“So it is said that if you know others and know yourself, you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles; if you do not know others but do know yourself, you win one and lose one; if you do not know others and do not know yourself, you will be imperiled in every single battle.”
-Sun Tzu

A SWOT is an illuminating assessment tool.  Why? Because every business–and in fact, every person–has these four factors, Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats at play in their life. Therefore, SWOT assessments can be used as a personal or a business assessment. And they can be done in regular intervals as events and factors change. Many businesses perform a SWOT assessment every year as a part of their strategy building and goal setting.

• Strengths are capabilities that give you an advantage in your business.
• Weaknesses are deficiencies that put you at a disadvantage in your business.

• Opportunities are unrealized options for growth (usually born of capitalizing on strengths or mitigating weaknesses).
• Threats are potential dangers that can interfere with your growth or success.

Strengths and weaknesses are considered internal and unique to your business. Some business owners have an easier time figuring out their strengths than admitting their weaknesses. Others have a grocery list of weaknesses, but can’t articulate their strengths.

In either case, when using a SWOT assessment, both strengths and weaknesses are brought into the light – which ideally will help you let the Strengths shine, and cause the Weaknesses to wilt.

Opportunities and threats are considered external or outside of your control of your business. You can mitigate threats. You can take advantage of opportunities. However, the creative part of of a SWOT assessment is when you use your strengths or correct a weakness that gives this exercise its power.

When used in combination with the Three Cs and Core Ideology you are on your way to creating inspiring goals and the steps to implement them. This is the heavy lifting required to get you and your company on the path to greatness.

Read more information about help with a one on one or a Strategic Business Leadership SWOT assessment.