February 1, 2022
Don’t miss a chance for a free SWOT worksheet PDF- just scroll down for it
Entrepreneurs and Etsy sellers need to run their businesses strategically. Having a solid plan in place can be critical in generating maximum returns. There are many different strategies that entrepreneurs can use to optimize their revenues. I’ve discussed in the past about how harsh online businesses can be and I find a SWOT can be so helpful in navigating these challenges.
What is a SWOT Analysis?
SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. SWOT analysis is a matrix used by organizations or individuals to guide them regarding their strengths and weaknesses and how they can compete and capitalize on trends in the market. It’s a way to step back and look at your business from both an internal and external perspective: basically, its inner-workings and its societal context.
It is an assessment index to understand what your business needs. Other names for SWOT analysis are situational analysis or situational assessment. It is a tool used by the planning team to make significant decisions. It allows you to evaluate the pros and cons of any new idea and how it would play out in the long run.
How can Etsy Sellers use the SWOT analysis?
Using a SWOT analysis can reveal your shop’s unique strengths and weaknesses. This is the kind of knowledge that can lead you in your marketing, product offerings, and branding. Think how Apple Music and Spotify market and position themselves despite offering essentially the same product. It’s partly because they both know their strengths and weaknesses.
Not to mention having a finger on the pulse on the market, particularly its trends and your competition, only pinpoints how to use your strengths and weaknesses.
So again, here’s a non-comprehensive list of why Etsy sellers should try doing a SWOT analysis: know possible challenges you may face in the future as well as your shop’s unique strengths and weaknesses.
Know your shop’s strengths and weaknesses so you can:
- Cater to your market
- Possibly niche down
- Improve your weaknesses
- Craft your branding and its tone
- Capitalize on trends
- Avoids problematic topical issues trending for the wrong way
- Find new opportunities in marketing, demographics, and product offerings
- Evaluate and compare your value with competitors
- Look at your competition in an analytical, big-picture view
- Customize your business plan
Using this assessment tool, you have concrete points to work through. You can lay a plan in front of yourself and have a perfectly weighted analysis to make a decision.
There are many ways this is helpful for marketers. It helps them compare their company’s specific product reputation and value in the market and assess its strength over other products of different brands. A SWOT analysis is a way to look at your brand through the eyes of consumers.
How to start a SWOT analysis: step-by-step
Get a few sheets of paper, one for your SWOT chart and the rest for brainstorming. In fact, you can grab these free worksheets where I’ll help walk you through each letter of the SWOT. I hope these can help with brain storming and research as you audit your online ecommerce businesses!
You can sign up for my email list to get the worksheets right here:
So start a SWOT analysis and see what you discover!
All businesses have their strengths and weaknesses. Similarly, marketing plans have their flaws and shortcomings. SWOT analysis is a fantastic tool to evaluate one’s plans for a new venture. It is the process that makes the most difference in understanding your brand image and creating a space for your brand in the market. Once you have your marketing strategy worked out, you learn more about how to proceed, how much to invest, and more.