These are all examples of weaknesses in an existing business. You may have a high turnover of employees, a lack of necessary capital for equipment, and/or a high short term debt load. Your current business may identify additional weaknesses such as, a previous poor decision that is now impacting the business. If you identify these as weaknesses, do not fear because existing businesses may have similar weaknesses. You may have a lack of qualified employees or your business will not support full time employees, these would also be considered weaknesses. Another consideration may be that the family members do not completely support you in this venture. If you are a start-up business, an example may be a lack of experience in the selected industry. Weaknesses are also considered mostly internal and are the items you will need to address for success of your business. Your equipment is up-to-date and you have saved the depreciation money to replace outdated equipment. Your management team works well together and provides excellent input for the business. Your family is very supportive of the time you spend in the business and you have hired or developed experienced, loyal, and caring employees. You know the history of your business and how you achieved the success you have. If you are an existing business, you may have many years of expertise in the business. You may already know where to go to find the assistance you need and this would be considered a strength for this analysis. You may have an employee or member of your management team who has prior experience in the industry you are planning to enter. If not, this may be viewed as a weakness. If you are planning to start a business, you may have previous experience in the industry you are considering. For example, what do you and your family, employees, and management team bring to the business. Strengths are considered mostly internal.

For a SWOT analysis to work well, every member of your team (your family and/or your employees, your lawyer, your accountant, and your insurance agent) must be involved in the process.

Information technology swot analysis