Don’t do a SWOT for your business, instead do a TOWS Analysis

Only 92 days to 2021.

Yes, I’m counting down the days left in this crazy 2020 year.

And it’s not too late to play some offense and develop a strategy for 2021.

Here is a graph that shows one tech company’s annual revenues.

Can you guess the company?

Yes, that’s $20 Billion in revenues in 2011.

Seven years later, that same company was less than $1 Billion in 2018.

Ouch!  Does this roller coaster make you nauseous too?

Who is this company?

Wait for it….take a guess?  Clue, most of us probably owned one in 2011.

Wait for it….

…..BlackBerry

I remember telling a friend that I would NEVER get rid of my Blackberry.

One year later, in 2012, I purchased my first iPhone.

So what can we do to make sure our business doesn’t end up like BlackBerry?

This time of year, I take my clients through a TOWS Analysis.

TOWS???  It’s similar to a SWOT analysis, however backwards focus. 

TOWS stands for Threats, Opportunities, Weaknesses, and Strengths.  This technique is for assessing the four critical aspects of your business.

Most organizations focus so much of there energy on their Strengths and Weakness that they go through the motions for their Opportunities and Threats.

Why should Opportunities and Threats be your focus?

A pivotal reason for BlackBerry’s failure was their ignorance in choosing to stick with the keyboard (strength), while leaders like Apple provided a full touchscreen interface to which the smartphone was created.

Blackberry focused on its strength and didn’t focus on their threat that had just entered the market place.

Yes, you can do the TOWS, exercise yourself, and I encourage that you bring someone to help with your business planning.

Hire someone that can help you create critical stakeholders to own the outcome and hold the team accountable for making improvements.

Many times we have our blinders on and overlook key opportunities and threats right in front of us.

If you would like to learn more about how to do a TOWS analysis for your business, Schedule a Call

Stay Awesome with Love,

Hernani Alves
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