| Before starting up a small business, you need to at | | | | look at your personal characteristics, evaluate your |
| least be reasonably sure of your investment. The best | | | | business plan and always take into account the fact |
| way to do this would be a careful analysis of every | | | | that starting up a small business have weaknesses. |
| factor in the business. But what factors should you | | | | 3) Opportunities - while strengths represent internal |
| take a look at? Which things would affect the success | | | | characteristics that will you decide wisely the actions |
| of your businesses? | | | | to take when starting up a small business, opportunities |
| There are actually 4 areas you need to analyze: | | | | represent external factors that might be used to do |
| 1) Strengths - the strengths of starting up a small | | | | the same. The thing about opportunities is that you |
| business are those factors within a company that will | | | | can't control them -all you can do is grab each |
| work to ensure its success. Strengths include various | | | | opportunity while it's available. |
| resources as well as characteristics that can be | | | | 4) Threats - these are also external factors, but they |
| utilized to make profit. Strengths also include your own | | | | are ones which could potentially harm you when |
| skill, ingenuity and intelligence -things within yourself that | | | | starting up a small business. As with opportunities, you |
| you can draw from for use. | | | | can't control threats, but you can affect the way your |
| 2) Weaknesses - these factors are the opposite of | | | | enterprise reacts to them. By using what valuables you |
| strengths. You need to look carefully inside what | | | | control, you can react in such a way that the threat is |
| happens when starting up to see if there are certain | | | | nullified. |
| things about it that could lead to its downfall. Take a | | | | |