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detailed swot
assessment of each
building block

Assessing your business model’s overall integrity is crucial, but looking at The following pages contain non-exhaustive sets of questions to help
its components in detail can also reveal interesting paths to innovation and you assess the strengths and weaknesses of each of your business model
renewal. An effective way to do this is to combine classic strengths, weak- Building Blocks. Each set can help jumpstart your own assessments. Results
nesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analysis with the Business Model from this exercise can become the foundation for business model change
Canvas. SWOT analysis provides four perspectives from which to assess the and innovation in your organization.
elements of a business model, while the Business Model Canvas provides
the focus necessary for a structured discussion.
SWOT analysis is familiar to many businesspeople. It is used to analyze What are your business model’s . . .
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an organization’s strengths and weaknesses and identify potential opportuni-
ties and threats. It is an attractive tool because of its simplicity, yet its use
can lead to vague discussions because its very openness offers little direc-
tion concerning which aspects of an organization to analyze. A lack of useful — internal — strengths weaknesses
outcomes may result, which has lead to a certain SWOT-fatigue among
managers. When combined with the Business Model Canvas, though, SWOT
enables a focused assessment and evaluation of an organization’s business
model and its Building Blocks.
SWOT asks four big, simple questions. The fi rst two—what are your — external — opportunities threats
organization’s strength and weaknesses?—assess your organization inter-
nally. The second two—what opportunities does your organization have
and what potential threats does it face?—assess your organization’s posi-
tion within its environment. Of these four questions, two look at helpful areas — helpful — — harmful —
(strengths and opportunities) and two address harmful areas. It is useful to
ask these four questions with respect to both the overall business model and
each of its nine Building Blocks. This type of SWOT analysis provides a good
basis for further discussions, decision-making, and ultimately innovation
around business models.

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