Developing a Strategic Business Plan with the Help of a SWOT Analysis Template – A Case Study by SpendEdge

Role of a SWOT Analysis Template in Developing a Strategic Business Plan

SWOT analysis forms an integral part of an organizations strategic planning process as it offers an overall view of the companys current and future business scope. Each of the four parts of a SWOT analysis template offers specific advantages that contribute to the overall process. The key components of a SWOT analysis template include- Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats.

Strengths: Analyzing the strengths enables a company to gauge its competitive advantage in the global marketplace. These advantages are typically a focal point of the companys business functions.

Weaknesses: Though it may seem counterintuitive, businesses that measure their weaknesses will be in a better position to counterbalance them and gain a winning edge.

Opportunities: A periodic review of market opportunities will assist businesses to capitalize on high potential markets or make necessary changes in key markets that the company has strengths to match with.

Threats: Assessing market risks and threats are crucial from a strategic standpoint as it helps businesses to develop precise risk mitigation strategies to overcome them.

About the Client

The client- a leading office supply store situated in North America.

Client’s Challenge

With sustainability and environmental design as core business strategies the office supplies retailer was looking at developing a new sustainability plan to address social, economic, and environmental issues. They wanted to conduct an in-depth SWOT analysis in order to achieve their key business objectives. To succeed in doing so, they approached to help them develop a SWOT analysis template to assess their strengths and weaknesses.

Engagement Overview

The office supply store wanted to implement a change that was beneficial to the entire organization, this prompted them to leverage their key strengths in order to capitalize on the new business opportunities. As this required a detailed analysis of the strengths and weaknesses, the office supplies retailer approached SpendEdge to leverage its expertise in performing an in-depth SWOT analysis to gauge and analyze their key strengths which support their sustainability agenda.

Key Findings

The SWOT analysis template helped the client to identify and categorize their strengths and weaknesses, thereby assisting them to understand their advantages.  The solutions offered by our experts also helped the office supply store to assess the external competitive environment, thereby revealing potential opportunities that they could capitalize on. This played a crucial role in helping them develop business strategies and future objectives associated with business expansion.

The SWOT analysis template also helped the client to:

• Understand their business better
• Deter threats and capitalize on new opportunities
• Develop strategies to achieve their business goals