SWOT It Like It’s Hot

A good analysis will put you on the right path

Insider

Contributing Writer

In January, everyone is gearing up to change their lives around. Whether it’s buying meal prep containers or joining a new gym, people are spending a lot of money in hopes of bettering themselves this year.

I have an idea for how to kick off 2024 that costs nothing but time and can help you see big returns for your business this year. Rather than starting with lofty and hard to define goals or resolutions, kick off the year with a SWOT analysis. Knowing your Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats will show you clearly what you do well and where you can improve in the new year.

Strengths

It’s easy to start with strengths. What are you good at? As we start a new year, take time to pat yourself on the back for the accomplishments you’ve made — but don’t take your strengths for granted. Just because you’re great at something now does not mean you always will be. There is always room for growth and, as quickly as this industry changes, being an expert in something today does not guarantee you will be an expert on it tomorrow. And don’t forget to qualify that your strength is a value add to your customers.

Just like all the gym memberships that will mostly fall by the wayside, if you don’t keep working your muscles, you lose what you’ve built. The same goes for your skills. You have to keep building on your strengths so they don’t turn into weaknesses down the road.

It’s tempting to spend all your time here, reveling in your many successes, but I’d argue that the other three areas will be the ones that give you the most ideas for how to make 2024 a more successful year.

Weaknesses

No one likes talking about their shortcomings, but it has to be done. You can’t fix a problem if you can’t admit the problem exists. For example, in December, we looked at declined files. If you did last month’s homework, you should know the reasons for the rejections you saw last year. Now is the time to make a game plan so that you don’t repeat the same mistakes.

The goal of identifying your weaknesses should always be to figure out how you turn your weaknesses into opportunities. This way, it feels more like solving a puzzle than making a list of things you don’t do well. As Thomas Edison said, “Our greatest weakness lies in giving up,” so let’s attack 2024.

Opportunities

Now that you know your weaknesses, you know where your opportunities are. For example, if you have a lot of self-employed borrowers, but aren’t good at tax returns, that’s a weakness — but it’s also an opportunity to educate yourself and become an expert so that you’re able to work with more self-employed borrowers and build a reputation for yourself.

The same can go for any weakness — find a solution that can turn your weak points into growth opportunities.

The weaknesses that you don’t turn into opportunities can easily become threats, but there are also some threats that will be outside your control.

Threats

The weaknesses that you don’t turn into opportunities can easily become threats, but there are also some threats that will be outside your control. Competition, market conditions like interest rates, housing supply, etc. and other economic factors can be threats that you cannot change.

In the times where you cannot eliminate your threats, you can always plan. Knowing your potential threats helps you strategize. Having a game plan for different situations that could arise in the coming year can help more than you would think. Instead of having a knee-jerk reaction in the moment, you can have a well-thought-out plan ready to be put into action. Take the time to prepare now while your mind is clear and you can think through your threats from different angles.

Getting your year off to the right start doesn’t require a big investment — no memberships, subscriptions or purchases are needed. You just need to take inventory of your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats and create a plan that will carry you through 2024.