SWOT Analysis

SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats analysis) is a framework for identifying and analyzing
the internal and external factors that can have an impact on the viability of a project, product, place, or person.
A SWOT analysis is often used at the start of or as part of a strategic planning exercise. The framework is considered powerful support for decision-making because it enables an entity to uncover opportunities for success that were
previously unarticulated or to highlight threats before they become overly burdensome.
For example, this exercise can identify a market niche in which a business has a competitive advantage or help
individuals plot career success by pinpointing a path that maximizes their strengths while alerting them to threats that can thwart achievement.
A SWOT analysis is designed to facilitate a realistic, fact-based, data-driven look at the strengths and weaknesses of an organization, initiatives, or within its industry.
The organization needs to keep the analysis accurate by avoiding pre-conceived beliefs or gray areas and instead
focusing on real-life contexts. Companies should use it as a guide and not necessarily as a prescription.

A SWOT analysis can be broken into several steps with actionable items before and after analyzing the four components.

In general, a SWOT analysis will involve the following steps.
Step 1: Determine Your Objective A SWOT analysis can be broad, though more
value will likely be generated if the analysis is pointed directly at an objective.
For example, the objective of a SWOT analysis may focused only on whether or not to perform
a new product rollout. With an objective in mind, a company will have guidance on what they hope to achieve at the end of the process.
In this example, the SWOT analysis should help determine whether or not the product should be introduced.