Javid Javdani Explain Strategic S.W.O.T. Analysis For Small Businesses
The success of a business deeply relies on proper planning methods. Many areas, such as initial financing, operational systems, and marketing, all need a strategy that should fit the business niche perfectly. However, even before planning for these specific areas, there must also be a strategy created to make the right long-term and short-term goals for your business.
Entrepreneur and Pharmacist, Javid Javdani from San Diego, California, understands the importance of S.W.O.T. (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis to steer the business in the right direction. Many business owners do not easily recognize the importance of S.W.O.T. in goal creation. This is why some ventures, even with accomplishing targets, do not meet the entrepreneur’s expectations.
In this in-depth article, Javid Javdani explains how he can use S.W.O.T. analysis in his business and how you, as a small business owner, can succeed in this strategy as well.
Understanding the Four Areas of S.W.O.T
Before going into the creation and listing phase of S.W.O.T, it is essential to know its four areas. Put simply, Javdani discusses these four parts:
● Strengths: From the small business angle, “strengths” is what your company (or potential company) is good at. You must know your Unique Selling Point (USP) or what makes you stand out from the other competitor companies. Other assets such as capital, space of operations, and similar characteristics should be placed in this area.
● Weaknesses: What are the things that your business lacks? With truthfulness, this area described what areas the entrepreneur can improve on or what other things you may need to make the business move forward.
● Opportunities: Complimentary to your strengths, this area identifies potential growth areas that are likely to happen. Such examples include getting press for your business, areas with the least competition but high demand, collaborations, or lower costs of supplies.
● Threats: By foreseeing potential weaknesses, threats help you understand what problems can occur. This area consists of the competition, negative responses to your offers, or lack of return in your marketing efforts.
By understanding these four key areas of S.W.O.T, you will list down the factors specified in the table cells.
Lining Up All Areas in Matching Pairs
Once you understand the four main areas, you can start creating specific strategies using the S.W.O.T table. Creating a better business strategy means creating a table with the following cells:
● Strength-Opportunity: What are some strategies you can incorporate that blends your strengths and the potential opportunities offered?
● Strength-Threats: Are there ways you can prevent threats from occurring by using your business strengths?
● Weakness-Opportunity: Are there potential opportunities you can use to compensate for your business’s weaknesses?
● Weakness-Threats: What strategies can you mitigate the double jeopardy of internal business weaknesses and potential threats?
The matching of these pairs will help create clarity, increasing the likelihood of a “bulletproof” business plan.
Strategy creation
Once you have answered the questions in the S.W.O.T table, you can proceed to the creation of long and short-term goals. Each general strategy in the S.W.O.T table can be created into a S.M.A.R.T goal, as Javid Javdani explains below:
● Specific: What exactly do you want to accomplish? Instead of saying “to improve” or “to increase,” what are the specific actions you want to achieve?
● Measurable: Using percentages, numbers of instances or any quantitative input will help you see if you can attain your goals.
● Attainable: Are these goals attainable within the several S.W.O.T factors within your business?
● Realistic: Goals should also be realistic with complete consideration of the weaknesses and threats presented in the S.W.O.T table.
● Time-bound: Should this goal be accomplished in years, months, or weeks?
An example of a S.M.A.R.T business goal for a small store business looks like the following:
Long-term goal 1: “To have 150% increase in monthly net revenue by partnering with local consignments willing to advertise the convenient store via their products displayed within June 2021.”
After having the long-term business goals set, you can now create S.M.A.R.T goals in the short-term sense. The short-term goals answer the ways you can accomplish the long-term ones.
Referring to the previous example above, one short-term goal can be:
Short-term goal 1: “To reach out to 4 local businesses every week wanting a consignment partnership and closing at least five offers by May 2021.”
The short-term goal will help you delegate the “small steps” for your associates to hit the bigger long-term goals.
Refining and Rewriting
As with other strategies, you need to constantly fine-tune your S.W.O.T. Analysis and construct your goals according to these changes.
Refining and rewriting your goals include an honest lens on the status of your small business, consulting financial and business mentors, asking your associates for detailed and unbiased information, as well as keeping track of the changing external and internal factors that influence your business. Javid Javdani explains that adaptability is the key to making the S.W.O.T business strategy effective for any entrepreneur who wants to succeed.
S.W.O.T. Business Strategy: Mastering the How’s of Goal Setting
Before taking action for your small business, Javdani explains it is important for entrepreneurs to know that they are headed on the right path. Through S.W.O.T analysis, creating long-term and short-term goals can be less daunting and more fitting, leading you to entrepreneurial success.
