SWOT analysis, strength, weakness, opportunity, and threat words on blackboard.

Strategy development for start-ups: Does the good old SWOT process work if nothing exists?

I am pleased that I can once again accompany a start-up company. This time not as the founder’s coach, but as a strategy consultant in market and organizational development. The founder has an impressive mission for his to be founded company and has already made a sizeable real estate investment as a result. Now it is the task to define goals and strategies for this start-up.

 

The basis is always the exploration and definition of the vision of the entrepreneur or the management. From this, concrete “smart” goals are derived and written down. Building on this, the strategy development process begins with the people involved. I have often used the SWOT method, which means identifying the challenges via an environment- and company analysis in order to develop strategic measures to overcome them. But what to do if there is no company or business yet? Read the answer here:

 

I was able to convince myself that it is possible to develop strategies for an “imagined company“. It was successful in a brainstorming workshop with the founder, people close to him, potential future business partners, future employees of the start-up and any financing partners. Over several brainstorming sessions with this diverse group, business content (the “what”), business model (the “how”) and possible business partners and employees (the “who”) were determined, weighted and prioritized. A company portrait of the “imagined company” was formulated in writing in a jointly approved final document.

 

On this basis, it was extremely successful to set up the strategy development using the SWOT process. Foundations or the establishment of new business areas (in existing companies) can be initiated using this procedure. Would you like to know more about my “support in strategy development”? Then call me for a non-binding conversation on +49 172 2898877.