Hey, how’s it going? I’m Andy Jones and this is episode 87 of the Photography Side Hustle podcast.
So, last week one of the things I covered was setting goals and making plans. During the week I realized that in the past I have used SWOT Analysis to identify areas of my business that needed improvement.
So this week’s episode is …
Identify your SWOT
S.W.O.T. stands for Strengths - Weaknesses - Opportunities - Threats
It doesn’t matter if you have been shooting professionally for years or you are just starting out. This simple way to identify your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, will help you move forward with your business.
Ok, so let’s get started. The easiest way to do this is to divide a page into four, one for each SWOT. You could just use a separate page for each one, that’s entirely up to you.
So the first one is strengths.
StrengthsWrite down all the things you consider a strength, such as …
When considering your strengths think about how they affect your competitors. If you think having the best equipment available is a strength, it might be, but only if you take better photos than your competition.
If you speak a second language and 25% of your area speaks that language you have a huge advantage over competitors that only speak English. Being able to communicate with customers in their native language is a great strength to have.
So when you are thinking about your strengths, and also your weaknesses, think about the effect it has on your customers as well as your competition.
You really need to be honest with yourself when it comes to weaknesses. So look at your competition, do you produce photos that are comparable? If you think your equipment is a weakness, why? If you don’t have a wide enough lens for large group shots, then I agree it is a weakness. A new camera body won’t improve your image composition though.
If your competitor produces stunning portraits and your portraits are good but not stunning. Your weakness is in composition and editing, not the equipment you use.
These are some examples of weaknesses …
Once you have identified your weaknesses, you need to work on them. The fewer weaknesses you have the stronger your business will be.
You need to find opportunities that could help you expand your business. Here are some examples …
Anything that expands your knowledge and then lets you offer a new product is an opportunity. If you can get a government loan to expand your business, or you realize a section of the community isn’t serviced fully, these are all opportunities to look for.
Check out what your competition is doing. Have any of them closed their business? If any of them have closed down, try to get their share of the market by advertising. Constantly be looking for ways to grow.
This sounds worse than it is. Here you need to identify your position in the local photographer marketplace. Are you at the top, middle, or just starting out in business?
You need to understand where you stand and what could go wrong.
Identifying what could hurt your business is very important. There is Pareto Principle, you might know it as the 80/20 rule, which says 80% of your income comes from 20% of your customers.
If you shoot school photos this principle might come into play. Say you have contracts with 5 schools, and one of them is a big contract that brings in 80% of your income. Your threat would be losing that big contract and 80% of your income.
For other photographers you might have one client you shoot annually, and depend on that income to get you through the winter months. Losing that customer could be devastating. So the aim is to spread out the threats and keep the losses as small as possible, but that is easier said than done.
So now you have identified your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, what next?
Now working on your weaknesses will help you, but not as much as working on your strengths.
Try to get your weaknesses under control, the less you have the stronger you are. Leverage your strengths and watch your performance soar.
Knowing all this information will give you direction. The biggest-earning photographers are not always the best photographers. You’re doing this side hustle to make money, so get organized and go for it. Your present competition won’t be doing this and you’ll leave them behind, and have new competition in a few months.
This is where Goals/Plans come in. Everything you have identified can now be made into a goal or plan.
None of this is needed tomorrow, it can be worked on throughout the year, but, just knowing some of the stuff you have come up with will move you forward faster. It’s like your subconscious mind takes over and steers you toward your goals.
If you are just starting out and trying to make some money with your new side hustle, don’t panic. All this stuff still applies to you. You will have less stuff to right down, but as you move forward you can keep adding to it.
This isn’t rocket science, it’s just about you being honest with yourself and working out your business problems.
So that is SWOT Analysis, strategic planning for your business.
Ok, I am currently working on my first course and will need some help when it’s ready in early February. I need a few reviewers, 3 or 4 photographers that can take the course at no charge and give me honest feedback.
There is a form on the home page at photographysidehustle.com. Just sign up there and I’ll contact you if you are selected.
Right, that’s it for this episode, I’ll be back next week with more waffle, Bye.