Before paying to advertise a service, it's worth checking whether customers can understand what they're buying. A SWOT analysis can help you think through that choice. The example below follows a small photography studio deciding what to fix, what to try and what to leave for later. You can then use the same worksheet for a decision in your business.
What belongs in each part of a SWOT analysis?
SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Strengths and weaknesses concern your own business. Opportunities and threats come from outside it. Business Queensland's guidance explains this distinction and the method's limits: a SWOT doesn't rank your priorities or give you solutions on its own.
Start with a question, such as “Should the studio buy ads now or improve its photography offer first?” Then look for things that could affect the answer. The owner's photography skills belong under strengths. Missing information on the website is a weakness. An invitation to reach potential customers is an opportunity; a competing offer that could attract them elsewhere is a threat.
Make each entry specific. “Good quality” gives you little to work with. “The portfolio shows clear, consistent photos of small products” points to work that customers can judge. Beside each entry, note how you know it is true. If you haven't checked it, write “assumption.”
A fictional studio decides what to promote
This example is invented. It assumes the following facts about a product photography studio, including the association invitation and competitors' offers. A real owner would need to check them before acting.
Strength: relevant work to show
The owner can photograph small products consistently and has permission to publish selected portfolio images. Those images could help independent online shop owners decide whether the studio suits their products. The useful action is to put relevant examples on the page describing the service.
Weakness: an incomplete offer page
The website lists photography services but leaves basic questions unanswered: what does a shoot include, how should a shop prepare its products, and when and how will it receive the finished photos? Answering these questions would make it easier for a visitor to decide whether to contact the studio. Questions from previous inquiries can help the owner spot other missing details.
Opportunity: access to a relevant bulletin
A local business association has invited members to contribute practical advice to its retailer bulletin. A short guide to preparing products for a photo shoot could introduce the studio's work to shop owners. Before writing it, the owner should confirm who reads the bulletin, whether submissions are still open and what the association accepts.
Threat: competing low-price packages
Nearby competitors advertise quick, low-price product shoots. The owner should compare what's included in those packages before deciding how to respond. A clear description of the studio's own service would help customers compare the offers.
Choose an action and record what waits
For this studio, improving the service page comes first. The owner can add suitable portfolio photos, explain what the shoot includes and show customers how to prepare their products. These changes use an existing strength to fix a known weakness.
Next, the owner checks the association's invitation. If the bulletin reaches suitable shops and accepts the contribution, the studio can submit the preparation guide. Broad advertising waits until the page is clear and the owner is ready to answer inquiries.
The owner should set a limit on the time and money spent, then choose a review date, for example 30 days after the guide appears. Record how many inquiries about product photography arrived in the previous 30 days, if that information is available. Otherwise, write “unknown” and begin keeping a record now.
At the review, count new inquiries, note what customers asked and compare the time and money spent with the agreed limits. That gives the owner something to use when deciding whether to continue. Whether the bulletin brings inquiries remains to be seen.
A blank SWOT worksheet for your decision
Copy this table into a document or draw it on paper. Write your question first, then add entries that could change your answer. Beside each entry, note how you know it is true, including a source and date where useful. Write “assumption” for anything you still need to check.
| Category or question | Your answer |
|---|---|
| What decision do you need to make? | __ |
| Date | __ |
| Strengths: what inside the business helps? | __ |
| Weaknesses: what inside the business gets in the way? | __ |
| Opportunities: what outside the business could help? | __ |
| Threats: what outside the business could cause problems? | __ |
| What will you check before acting? | __ |
| What action will you take, and why? | __ |
| What will wait, and why? | __ |
| Who will do the work? | __ |
| How much time and money can you spend? | __ |
| What is happening now, such as inquiries received in the past month? | __ |
| When will you review the result? | __ |
| What happened, and what will you do next? | __ |
When you review the result, ask what it actually tells you. If the association declines the guide, the studio still doesn't know whether readers would have been interested in its photography. If inquiries arrive for services the studio doesn't offer, check who read the guide and whether the service page was clear before spending more.
