Important questions to ask in your SWOT analysis

May 5, 2023

Every small business owner should conduct a SWOT analysis at least twice yearly to assess their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats compared to their competition, markets, and industry.

Rieva Lesonsky

Related To: Score

Important questions to ask in your SWOT analysis

Every small business owner should conduct a SWOT analysis at least twice yearly to assess their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats compared to their competition, markets, and industry.

A SWOT analysis contains four sections that help determine your business's performance.

Strengths. The business’s strengths indicate where the company excels and how it surpasses its competition. Whether it’s the quality of the product or service, its employees, or its position in the market, this section should tout the company’s accomplishments.
Weaknesses. Recognizing and acknowledging the business’s weaknesses is crucial to know where to improve. For example, the company may be inefficient in certain areas or have high employee turnover. By revealing its failings, the business can take action to find solutions.
Opportunities. Opportunities are the external factors a business can take advantage of to grow. Opportunities abound but may be hard to spot. A SWOT analysis can help you identify new products to sell or services to offer or how new technology can improve productivity and save money.
Threats. The threats to your company are external influences that might hurt your company. Although you don’t have control over factors like rising interest rates or new competitors, it’s essential to recognize any threats before preparing an action plan.

Use the following checklist to start on your SWOT analysis:

Download the checklist now.

This article originally appeared on score.org.

About the Author

Rieva Lesonsky

Rieva Lesonsky is president and CEO of GrowBiz Media, a custom content and media company focusing on small business and entrepreneurship, and the blog SmallBusinessCurrents.com. She’s a nationally-known speaker, best-selling author, and authority on entrepreneurship and has covered the industry for more than 30 years. Prior to starting GrowBiz Media, she was the long-time Editorial Director of Entrepreneur magazine.

Lesonsky regularly writes about small business and entrepreneurship for numerous websites. She also consults with and produces content for corporations targeting entrepreneurs and small business owners.

Lesonsky has appeared on the Today Show, Good Morning America, CNN, The Martha Stewart show and Oprah, and can regularly be seen on MSNBC’s Your Business.

Many organizations have recognized Lesonsky for her tireless devotion to helping entrepreneurs. She served on the Small Business Administration’s National Advisory Council for six years, and was honored by the SBA as a Small Business Media Advocate and a Woman in Business Advocate. In 2009, she was honored as one of publishing’s top innovators. The Collegiate Entrepreneurs Organization honored her for helping drive “the entrepreneurial revolution in secondary education.” The ASBDC awarded her a “Champion of Small Business” award and in 2012 she received the prestigious Lou Campanelli award from SCORE. She’s been named one of the nation’s top 100 Small Business Influencers and is a long-time member of the Business Journalists Hall of Fame.