Businesses that fail to improve as the need arises inevitably fall behind the competition. That will almost always mean losing market share and will often make an entire company less viable.

Committing to continual improvement is necessary to avoid falling into this trap, but improvement alone is not sufficient. To improve a business, you need to first figure out where progress needs to be made. A quick look at why it is so important to pinpoint a company’s strengths and weaknesses follow.

Identifying Strengths and Weaknesses Makes It Possible to Set Informed, Realistic Goals

Business leaders sometimes try to get by on instinct and determination. That can work in the short term, but it tends to become less effective as the time horizon expands.

This is especially true of any effort to keep improving a company’s effectiveness and capabilities. It takes more than gut feelings to figure out how best to allocate limited resources like energy, attention, and capital.

Companies like the one online at bswllc.com help clients identify specific, concrete strengths and weaknesses. That will establish a starting point from which well-grounded plans can be made.

Having that kind of foundation to build on will make it possible to formulate a realistic, informed strategy. That is always the best way to enable a continuing, durable improvement strategy.

Knowing Strengths and Weaknesses Makes More Effective Reactions Possible

Companies that have developed detailed, reliable inventories of their strengths and weaknesses can respond more effectively to unexpected developments. When competitors develop new products or a demand for a certain service flag, knowing how a company is positioned will always be helpful.

Combining this asset with a well- developed continuous improvement mindset will make a business more resilient and resourceful. Companies that respond most effectively to changing conditions while continuously becoming more capable are always among the most successful.

Strengths and Weaknesses Suggest New Opportunities

The most obvious way to address strengths and weaknesses is to build on the former and strive to eliminate the latter. Taking a step back can be helpful, as well, as there are almost always important implications that can be worth understanding. A company that already excels at keeping waste levels low, for instance, can sometimes find a way to convert that strength into increased revenues. A business that is making progress toward improved customer retention rates might discover that its achievements have enabled formerly unrealistic ways of generating more sales.

Understanding the secondary effects of established strengths and weaknesses can also be incorporated into continuous improvement strategies. Analyzing a business from this perspective is powerful precisely because it is always revealing in many ways.

The Importance of Regular Reassessment

It can take quite a bit of work to conduct an honest, thorough assessment of a company’s strengths and weaknesses. As business improves, those conclusions will become stale and eventually be made irrelevant.

As such, it will always be best to schedule regular reruns of the initial work. Looking anew at a business’s strengths and weaknesses will show how much progress has been made.

That will help keep any long-term continuous improvement drive on the track and ensure that outmoded ideas never lead decision-makers astray. While it generally takes a considerable amount of discipline, focus, and energy to keep up with such efforts, the rewards are normally substantial.

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