01:53):
opportunities.
Now I advise that, when you arepreparing to conduct your SWOT
analysis, that you take a lookat the five pillars of business.
These are the five areas that Irecommend for all solopreneurs
as well as small businesses.
These five areas are number onefinancial stability and growth.
(02:19):
So the first thing you want todo is you want to make sure
you're you are financiallystable, and then you want to
look at.
You want to make sure you arefinancially stable and then you
want to look at how you can grow.
This is a specific area thatyou want to focus on.
The second one is customervalue and success.
How do you create more valuefor your customers or potential
(02:39):
customers, and how do youincrease lifetime value of the
customers that you already have?
We've heard the saying thatit's cheaper to keep a customer
than it is to get a new one.
The third area is operationalexcellence.
This is your operations.
In this area, we're mainlytalking about how efficiently
(03:01):
you get things done.
So this is around yourprocesses, tools, technology,
anything that creates efficiencyand increases your profits.
Sales and marketing is thefourth area, and this is taking
a look at your marketing.
Is it landing?
Is it converting into sales?
How is all of that working foryou?
(03:22):
The fifth area is professionalgrowth and team development.
As a solopreneur, you want tomake sure that you are growing
professionally, since you areone of the or the primary
resource within your business.
Also, you want to think aboutways that you can expand your
(03:44):
team as well as develop themonce they're on board.
So let's talk about, or let'sbreak down, each component of
the SWOT analysis.
Let's dig a little bit deeper.
The first one is strengths.
So these are internal.
These are within your business,so you have more control.
(04:06):
These are internal factors thatcontribute positively to your
business's success.
Strengths may include thingslike a unique skill or expertise
, a strong brand recognition,customer loyalty, efficient
processes, access to valuableresources.
(04:28):
These are your strengths withinyour business.
Weaknesses they are internal aswell, but these are things that
hinder your business'sperformance or your growth
potential.
These may include things likelack of expertise, limited
(04:49):
financial resources, inefficientprocesses or poor brand
recognition Anything thatinternally that impedes growth.
The next two areas are externalfactors.
The first one is opportunities.
So this is an external factorthat the business could take
(05:12):
advantage of, capitalize on toachieve growth or competitive
advantage.
This could include things likeemerging market trends that you
can jump on, new technologiesyou could use.
Expanding customer segmentsright, so you may have a product
or services that you're usingin one industry that could be
(05:35):
expanded to another industry, ormaybe there are gaps in a
market that you could feel.
The fourth one is threats.
This is again external, butthese are things that could
potentially harm your businessor pose obstacles to its success
(05:56):
.
This could be increasedcompetition, like a lot of
people talk about.
The market is saturated, somaybe that is a potential threat
.
Economic downturns, the talkabout inflation we're in a
depression All of those thingsmay have a direct impact on your
(06:17):
business or could potentiallyhave a direct impact on your
business.
Changes in regulations therecould be a law or something
that's coming into place thatmay directly impact how you do
things.
Shifting in consumerpreferences they now like
something different, right thatcould be a threat.
Or technology disruptions.
(06:39):
So think about all of thesethings.
Be objective, look across thedifferent areas within your
business and think about whatare the potential threat.
Now, when you're doing youranalysis, because it's only you
as a solopreneur, you're goingto have to do some research.
Some of this information you'regoing to have readily about
(07:01):
available because it'sinternally, so you're just
objectively looking at yourbusiness.
But for the external things,you're going to have to do some
research, some market research.
You're going to have to go outthere and do some analysis as to
what is going on, looking atyour competitors, looking at
again any laws, looking atdifferent marketing trends and
(07:22):
things like that.
So you are really going to haveto do your work, your homework,
in order to make this aseffective as possible.
The ultimate goal is, when youidentify these things, you want
to have a plan how you canutilize them to your benefit, or
things that you could put inplace to minimize or mitigate
(07:43):
risk.
Now here's why small businessesin general should conduct a
small SWOT analysis.
The first thing is strategicplanning.
So conducting the SWOT analysishelps small businesses identify
key factors affecting theirsuccess, right?
So it's just like we justtalked about.
(08:04):
You're able to developstrategies to leverage your
strengths and address yourweaknesses, capitalize on
opportunities and mitigatethreats.
So you are in a position whereyou have a roadmap for strategic
decision making and resourceallocation.
The second thing is riskmanagement.
(08:25):
It puts you in a position whereyou can now manage your risk by
identifying potential threatsand weaknesses.
You are able to proactivelyaddress these risks and
vulnerabilities before theyescalate into major problems.
So you could put something inplace.
You could be proactive, whichis what we want to do.
(08:48):
We don't want to wait untilsomething happens right.
We want to make sure we areproactively doing things.
Resource allocation Now,understanding your business
strengths and opportunities, youcan allocate resources more
effectively.
You can prioritize thoseinvestments and those things in
(09:08):
areas that is going to help youachieve a competitive advantage
or where there is potentialgrowth.
So you could really optimizeyour resources, and we know that
we have limited resources.
The last one is competitiveadvantage.
So a SWOT analysis helps smallbusinesses identify unique
(09:29):
strengths and competitiveadvantages, allowing you to
separate yourselves in themarket, differentiate yourselves
and attract customers.
It also enables businesses tostay agile and responsive to
changes in the market.
Now, when it comes tosolopreneurs specifically, there
(09:52):
are some additional benefitsBecause we are the primary
resource within our businesssolopreneur.
One of the benefits isself-awareness.
It allows solopreneurs to gaina deeper understanding of their
own strengths and weaknesses,and now you can leverage these
(10:14):
skills more effectively.
Leverage these skills moreeffectively or, for the areas
that you have a weakness, nowyou can implement some personal
and professional development sothat you could get ahead of it.
And when I say self-awareness,I'm talking about everything,
(10:38):
right?
Something as simple as if youscroll social media too, too
long, if you're spending two,three hours on social media
scrolling, that could be two tothree hours that you are working
in your business.
So nothing is too big or toosmall.
Really, think about everythingwhen you're doing this SWOT
analysis.
The second thing is focus, soyou can gain insights from SWOT
(11:03):
analysis to help you prioritizeyour activities.
Again, we are going to focus onthose strengths and
opportunities so that we canleverage them.
So you could think about whatthose tasks are.
We're going back to the 80-20rule, right?
20% of the activities usuallylead to 80% of the outcomes.
(11:23):
What are those activities thatyou need to be focusing on to
achieve greater results?
Efficiency is the next one.
By identifying potentialthreats and weaknesses, you can
take proactive measures toaddress these issues and
minimize the impact to yourbusiness.
(11:45):
Again, this proactive approachhelps solopreneurs operate more
efficiently and effectively.
Now, the SWOT analysis althoughit's been around for a while and
a lot of companies use it,there are alternative approaches
.
A lot of companies use it,there are alternative approaches
.
There's something called thescore analysis, the PESTO
(12:06):
analysis, soar, noise analysis,and each of these tools have
pros and cons, so you can go outand you can research some of
them.
I like the SWOT analysisbecause it is simple and
straightforward.
What are your strengths, whatare your weaknesses, what are
(12:27):
your opportunities, what areyour threats?
I like it because it's simple,it's straightforward.
It forces you to look at thingsthat you may not have
necessarily looked at before, aslong as you're doing it from an
objective perspective.
Again, you gotta do yourresearch so that it is complete.
And then also, the other thingis, like I said, once you
(12:51):
complete your SWOT analysis, youwant to make sure that you have
a plan that addresses each ofthese your strengths and
opportunities, as well as yourweaknesses and your threats.
That's how you're going to getthe most out of it, by doing
something about it.
So, if we go back to the exampleof the weakness of scrolling
(13:13):
social media, what is the planto stop that right?
So it may be to put.
Where notifications don't comethrough on your computer or on
your phone, or block certainapps during a certain time of
day, there has to be a plan toaddress it in order for it to be
effective and useful.
(13:34):
This wraps up another episodeof the Operations Toolbox
podcast.
I hope you found thisinformation helpful.
Go forth and do your SWOTanalysis and create that
proactive plan so that you cancontinue to grow your business
without burnout.
I'm your host, tanya D Harrison, and I want to thank you for
(13:57):
joining me.
Until next time, keep pushingforward on your entrepreneurial
journey.
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