✍🏼 Each team member to complete the strengths, weakness & trends analysis. Here is a printable strengths, weaknesses & trends worksheet.
✍🏼 Agree on key competitors and allocate evenly to each team member. Here is a printable competitor analysis worksheet.
✍🏼 For each competitor, research them to try and gain some insight into:
- Why the win
- Why they lose
- Where and how they compete with you
Review:
📚Deep dive on gathering strategic inputs
🎥Pathway overview video
🎥Example of strengths, weaknesses & trends exercise
Instructions on completing strengths, weaknesses & trends
This activity helps the team get clarity on the current state of the business. You will be gathering data on the internal strengths and weaknesses and the external trends that may impact or inform the development of your strategy.
To ensure you create a realistic view of your current state we encourage you to seek input from other stakeholders including customers and employees.
Strengths
Strengths are internal factors that your business has that give you an advantage over others.
Examples may include.
- Strong brand recognition
- Proprietary technology
- Robust financial resources
- Highly skilled workforce
- High level of repeat business
- Efficient, well-documented processes and systems
- Flexibility or scalability of operations
- Extensive distribution network
- Effective strategic partners
- Unique product offering
Weaknesses
Weaknesses are internal factors that may limit or impact your business’s ability to achieve its goals and reach your vision.
Weaknesses are factors that may put your business at a disadvantage to others - and are things your business doesn’t do well or needs to improve.
Examples may include:
- Lack of brand recognition
- Outdated technology
- Ineffective marketing or business development processes
- Limited financial resources
- Poor customer retention
- High staff turnover or organisational cultural issues
- Limited innovation ability
- Ineffective leadership
- Inferior product or service quality
Trends
Trends are external factors that need to be considered when you are doing your strategic planning. These are factors that you will not be able to directly control but will need to consider their potential impact. Consider both present and anticipated conditions.
Examples could be
- Changes in consumer preferences or attitudes
- Technology advances
- Legislative changes
- Economic downturn
- New markets opening up or closing in your industry.
- A new competitor entering the market or a competitor exiting.
- Mergers or acquisitions
- Supply chain changes or potential disruptions.
Instructions on completing competitors analysis
Consider your key competitors.
Note: Focus on the customers whom you would want to serve. (If the competitor is serving customers in a market or with a solution that doesn’t fit in your bullseye it is probably not relevant data)
Why do they win?
- What strengths or advantages do they deploy when they attract and keep customers in your market?
- What are they offering that is of value to customers?
Why do they lose?
- Can you identify any weaknesses or reasons they might not be winning customers, or not able to maintain customers?
Where and how do they compete with us?
- What products and services do they offer that your business offers?
- How are they competing?
- Is it price, experience, quality, or service?
Gather Inputs Meeting: Competitors Analysis