Regardless of whether you have found a prepared SWOT report, you will want to supplement the information with other sources and create your own SWOT analysis. Here are some tips for gathering more information and creating your own SWOT report:
· Contact the company, if possible. Explain you are a student researching the company for an academic paper. Offer to sign a non-disclosure agreement. You might be surprised! If your company is a small private firm, secondary sources of information may be scarce and this may be the only way to get information.
· Look at the company’s competitors. Use the company’s NAICS code to find its competitors by industry and consider:
· How it differentiates itself from the others?
· What are your company’s competitive advantages?
· What services and products do its competition provide?
· Read the reviews. Search the company site and third party reviews for mentions of the company. Keep in mind that customer reviews can be unreliable and biased; however, consistently positive or negative reviews should be considered.
