Completing a SWOT analysis helps you identify ways to minimize affect of weaknesses in your business while maximizing your strengths. Ideally, you will match your strengths against market opportunities that result from your competitors’ weaknesses or voids.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Basic SWOT ~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You can develop a basic SWOT analysis in a brainstorming session with members of your company, or by yourself if you are a one-person shop. To begin a basic SWOT analysis create a four-cell grid or four lists, one for each SWOT component:

| Strengths | Weaknesses | Opportunities | Threats |

Then, begin filling in lists.

* Strengths - Think about what your company does well. What makes you stand out from your competitors? What advantages do you have over other businesses?

* Weaknesses - List areas that are a struggle. What do your customers complain about? What are unmet needs of your sales force?

* Opportunities - Try to uncover areas where your strengths are not being fully utilized. Are there emerging trends that fit with your company's strengths? Is there a product/service area that you could do well in but are not yet competing?

* Threats - Look both inside and outside of your company for things that could damage your business. Internally, do you have financial, development, or other problems? Externally, are your competitors becoming stronger, are there emerging trends that amplify one of your weaknesses, or do you see other threats to your company's success?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Advanced SWOT ~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Every calling is great when greatly pursued. - Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. (1841-1935)

Learning From Failure

Here’s a dismal statistic for you: Of new businesses that fail, 80 percent do so within first five years. Why?

According to The Executive Committee, a San Diego based organization that works exclusively with its more than 6000 member CEOs, reasons for business failure are not complicated and tend to surface repeatedly. Ultimately, many may be placed in one of two categories: systems or leadership. Each category has a number of components, any of which can sink proverbial ship. This list is not exhaustive, but should give you an idea of critical elements that, when missing, lead to failure.

System Meltdown

Systems are “pieces” that allow your business to function effectively and efficiently. They are “how” things get done. Failure in systems will surface in:

* Lack of knowledge. Knowledge is an important part of any enterprise. It may take form of marketing knowledge, product or service knowledge, or even financial knowledge. Who are your customers? What are they looking for? How do you read a financial statement for true story it tells? “Knowledge is power”- power to succeed.

* Lack of policies and procedures. Successful businesses provide a clear road map of how work gets accomplished in their environment. How and when will you bill clients for your services? Will you offer a satisfaction guarantee? What about refunds? Without such maps, costly mistakes can happen.

The Critical Role of Leadership

Leadership has, without doubt, biggest impact on business success or failure. Even though you may be a sole proprietor, your leadership skills are crucial to successful operation of your business. The forms of leadership or lack thereof are: