The traditional SWOT or TOWS (I prefer the latter) analysis is generally represented in a Boston box; you know the 4 x 4 matrix variety:

ABC Enterprises TOWS

We can find this representation in text books, most business cases and plans, adorning strategy presentations and so on, but what does it mean? Is it really an analysis? And that’s the point; unless you have written it you may not really know what it means. And even if you do, where is the analysis? I think there is a simple way to improve it.

I use “SWOT? So What?”, where the “So What?” forces the consideration of “So, what does this mean for the business?” i.e. analysis. It does exactly what it says on the tin.

A slight change to the layout reveals all.

ABC Enterprises TOWS

My “SWOT? So What?” approach encourages us to go beyond just the headline and really explore what it means for the business. Not only does this give better and more beneficial information, but it tends improve presentations too, forming the basis for discussion rather than just being the cue for an explanation.

Next time you are in need of a TOWS/SWOT analysis…why not give it a try.

We are all familiar with the marketing mix 4Ps: Product, Place, Promotion & Price, with Physical Evidence,   often added as an optional extra (some will add a couple more Ps).  I’ll happily discuss the marketing mix and how we can use these headings to shape our approach to the market and I’m not suggesting we should abandon them entirely.  But, and here’s the swipe, these are approaches from the supplier side.  What about the customer perspective?

Yep, radical as it may seem we need to view these elements from the customer perspective.  I suggest that for each P also consider what I call “the buying mix”.  Let’s apply some letters (this is not original, but can’t recall where I got it from during my studies all those years ago) and “A” will do nicely:

Product: Acceptability – how acceptable to your target customer(s) are the products or services: do they do meet the buyers’ requirement(s).
Place: Availability - where and how readily can your customer(s) get their hands on your products or services.
Promotion: Awareness - how and how easily can your customers find out about  your products and how to get them.
Price: Affordability – you may think it is a good and fair price but can your target customers actually afford it.

Just to make sure we haven’t missed any, let’s also take Physical Evidence…how about Aesthetics or Appearance…which offer a differentiation from whether a product does the job by adding the very important elements of fashion, smell or  cleanliness (quite important for a restaurant don’t you think!).

So, for a really customer focussed approach, think buying mix 4As and marketing mix 4Ps.

Well, I’ll try this analogy. I like to cook, and pulling together a good meal is more than just chucking a few ingredients in a pan.  The perfect meal needs the careful combinations of ingredients, flavours, pots and pans, cooker, timing and, of course, a cook to blend everything together for the optimum results: in short a carefully designed recipe, perhaps tweaked as you follow it, that brings all of these things together to give you the resulting foodie pleasures.

In the same way, a successful business is created and sustained by bringing together every aspect of your business.  I call this the business mix and find this to be a good representation:

By combining the operational and marketing mixes, we can begin to map the interactions between the various ingredients for our successful recipe.  Using this format as a starting point, and populating the business mix to fit your business, you can to collate all of the aspects of your business that impact its results: and that really will be all aspects of your business.

As product managers, or indeed general managers and executives, we need to work across the whole business mix to achieve the sustainable advantage we all want.

So, what should we then do with all of this newly tabulated insight? Well, I find that applying a ranking system to identify those most important, versus those less so, along with competence/capability rating helps.  And mapping a SWOT to the results really can focus the mind, and help you to focus the right resources, on the most important elements of the business mix for your business’ success.