SWOT analysis, goals, strategies

It is time to analyse your results What are your strengths / weaknesses? What opportunities does your business have and what threatens your company. Based on the SWOT analysis, you can determine your goals for the company, and you can develop a plan for the appropriate strategies to achieve the goals. 

SWOT is an acronym and stands for

'Strengths', 'Weaknesses', 'Opportunities' and 'Threats' 

Strengths and weaknesses are internal factors that can affect the company, such as the product, skills, communication, financing or network.

Opportunities and threats are about the environment in which the company exists, such as the market, competitors, legislation, the environment, trends, customers and needs.

 

Through a well-executed SWOT analysis, you can adapt the goals to become more realistic. And you can minimise the company's weaknesses and better face the threats or risks that arise while working towards your goal.

It is the company's goals that govern the budget, not the other way around. Make sure to distinguish between goals and means. Funds are the activities you carry out to achieve the goals. Goals create movement but can also hinder development.



Goals that are challenging, yet achievable, and that you are passionate about will inspire you, and that in turn gives strength and energy, focus and unity. Goals that feel unreasonable and unattainable can create stress and despair. Therefore, do not set goals that you know you will not be able to achieve.

Goals should be measurable and focus on what is important. They should be challenging, inspiring and realistic.

Goals can have different time perspectives:

  • Strategic goals: long-term goals have a time perspective of about three to five years. These goals are usually not concrete or measurable but more of a desirable focus.
  • Operational goals: short-term goals are clear and measurable. These goals must be achieved during the financial year and are clearly described. The operational goals can be described quantitatively, for example in size of market share or sales volume, or qualitatively, for example environment, ethics or personnel.

Regardless of time perspective, the goals must reflect the company's level of ambition. It is important that your goals complement each other, i.e. that the long-term goals are supported by the short-term ones.
MyVA Project number: 2020-1-SE01-KA226-VET-092491
This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. 
The European Commission's support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents, which reflect the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
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