Conducting a SWOT Analysis Written by Annette Dunlap, MBA Extension Associate Ag & Resource Economics NC State University

The Value-Added & Alternative Agriculture Start-up Toolkit Program Outline What is a SWOT analysis? Identifying your Strengths Understanding your Weaknesses Capitalizing on Opportunities Minimizing Threats Resources The Value-Added & Alternative Agriculture Start-up Toolkit

The Value-Added & Alternative Agriculture Start-up Toolkit What is a SWOT Analysis? A SWOT analysis is a systematic way of looking at the internal and external factors affecting your business. “SWOT” means: Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats The Value-Added & Alternative Agriculture Start-up Toolkit

Identifying your Strengths Strengths are generally “internal” – those things that you bring to the enterprise that can help it grow and develop successfully Examples are: Education Experience Capital Access to advisors/support systems The Value-Added & Alternative Agriculture Start-up Toolkit

Understanding your Weaknesses Like Strengths, Weaknesses are generally internal. They are those things that could prevent the business from reaching its goals. Examples of weaknesses are: Limited experience or education Limited access to needed capital Limited availability of labor, support or professional help The Value-Added & Alternative Agriculture Start-up Toolkit

Capitalizing on Opportunities Opportunities are those things we perceive that will help our business grow. They are outside of our control, but we want to make decisions that allow us to take control of what the opportunity offers. Most opportunities arise from our understanding of the unmet needs or wants in the marketplace. The Value-Added & Alternative Agriculture Start-up Toolkit

Examples of Opportunities Unmet customer need or want for a new product or service Opportunity to expand customer service New market openings through product development Changes in market demand that benefit our business The Value-Added & Alternative Agriculture Start-up Toolkit

The Value-Added & Alternative Agriculture Start-up Toolkit Minimizing Threats Threats are also external to the business Planning can help to reduce the impact of threats Typical threats are: Negative changes in market demand Changes in economic status Changes in customer preferences Entry of a new competitor Changes in regulations and laws The Value-Added & Alternative Agriculture Start-up Toolkit

The Value-Added & Alternative Agriculture Start-up Toolkit Next Step Resources For a free SWOT analysis template, go to: http://www.businessballs.com/swotanalysisfreetemplate.htm Another SWOT profile is available at: http://www.netmba.com/strategy/swot/ Overview of how to start an alternative agriculture business: http://agalternatives.aers.psu.edu/farmmanagement/startbusiness/StartingAgBusiness%20PM7.pdf The Value-Added & Alternative Agriculture Start-up Toolkit