SWOT ANALYSIS A short- hand summary of a Situational Analysis

SWOT This is often done for organisations but not often for cities/towns/regions

SWOT SWOT stands for: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats.

SWOT STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESS These are internal aspects of your organisation/town/city which are helping you or preventing you from achieving your objectives.

SWOT Each aspect needs to be considered and listed as either a Strength or a Weakness. [Some things might be both] The idea is to establish ways of exploiting the strengths and overcoming the weaknesses.

SWOT OPPORTUNITIES AND THREATS These are external considerations which have an influence on the organisation but over which you have no direct control: sector changes [ e.g. in music or technologies etc,] funding for infrastructure Local Authority or City changes [new laws] competition – other towns urban development demographic changes [potential workforce is changing – population is getting older, young people leaving]

SWOT The idea here is that you consider strategies for overcoming threats and making the opportunities work for you.

SWOT Having completed the SWOT Analysis it is time to make this information begin to work for you by drawing out the conclusions and implications. These implications form the starting point of the strategic plan.

SWOT At this stage you have gained an idea of the present performance of your organisation. Before a plan can actually be devised it is important to go into greater detail in analysing and deciding upon: Who or what you are competing against How you want to be seen as a city/town.  What do you want to be known for