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In my days in school, I offered a management course know as Mass media management, there was a topic that has always caught my interest or should I say it was my favourite since I'm a business oriented kind of person. This specific topic is the S.W.O.T analysis.
- S - Strength
- W - Weakness
- O - Opportunity
- T - Threat
The basis of S.W.O.T analysisin relation to business is all about things an entrepreneur should look out for while creating a business enterprise. the strength {S} is about looking at areas where the business has a upper hand compared to other business in your environment or location, areas that makes the business more profitable than others. the strength is mostly about the question, is there a need for the product you which to manufacture or the service you which to start rendering? how often do people demand for this product/service compared to other products/service? is there availability of resources/materials to manufacture the product? is the material/resources affordable? for instance for someone who choose to start manufacturing umbrella should know there is high demand for this product during raining season.
The weakness {W} is the opposite of strength in S.W.O.T analysis. an entrepreneur or business owner needs to consider areas that might render the business less profitable. for instance for someone who choose to start manufacturing umbrella should know there is less demand for the product during dry season.
the Opportunity {O} in S.W.O.T analysis has different dimensions depending on the entrepreneur's point of view, there are some products manufactured to serve a particular purpose probably because of an emergency that occurred. For instance during the COVID 19 pandemic there were some products that their demand increased significantly compared to other products. e.g hand sanitiser, nose mask, face make e.t.c. There was an opportunity that presented itself that lead to the rise in purchase of this products.
the threat {T} S.W.O.T analysis is all about some external challenges that might pose a threat to the business or a source of hindrance to the necessary operations needed to be carried out while navigating the business. for instance there are some governmental restrictions placed on the manufacturing of some products in some countries due to excessive consumption of such product and also for those who are familiar with OPAY ride in Lagos State, it got to a time when Lagos State placed a ban on bikes operating on major roads which led to the end of OPAY ride in Lagos State, this are some of the examples of threats to a business enterprise.
S.W.O.T analysis is a familiar concept for those that studied anything relating to economics or business management, Understanding the significance of S.W.O.T analysis is very crucial before establishing a business but this write up is more centered on the Threat aspect of S.W.O.T analysis and how it could be manipulated and converted into an opportunity.
Has it ever occurred to you that every invention was created to eliminate a problem, purposefully founded to proffer solution to an existing problem. to an extent it can deduced that without availablity of issues and challenges in the society there might be no reason for development. From my observation of humans over the years have realised every human actions is driven by a purpose or influenced by an external or internal factor which drives humans towards a particular direction. Though the results of this actions in most cases is not only for the benefits of the members of the public but for the purpose of profit or personal recognition.
I kept wondering, what if there was never any existing issue which would force humans survival instinct into action to develop tools to make life more easier, does that mean we might still be living in the Stone age? for instance majority of the tools and development were created for reason. The fact is the primary activity during the early stage of human survival was majorly farming and hunting, farming tools and machinery such as tractors, seed counting machine, seed drill, trowel e.t.c an evolvement from the use of cutlass and hoe were created to make the life of farmers a lot easier. Guns and all sort of weaponry were developed for securing life and properties and also used for hunting animals for meat in the early age. This inventions have been evolving over the years becoming more formidable in performing tasks but there is something that occurs along the line as a result of all this inventions despite the fact that it was created to be a solution in tackling a problem.
Over the years creation of this equipment and tools does not only benefited the society, it also benefits the manufacturers of this tools. they took advantage of an existing threat to human existence by creating a means of solution which has become a source of income for them over the years. this is the basic orientation of most opportunist or politicians, they offer solutions to problems but it becomes beneficial to their cause.
The most tricky part is, in every society there is a specific threat you are aware of but chose not to pay attention to it. it could be the game changer you have been searching for, based on the evidence of the rate of successful people who have taken advantage of this method you would realise what is common among this people is that they all have a product that satisfy a specific need and it eradicate a specific issue in the society. has it ever occurred to you that there are products and services tantamount to human survival e.g fuel and gas, medical provisions. e.t.c
So instead of looking for an opportunity why not search for threat you could covert to an opportunity, the most advantageous thing about this is that, by providing a solution to an existing threat you will become hero among men and it will also elevate you financially. Mind you products that are solutions to a threat have highest rate of consumption compared to product that only serve as a source of pleasure. the most funny part is threats is the greatest influencer that increases demand of product/services and promotes consummation of a product.
In conclusion
The brain Buster here is that threats creates more opportunities you could ever imagine, the reason why most entrepreneur waste a lot of time and effort thinking about what to produce is that, they focus their attention obvious opportunities instead of searching for the source. the greatest discovery of man kind is to highlight a problem/threat that people are not aware of it existence and also create a solution to it.
