What is a SWOT Analysis ?

A SWOT Analysis is a framework used to analyse a business, its resources and the external and internal environment. SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, (this relates to the internal environment of a business) Opportunities and Threats (this relates to the external environment). It aims to discover how well a business is doing against its competitors, what the competitors do better, whether it is using its resources in the best possible way and how it could adapt to disruptive changes in the market and the world. To apply it, you must analyse a business and draw conclusions from your analysis. You must give recommendations as to how the business can match its strengths with its opportunities, transform its weaknesses into strengths and find an adequate strategy to respond to threats. For example, if a company's product is not popular among the younger generation (weakness) a solution would be to invest in social media advertising (Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat ads) to appeal to younger consumers.