OBN Business Breakfast - November 2026
Making Your SWOT Useful for Decision Making
Turn four boxes into a clear list of priorities - with business coach Alana Swain
Most business owners have done a SWOT at some point. It’s a simple exercise that maps out your business’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. Four boxes, a few sticky notes, a bit of nodding at the whiteboard - and then it’s filed away in a folder called “Strategy”, never to see daylight again. Life and business have a way of taking over.
At our November business breakfast, Tauranga business coach Alana Swain of Swain & Co will show you a different way to use a SWOT: as a working tool for making decisions and deciding where to focus.
Over breakfast, Alana will cover:
Moving beyond “filling in boxes” to pick out the information that’s actually useful
How to spot the patterns in your SWOT
How those patterns can guide your decisions
Turning it all into a focused list of priorities you can start working on straight away
Expect plain talk, practical examples and a bit of laughter. Everyone will get a printed template to work through on the day, with an electronic version sent afterwards for anyone who’d like it. All you need to bring is a pen and, no doubt, a brain full of a business you care about.
About our Speaker
Alana Swain describes herself as a joyful nonconformist and a not-so-boring business coach. After more than a decade at one of New Zealand’s big four banks, where she led a team of 180 people, she has spent the past eight years working with over 120 business owners on the practical “how” of business - making sure good intentions, big dreams and oh-so-many ideas survive the wilds of business life.
By her own admission, she does well in chaos and falls over in heels.
“Glossy ideals espoused in theory are reductive: they will fail you at 10am on a busy Tuesday, because people and customers are messy.”
What's included
Light breakfast with Gluten Free options
1 x medium hot drink
The opportunity to connect with other local business people!
Ōmokoroa Business Network (OBN)
The OBN exists to connect local businesses and share information worth knowing. Everyone is welcome, whether you run a business, work in one, or are thinking about starting.
Tickets for good, not greed Humanitix dedicates 100% of profits from booking fees to charity
