SWOT

[NOTE: I think the blog is up-to-date enough that I can switch to the present tense.  My previous blog entries were mostly written in the past tense since I was trying to get everyone up to date.  I think we've finally made it!]

So what is SWOT?  SWOT is what we need right now.  SWOT is an analysis tool.  It's an acronym for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats.  They are categories to organize your thoughts on strategy.  That's exactly what we're trying to do.

Each of the review team members will record his top-of-mind thoughts about each of the business ideas.  We will put those thoughts in one of the four categories.  We will ask ourselves what are the Strengths and Weaknesses of the products or services.  Then we will ask ourselves what are the Opportunities and Threats in the marketplace and industry.  We will collate our thoughts into one document, and it will serve as the center-piece for our analysis meeting.

If we don't have many thoughts on a particular idea, that probably means it's not ready to pursue.

If we have a lot of positive thoughts (and similar thoughts) in the Strengths and Opportunities categories, that probably means we should pursue it more.  We are going to be honest about Weaknesses and Threats, but we're not going to let them stop us. They are simply things that need to be mitigated.

Please pray for effective SWOT-ing over the next couple days.  Our analysis meeting is tentatively scheduled for Thursday, 3/12.