Example of a SWOT Analysis

Here's a SWOT analysis I did for a company. What is a SWOT analysis? It is a list of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats a company has/faces. To make it look better, I suggest making a square and splitting it into four equal parts as pictured below.

Many people get the four criteria of a SWOT Analysis confused, an explanation of the four criteria follows:

• Strengths - These are the strong points of the company, or things that the company does well.  They are internal factors, which the company has direct control over.

• Weaknesses - These are the weak points of the company, or things that the company does poorly.  They are internal factors, which the company has direct control over.

• Opportunities - These are external factors that the company has potential to benefit from. They are external, and the company has no control over them.

• Threats - These are external factors that have the potential to negatively affect the company, they are external factors that the company has no control over.

The most commonly mixed up factors are weaknesses and threats.  Competition, or a new technology that makes your product obsolete are threats, weaknesses would be a failure to respond to competition, poor management structure, or a failure to adopt new technology.


Here is the SWOT Analysis.

SWOT Analysis

Strengths

- Original Product/Technology

-Product is the first of its kind on the market

- Internationally recognized patent on technology/product

- High quality product
- Honey has added healthy benefits over refined sugar.
- Honey is all natural
- Premiumly positioned in consumers mind

-Relationship with large suppliers of raw materials for products
- Many local suppliers
- Supplier in Alberta

- Products have won Multiple awards
-SIAL 2010

-Global SIAL d'Or award

-Best new product 2010 in the “Sweet – Grocery”
-Won the “Country Award - Canada”

- Products have a very long shelf life
- When placed in proper storage conditions, longer than plastic.


Weaknesses

- Still relatively small company
- Does not have resources to reach desired goals
- Money
- Distribution channels
- Partnerships

- Needs to create more partnerships to grow quickley

-  Combination of new technology and new company creates inefficiencies
- Packaging has yet to be automated, and it done manually  (Company tour)
- Efficiency learning curve with any new technology (Technologies  become more cost efficient the longer they are around).

- Premium prices deter large Demographic
- Lower income families/individuals are unlikely to purchase      product

- To low of a budget to do heavy advertising to total market.
- Market is potentially international


Opportunities

- Huge growth potential
- Large, international market covering many demographics

- Partnerships with other companies
- For Distribution (retailers and wholesalers)
- For Manufacturing

- Incorporating different medicine in product as a means of administering it to children.
- Going beyond lozenges into real medicine
- Taste would be primary benefit


Threats

- The worlds honey bee population is unstable/declining
- Means supplies are equally unstable/declining (get reference)
- Larger companies could release generic products mimicking Honibes
-  Could get around patent by having Honey “flavoured” lozenges   that are marketed similarly to Honibes pure honey lozenges