SWOTing our lives

What’s a SWOT analysis? SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. It is a simple way for people to realize an idea or an instance in physical, tangible forms that they can understand and do something about.

Here is a brief example of what a SWOT analysis for Vijana FM might look like:

Strengths:

  • Customized for a new and upcoming technology in Tanzania
  • Run by the very constituents it targets its products for

Weaknesses:

  • The platform is based on a relatively non-accessible medium (the Internet) for Tanzania
  • It has yet to develop a consistent revenue stream

Opportunities:

  • Global youth are interested in using the Internet to learn
  • People voluntarily contribute out of their own time to the platform

Threats:

  • Other blogs, especially in the Tanzanian blogosphere
  • Media houses that see blogs as insignificant and unnecessary

Of course, this SWOT has more to it, and in turn, changes over time relative to what comes Vijana FM’s way, as well as what Vijana FM’s activities are.

Similarly, we have strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats in our own lives. Here, I would like to specifically refer to youth. We need to critically address what we have going for us (our strengths and our opportunities) and what is working against us (our weaknesses and our threats).

Do you think we are making full use of our strengths and opportunities? More importantly, do you think we are using our strengths and opportunities to eliminate our weaknesses and threats?

SWOTing our lives

What’s a SWOT analysis? SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. It is a simple way for people to realize an idea or an instance in physical, tangible forms that they can understand and do something about.

Here is a brief example of what a SWOT analysis for Vijana FM might look like:

Strengths:

Customized for a new and upcoming technology in Tanzania

Run by the very constituents it targets its products for

Weaknesses:

The platform is based on a relatively non-accessible medium (the Internet) for Tanzania

It has yet to develop a consistent revenue stream

Opportunities:

Global youth are interested in using the Internet to learn

People voluntarily contribute out of their own time to the platform

Threats:

Other blogs, especially in the Tanzanian blogosphere

Media houses that see blogs as insignificant and unnecessary

Of course, this SWOT has more to it, and in turn, changes over time relative to what comes Vijana FM’s way, as well as what Vijana FM’s activities are.

Similarly, we have strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats in our own lives. Here, I would like to specifically refer to youth. We need to critically address what we have going for us (our strengths and our opportunities) and what is working against us (our weaknesses and our threats).

Do you think we are making full use of our strengths and opportunities? More importantly, do you think we are using our strengths and opportunities to eliminate our weaknesses and threats?

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Al-Amin founded Vijana FM in 2009. With over a decade of experience in communications, design and operations, he now runs a digital media consulting agency - Lateral Labs - in Dar-es-Salaam.

This post has 1 Comment

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  1. Most of us do not make use of SWOT Analysis,we normally do things blindly without considering our Strengths,Weaknesses,Opportunities or Threats,thats why we end up being failures in our lives.

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