assignment about swot analysis

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• Project management |

SWOT analysis: Examples and templates

A SWOT analysis helps you identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats for a specific project or your overall business plan. It’s used for strategic planning and to stay ahead of market trends. Below, we describe each part of the SWOT framework and show you how to conduct your own.

Whether you’re looking for external opportunities or internal strengths, we’ll walk you through how to perform your own SWOT analysis, with helpful examples along the way. 

What is a SWOT analysis?

A SWOT analysis is a technique used to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats for your business or even a specific project. It’s most widely used by organizations—from small businesses and non-profits to large enterprises—but a SWOT analysis can be used for personal purposes as well. 

While simple, a SWOT analysis is a powerful tool for helping you identify competitive opportunities for improvement. It helps you improve your team and business while staying ahead of market trends.

What does SWOT stand for?

SWOT is an acronym that stands for: 

Opportunities

When analyzed together, the SWOT framework can paint a larger picture of where you are and how to get to the next step. Let’s dive a little deeper into each of these terms and how they can help identify areas of improvement. 

Strengths in SWOT refer to internal initiatives that are performing well. Examining these areas helps you understand what’s already working. You can then use the techniques that you know work—your strengths—in other areas that might need additional support, like improving your team’s efficiency . 

When looking into the strengths of your organization, ask yourself the following questions:

What do we do well? Or, even better: What do we do best?

What’s unique about our organization?

What does our target audience like about our organization?

Which categories or features beat out our competitors?

 Example SWOT strength:

Customer service: Our world-class customer service has an NPS score of 90 as compared to our competitors, who average an NPS score of 70.

Weaknesses in SWOT refer to internal initiatives that are underperforming. It’s a good idea to analyze your strengths before your weaknesses in order to create a baseline for success and failure. Identifying internal weaknesses provides a starting point for improving those projects.

Identify the company’s weaknesses by asking:

Which initiatives are underperforming and why?

What can be improved?

What resources could improve our performance?

How do we rank against our competitors?

Example SWOT weakness:

E-commerce visibility: Our website visibility is low because of a lack of marketing budget , leading to a decrease in mobile app transactions.

Opportunities in SWOT result from your existing strengths and weaknesses, along with any external initiatives that will put you in a stronger competitive position. These could be anything from weaknesses that you’d like to improve or areas that weren’t identified in the first two phases of your analysis. 

Since there are multiple ways to come up with opportunities, it’s helpful to consider these questions before getting started:

What resources can we use to improve weaknesses?

Are there market gaps in our services?

What are our business goals for the year?

What do your competitors offer?

Example SWOT opportunities:

Marketing campaign: To improve brand visibility, we’ll run ad campaigns on YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram.

Threats in SWOT are areas with the potential to cause problems. Different from weaknesses, threats are external and ‌out of your control. This can include anything from a global pandemic to a change in the competitive landscape. 

Here are a few questions to ask yourself to identify external threats:

What changes in the industry are cause for concern?

What new market trends are on the horizon?

Where are our competitors outperforming us?

Example SWOT threats:

New competitor: With a new e-commerce competitor set to launch within the next month, we could see a decline in customers.

SWOT analysis example

One of the most popular ways to create a SWOT analysis is through a SWOT matrix—a visual representation of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. The matrix comprises four separate squares that create one larger square. 

A SWOT matrix is great for collecting information and documenting the questions and decision-making process . Not only will it be handy to reference later on, but it’s also great for visualizing any patterns that arise. 

Check out the SWOT matrix below for a simple example. As you can see, each of the quadrants lists out the company's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.

When used correctly and effectively, your matrix can be a great toolkit for evaluating your organization’s strengths and weaknesses. 

How to do a SWOT analysis, with examples 

A SWOT analysis can be conducted in a variety of ways. Some teams like to meet and throw ideas on a whiteboard, while others prefer the structure of a SWOT matrix. However you choose to make your SWOT analysis, getting creative with your planning process allows new ideas to flow and results in more unique solutions. 

There are a few ways to ensure that your SWOT analysis is thorough and done correctly. Let’s take a closer look at some tips to help you get started.

Tip 1: Consider internal factors 

Often, strengths and weaknesses stem from internal processes. These tend to be easier to solve since you have more control over the outcome. When you come across internal factors, you can start implementing improvements in a couple of different ways.

Meet with department stakeholders to form a business plan around how to improve your current situation.

Research and implement new tools, such as a project management tool , that can help streamline these processes for you. 

Take immediate action on anything that can be changed in 24 hours or less. If you don’t have the capacity, consider delegating these items to others with deadlines. 

The way you go about solving internal factors will depend on the type of problem. If it’s more complex, you might need to use a combination of the above or a more thorough problem management process.

Tip 2: Evaluate external factors

External factors stem from processes outside of your control. This includes competitors, market trends, and anything else that’s affecting your organization from the outside in. 

External factors are trickier to solve, as you can’t directly control the outcome. What you can do is pivot your own processes in a way that mitigates negative external factors. 

You can work to solve these issues by:

Competing with market trends

Forecasting market trends before they happen

Improving adaptability to improve your reaction time

Track competitors using reporting tools that automatically update you as soon as changes occur 

While you won’t be able to control an external environment, you can control how your organization reacts to it. 

Let’s say, for instance, that you’re looking to compete with a market trend. For example, a competitor introduced a new product to the market that’s outperforming your own. While you can’t take that product away, you can work to launch an even better product or marketing campaign to mitigate any decline in sales. 

Tip 3: Hold a brainstorming session

Brainstorming new and innovative ideas can help to spur creativity and inspire action. To host a high impact brainstorming session, you’ll want to: 

Invite team members from various departments. That way, ideas from each part of the company are represented. 

Be intentional about the number of team members you invite, since too many participants could lead to a lack of focus or participation. The sweet spot for a productive brainstorming session is around 10 teammates. 

Use different brainstorming techniques that appeal to different work types.

Set a clear intention for the session.

Tip 4: Get creative

In order to generate creative ideas, you have to first invite them. That means creating fun ways to come up with opportunities. Try randomly selecting anonymous ideas, talking through obviously bad examples, or playing team building games to psych up the team.

Tip 5: Prioritize opportunities

Now, rank the opportunities. This can be done as a team or with a smaller group of leaders. Talk through each idea and rank it on a scale of one through 10. Once you’ve agreed on your top ideas based on team capabilities, competencies, and overall impact, it’s easier to implement them.

Tip 6: Take action

It’s all too easy to feel finished at this stage —but the actual work is just beginning. After your SWOT analysis, you’ll have a list of prioritized opportunities. Now is the time to turn them into strengths. Use a structured system such as a business case , project plan, or implementation plan to outline what needs to get done—and how you plan to do it.

SWOT analysis template

A SWOT analysis template is often presented in a grid format, divided into four quadrants. Each quadrant represents one of the four elements. 

Use this free SWOT analysis template to jump-start your team’s strategic planning.

Identify the strengths that contribute to achieving your objectives. These are internal characteristics that give you an advantage. Some examples could be a strong brand reputation, an innovative culture, or an experienced management team.

Next, focus on weaknesses. These are internal factors that could serve as obstacles to achieving your objectives. Common examples might include a lack of financial resources, high operational costs, or outdated technology. 

Move on to the opportunities. These are external conditions that could be helpful in achieving your goals. For example, you might be looking at emerging markets, increased demand, or favorable shifts in regulations.

Lastly, let's address threats. These are external conditions that could negatively impact your objectives. Examples include increased competition or potential economic downturns.

Why is a SWOT analysis important?

A SWOT analysis can help you improve processes and plan for growth. While similar to a competitive analysis , it differs because it evaluates both internal and external factors. Analyzing key areas around these opportunities and threats will equip you with the insights needed to set your team up for success.

A SWOT analysis isn’t only useful for organizations. With a personal SWOT analysis, you can examine areas of your life that could benefit from improvement, from your leadership style to your communication skills. These are the benefits of using a SWOT analysis in any scenario. 

1. Identifies areas of opportunity

One of the biggest benefits of conducting an analysis is to determine opportunities for growth. It’s a great starting point for startups and teams that know they want to improve but aren’t exactly sure how to get started. 

Opportunities can come from many different avenues, like external factors such as diversifying your products for competitive advantage or internal factors like improving your team’s workflow . Either way, capitalizing on opportunities is an excellent way to grow as a team.

2. Identifies areas that could be improved

Identifying weaknesses and threats during a SWOT analysis can pave the way for a better business strategy.

Ultimately, learning from your mistakes is the best way to excel. Once you find areas to streamline, you can work with team members to brainstorm an action plan . This will let you use what you already know works and build on your company’s strengths.

3. Identifies areas that could be at risk

Whether you have a risk register in place or not, it’s always crucial to identify risks before they become a cause for concern. A SWOT analysis can help you stay on top of actionable items that may play a part in your risk decision-making process. 

It may be beneficial to pair your SWOT analysis with a PEST analysis, which examines external solutions such as political, economic, social, and technological factors—all of which can help you identify and plan for project risks .

When should you use a SWOT analysis?

You won’t always need an in-depth SWOT analysis. It’s most useful for large, general overviews of situations, scenarios, or your business.

A SWOT analysis is most helpful:

Before you implement a large change—including as part of a larger change management plan

When you launch a new company initiative

If you’d like to identify opportunities for growth and improvement

Any time you want a full overview of your business performance

If you need to identify business performance from different perspectives

SWOT analyses are general for a reason—so they can be applied to almost any scenario, project, or business. 

SWOT analysis: Pros and cons

Although SWOT is a useful strategic planning tool for businesses and individuals alike, it does have limitations. Here’s what you can expect.

The simplicity of SWOT analysis makes it a go-to tool for many. Because it is simple, it takes the mystery out of strategic planning and lets people think critically about their situations without feeling overwhelmed. 

For instance, a small bakery looking to expand its operations can use SWOT analysis to easily understand its current standing. Identifying strengths like a loyal customer base, weaknesses such as limited seating space, opportunities like a rising trend in artisanal baked goods, and threats from larger chain bakeries nearby can all be accomplished without any specialized knowledge or technical expertise.

Versatility

Its versatile nature allows SWOT analysis to be used across various domains. Whether it’s a business strategizing for the future or an individual planning their career path, SWOT analysis lends itself well. 

For example, a tech start-up in the competitive Silicon Valley landscape could employ SWOT to navigate its pathway to profitability. Strengths might include a highly skilled development team; weaknesses could be a lack of brand recognition; opportunities might lie in emerging markets; and threats could include established tech giants. 

Meaningful analysis

SWOT excels in identifying external factors that could impact performance. It nudges organizations to look beyond the present and anticipate potential future scenarios. 

A retail company, for example, could use SWOT analysis to identify opportunities in e-commerce and threats from changing consumer behavior or new competitors entering the market. By doing so, the company can strategize on how to leverage online platforms to boost sales and counteract threats by enhancing the customer experience or adopting new technologies.

Subjectivity and bias

The subjective nature of SWOT analysis may lead to biases. It relies heavily on individual perceptions, which can sometimes overlook crucial data or misinterpret information, leading to skewed conclusions. 

For example, a manufacturing company might undervalue the threat of new entrants in the market due to an overconfidence bias among the management. This subjectivity might lead to a lack of preparation for competitive pricing strategies, ultimately affecting the company's market share.

Lack of prioritization

SWOT analysis lays out issues but falls short on prioritizing them. Organizations might struggle to identify which elements deserve immediate attention and resources. 

For instance, a healthcare provider identifying numerous opportunities for expansion into new services may become overwhelmed with the choices. Without a clear way to rank these opportunities, resources could be spread too thinly or given to projects that do not have as much of an impact, leading to less-than-ideal outcomes.

Static analysis

Since SWOT analysis captures a snapshot at a particular moment, it may miss the evolving nature of challenges and opportunities, possibly leading to outdated strategies. An example could be a traditional retail business that performs a SWOT analysis and decides to focus on expanding physical stores, overlooking the growing trend of e-commerce. As online shopping continues to evolve and gain popularity, the static analysis might lead to investment in areas with diminishing returns while missing out on the booming e-commerce market trend.

SWOT analysis FAQ

What are the five elements of swot analysis.

Traditionally, SWOT stands for its four main elements: strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. However, a fifth essential element often overlooked is "actionable strategies." Originally developed by Albert Humphrey, SWOT is more than just a list—it's a planning tool designed to generate actionable strategies for making informed business decisions. This fifth element serves to tie the other four together, enabling departments like human resources and marketing to turn analysis into actionable plans.

What should a SWOT analysis include?

A comprehensive SWOT analysis should focus on the internal and external factors that affect your organization. Internally, consider your strong brand and product line as your strengths, and maybe your supply chain weaknesses. Externally, you'll want to look at market share, partnerships, and new technologies that could either pose opportunities or threats. You should also account for demographics, as it helps in market targeting and segmentation.

How do you write a good SWOT analysis?

Writing an effective SWOT analysis begins with research. Start by identifying your strengths, like a strong brand, and your weaknesses, like a small human resources department. Following that, look outward to find opportunities, possibly in technological advancement, and threats, like fluctuations in market share. Many businesses find it helpful to use a free SWOT analysis template to structure this information. A good SWOT analysis doesn't just list these elements; it integrates them to provide a clear roadmap for making business decisions.

What are four examples of threats in SWOT analysis?

New technologies: Rapid technological advancement can make your product or service obsolete.

Supply chain disruptions: Whether due to natural disasters or geopolitical tensions, an unstable supply chain can seriously jeopardize your operations.

Emerging competitors: New players entering the market can erode your market share and offer alternative solutions to your customer base.

Regulatory changes: New laws or regulations can add costs and complexity to your business, affecting your competitiveness.

How do you use a SWOT analysis?

Once you've completed a SWOT analysis, use the results as a decision-making aid. It can help prioritize actions, develop strategic plans that play to your strengths, improve weaknesses, seize opportunities, and counteract threats. It’s a useful tool for setting objectives and creating a roadmap for achieving them.

Plan for growth with a SWOT analysis

A SWOT analysis can be an effective technique for identifying key strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Understanding where you are now can be the most impactful way to determine where you want to go next. 

Don’t forget, a bit of creativity and collaboration can go a long way. Encourage your team to think outside of the box with 100+ team motivational quotes .

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How to Write a SWOT Analysis (Template and Examples Included)

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Planning for the Future

Where do you see yourself in five years? How about your career? Your business? 

These questions keep a staggering amount of people awake at night. All too often, the future can seem like a dark, ominous cloud that looms just out of view. As the old proverb goes, we fear the unknown—and little can possibly be more unknowable than the future.

While there is no crystal ball that can accurately predict future market trends or the steps you should take to optimize your productivity and sharpen your competitive edge, we can offer some advice: Reframe the question. Rather than trying to pinpoint where you think you might be in five years, think about where you want to be at that point in time. Once you have a destination in mind, you can start planning a route to get there. After all, maps are great tools, but they can't help you if you don't know where you're going.

So, what's the metaphorical map in this scenario? We present to you the SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis.

How to Write a SWOT Analysis

SWOT analyses are great strategic tools that are useful in project planning, business development , financial strategizing, and personal advancement . Simple, honest, and to-the-point, they facilitate a profound understanding of your or your business's current standing. Essentially, a SWOT analysis is a comparative list of all your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.

There's more power in this process than you might think. You may be only hazily aware of your own strengths and weaknesses. However, thoughtfully recording and reflecting on them creates a thorough, conscious familiarity with both the resources available to you and the obstacles standing in your way. This awareness allows you to map out a path toward your goals with great precision and purpose. Writing a SWOT analysis will help you clearly evaluate whether your goals are feasible according to your resources and needs.

In this guide, we'll break down exactly how to write a SWOT analysis and provide a few examples along the way. Feel free to use our SWOT analysis template, given below, to write your own!

Our SWOT Analysis Template

Your list of strengths should focus on your current resources and abilities. It should relate to things that you do or that your company does well. These might be your or your company's accomplishments—both great and small—and the assets that you or your company have. Your strengths give you your greatest edge; they are the resources that propel you forward and that you can continue to develop as you progress.

When you draw up your first SWOT analysis, you may find yourself at a loss. Don't worry—it's difficult for most people to come up with an objective list of strengths and weaknesses on the spot. For your convenience, we've included a list of questions you can ask yourself to get started.

These questions should help you identify a few of your strengths. Remember, while our example questions mostly relate to business strengths, they can also apply to personal strengths. Go ahead and boast as much as you can.

• What sets your company apart from others?
• What do you have that other companies don't?
• What are you most proud of about your company?
• What makes clients come back to you?
• What does your company do well?
• What assets do you have access to?
• What qualities does your company have that other companies try to emulate?
• What has always been easy for your company? 

Listing your weaknesses might be a little more uncomfortable than detailing your strengths, but trust us—doing so will help you in the long run. Understanding the obstacles in your path and the elements of your business or skills you may need to improve is just as important as appreciating your strengths. Once you're aware of your weaknesses, you can start working on them and building your next steps around them.

Your list of weaknesses should pertain to any current problems and challenges. Check out the list of questions below—it should give you an idea of where to start. Again, if you'd rather focus on your personal or career growth, feel free to alter these questions to suit your needs.

• What makes your company blend in with its competition?
• What do other companies have that you don't?
• What are the most common criticisms that you receive from clients?
• Why have certain clients not returned to you?
• What does your company need to improve upon?
• What kind of feedback do you receive from your employees?
• What might your competition consider to be a weakness?
• What has always been difficult for your company?
• What are you unwilling to do or change?

Opportunities

Think about the opportunities available to you as potential future strengths. Your opportunities are the assets, resources, and events that could be beneficial to you in some way in the future. You may need to change some of your current approaches or adapt in other ways to capitalize on these opportunities, and that is not necessarily a bad thing.

Here are some questions you can ask yourself to identify your potential opportunities:

• What is happening in the current market that you could capitalize upon?
• What changes have you been making that have returned positive results?
• What is working for other companies?
• How could you introduce new technology to make your processes more efficient?
• What costs can you cut?
• Could you access new sectors or demographic groups?
• How can you improve or modernize your marketing techniques?
• How can you remove existing obstacles?

  Threats

Just as your opportunities are based on potential, so are your threats; these are the possible obstacles or issues that are not yet directly affecting your progress. But this doesn't mean that you shouldn't start thinking about them! Being aware of the challenges that you may encounter will help you either plan around them or confront them with solutions. Try to come up with several future events that may realistically hinder the momentum you build from engaging with your strengths and opportunities.

To get started, take a peek at our list of questions:

• What obstacles might your weaknesses create?
• Do changing market trends negatively affect your competitive edge?
• What might stand in the way of the changes you make to accommodate your strengths and opportunities?
• Do you have a lot of debt?
• Could your competition exploit your weaknesses?

How did you do? Do you feel like you've listed everything? Or do you think you're missing something? Below, we've drafted examples of a business and a personal SWOT analysis to provide you with some perspective on what a completed one might look like.

An Example of a Personal SWOT Analysis

An Example of a Business SWOT Analysis  

Final Words

The humble but effective SWOT analysis will produce a detailed map of your current environment—its hills and valleys alike. Knowing how to write a SWOT analysis will provide you with the vantage point you need to choose a direction and blaze a trail toward your goals. SWOT analyses may not be crystal balls, but they are something like compasses. Use them wisely, and you will never be lost.

Image source: cookelma/unspla sh.com

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How to Perform a SWOT Analysis for a Business

By Kate Eby | April 26, 2023

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A SWOT analysis helps you identify areas of strengths and weaknesses in your business and take advantage of opportunities and mitigate threats. Leaders perform a SWOT analysis before starting a project or implementing a strategy.

With help from our experts, we’ll teach you about a SWOT analysis , provide examples from three different industries , and highlight common mistakes to avoid. We also include a downloadable SWOT analysis starter kit to help you get started.

How to Do a SWOT Analysis

To perform a SWOT (strength, weakness, opportunities, and threats) analysis, assemble a matrix and take an objective look at your business. Write down your observations, summarize your findings, and plan your next steps together with your team.

“A SWOT analysis is designed to shed light on four separate aspects of your business and help in strategy formation and project planning. In order to perform this analysis comprehensively, each factor must be examined in equal measure,” explains Max Wesman , the Founder of GoodHire. 

We’ve outlined the steps necessary for completing a SWOT analysis:

• Assemble Your Team Include a diverse group in your analysis to get the best results. Ask for input from people on different teams and at varying employee tiers and demographics to get an objective look at your business. “Plan a half-day strategy session with your team and have each member come ready to present their own SWOT analysis of a particular product or opportunity. You’ll be surprised by the range of new ideas it generates. And you can use the exercise to formulate an aggregate SWOT that you all buyinto together,” suggests Jack Colletti , the Founder of Colletti Labs.
• Set Up Your Matrix Use a template, whiteboard, shared online workspace, or paper and pen to create a matrix. For free template ideas and downloads, check out our collections of SWOT templates available in PowerPoint , Microsoft Word , Google Docs , and Google Slides formats.

• Strengths: To identify your strengths, ask yourself what you’re doing well and what your customers and employees like about your business. 
• Weaknesses: To identify weaknesses, look at places where you have fallen short of projections. Read reviews of your business and pay attention to critical customer feedback. 
• Opportunities: To identify opportunities, start with your long- and short-term goals. Ask yourself if there are new products or services you can add to your lineup to set you apart, any gaps in the market you can fill, or any areas that could benefit from a different allocation of resources.
• Threats: To identify threats to your business, keep an eye on your competition, upcoming legislative changes, and financial records and projections. Pay attention to the potential for negative media and social media coverage due to your business practices, as well.  
• Organize and Summarize As a group, rank items by how actionable they are or by their impact. “Be sure that you don’t make your list too long to manage,” suggests Rossi. Choose the top five or six responses for each quadrant to help focus the discussion and analysis.
• Plan Your Next Steps Create action items and a plan for moving forward. Depending on the results of your analysis, this will likely mean some combination of bolstering your strengths, shoring up your weaknesses, taking advantage of opportunities, and mitigating threats.
• Store the Analysis for Easy Reference It is a good idea to perform a SWOT analysis regularly — depending on your business size, you might repeat the practice annually or quarterly. Before performing a new SWOT analysis, review the previous one and see where you’ve made improvements. “Routinely revisiting your SWOT analysis ensures that your evaluation is accurate and up-to-date with the current state of the market,” says Wesman.

SWOT Analysis Starter Kit

Download the SWOT Analysis Starter Kit

We’ve created this starter kit to give you the necessary tools to think through and conduct a SWOT analysis for your business. You’ll find SWOT templates in multiple formats, a checklist of actions to take and questions to ask, and a presentation template. All of these templates are fully customizable and can be adapted for personal decision-making. Download each template individually or as a complete kit.

Included in this download, you’ll find:

• A blank animated SWOT analysis template for PowerPoint to help create an engaging SWOT presentation.
• A blank horizontal, landscape-oriented SWOT analysis template for Microsoft Word to create an eye-catching display or a handout with plenty of room for text.
• A blank simple, portrait-oriented SWOT matrix template for Microsoft Word and Google Docs for easy brainstorming and sharing.
• A blank custom photo SWOT matrix template for PowerPoint and Google Slides to create a dynamic, personalized presentation of your analysis.
• A SWOT analysis checklist for Microsoft Word so that each step of your analysis goes off without a hitch.
• A common SWOT analysis examples checklist for Microsoft Word to reference and copy from when completing your SWOT template.
• A group SWOT analysis presentation for PowerPoint to help facilitate a group SWOT analysis meeting.

SWOT Analysis Examples

A SWOT analysis can help a wide variety of businesses identify their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. We’ve collected some SWOT analysis examples that demonstrate how they’re used in construction, technology, and retail industries.

Construction Company SWOT Analysis Example for Google Docs

Download the Simple Colorful Construction Company SWOT Template for Google Docs Download the Simple Colorful Construction Company SWOT Template for Google Docs with Sample Data

This simple but colorful SWOT template includes example data for a construction company concerned about its growth. In the sample, the company has identified the experience of their staff as a strength, as well as their growth as a business over the last 15 years. They know they need to be more open to adopting new technology, and they acknowledge they have no marketing budget and only attract new clients by word-of-mouth. They use this info to focus their opportunities on leveraging their existing staff to train new teams, and creating a specific budget for marketing. Finally, they have identified the rising costs of labor and the chance of public backlash to a project they are working on as threats to their business.

Technology Company SWOT Analysis Example for PowerPoint

Download the Blank Animated Technology SWOT Analysis for PowerPoint Download the Animated Technology SWOT Analysis Template for PowerPoint with Sample Data

This animated SWOT analysis template is excellent for showing off your SWOT findings in a meeting or presentation setting. It includes animations to reveal each quadrant of your matrix as you speak. This template includes sample data for a large technology company that has recognized its worldwide presence and growing customer base as strengths, and the requirements of localization and employee retention as weaknesses. The organization is looking ahead to the opportunities presented by decreased labor costs in emerging markets, but also paying attention to the threat of cybersecurity and potential backlash in their home country due to their outsourcing of labor and manufacturing.

Retail Company SWOT Analysis Example for Microsoft Word

Download the Blank Horizontal Retail SWOT Template for Microsoft Word Download the Horizontal Retail SWOT Template for Microsoft Word with Sample Data

This horizontal-oriented SWOT template includes example data for a retail store. In the sample version of the template, the store has outlined its strengths but also noted concerns about the rising costs of rent and the abundance of big-box stores and included those in the threats section. They have identified opportunities as participation in local events and the possibility of a second storefront. The store also recognized that it could improve its social media efforts and the difficulty in competing with larger, online retailers.

What Is a SWOT Analysis?

A SWOT analysis is a strategic assessment tool that weighs strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats to aid in decision-making. A SWOT analysis can help guide you to better-informed conclusions that are more likely to produce long-term benefits.

Invented by Albert Humphrey at the Stanford Research Institute in the 1960s, the SWOT analysis framework has been adopted by businesses and individual decision-makers worldwide. Humphrey’s framework prioritizes the analysis of internal strengths and weaknesses; the related TOWS analysis model flips this on its head and focuses on external opportunities and threats. Another external analysis model, the PEST (political, economic, social, and technological) framework, focuses entirely on external factors, namely political, economical, sociocultural, and technological.

“The SWOT analysis is an excellent framework not only for diagnosing issues in your business, but also for identifying strategic opportunities within it. For example, a SWOT analysis can be applied to the launch of a new product, a business partnership under consideration, or a key hire or promotion. While the SWOT is not meant to be an all-inclusive, fully exhaustive analysis, it does provide a solid basis for discussion, much like a resume or CV contributes to the hiring process,” explains Colleti of Colletti Labs.

Strength in a SWOT Analysis

The strengths section of a SWOT analysis highlights what you do well. These can include your sales and market presence, hiring and retention practices, and products and services, among others. It can also list what you are good at personally.

Some additional examples of strengths you might list in a SWOT analysis include:

• Customer Satisfaction: Satisfied customers are returning customers. Returning customers keep your business solvent. Having a large number of regular customers is a great strength.
• Effective Branding: The right branding makes a business memorable. A well-designed logo or a fun, topical ad campaign can bring in sales and create positive associations with your brand.
• Employee Satisfaction and Retention: Hiring quality talent and retaining them for the long term is a wonderful strength. Loyal employees are more likely to enjoy their work and work harder because of it.
• Expertise: Business leaders often have expertise in their field that translates to a better product or service. Possessing more expertise than your competitors is a noteworthy strength.
• Filling a Niche: Identifying and filling a niche in the market is an excellent strength. Many businesses thrive because they are able to tap into the needs of their market and provide it for their customers.
• Leadership: Great leadership is a great strength. Leaders who inspire and support their teammates foster a happier and more cohesive workplace.
• Longevity: The longer your business has been around, the longer you have had to cultivate a positive reputation in your community. Businesses often celebrate their anniversaries and promote the time they have spent operating in the community. Longevity helps assure customers that you have expertise in your niche.
• Meeting and Exceeding Goals: Setting and achieving realistic goals is a sign of a well-run business.
• Product and Service Offerings: Unique or popular product and service offerings help a business carve out a niche and find their customer base, making them an obvious strength.
• Sales: Consistently high sales are desirable for any business and, therefore, a major strength. Robust sales can also lead to many other strengths, as well.

Identifying strengths impartially can be challenging. Use this list of questions to help pinpoint your strengths:

• How has your company grown? 
• What do your customers like about you in reviews? 
• What do your employees like about working for you?
• What does your company do that is unique? 
• What offerings or company philosophies set you apart? 
• What looks different about your business from one, five, and ten years ago?

Weakness in a SWOT Analysis

Weaknesses in a SWOT analysis are business aspects that are underperforming. These could be low sales, unpopular services, limitations, negative reviews, or others. Consider your weaknesses carefully, as you can often turn them into opportunities.

Here’s a list of common weaknesses businesses might find in a SWOT analysis:

• Employee Satisfaction: Employees who are unhappy with their jobs are less engaged and less productive. Consider your employees’ satisfaction, as retention can easily become a weakness of the business.
• Inefficient Budget and Resource Allocation: Many businesses have enough but do not allocate them efficiently. This weakness can be easily addressed by implementing better project prioritization practices.
• Negative Customer Reviews: Look at what your customers are saying in their reviews. Note the comments that show up frequently, and remember that customers will only typically leave very positive or very negative reviews. Use negative reviews as a tool to identify the areas where your business can improve.
• Not Reading Trends: Your products and services can quickly become obsolete if you are not in the habit of reading and forecasting trends. 
• Poor Branding: Consider branding carefully. It should be consistent, representative of your company, and recognizable across all mediums.
• Poor Leadership: Solid leadership is critical to the success of a business. As such, leadership that doesn’t perform well should be addressed immediately.
• Product or Service Offerings: Product or service offerings can be a weakness if they are not unique to your business or better than similar offerings from your competitors.
• Resource Limitations: Resources might include money, people, or materials. If you do not have the resources needed to meet demand, shore up this weakness.
• Rigidity: Being unable or unwilling to change with the times is a weakness found in many organizations. Change can be scary, but it is often required to move forward and stay relevant.
• Unrealistic Sales Projections: When sales are lower than projected, it can throw off budgets and plans for the business’s future, leading to missed opportunities and overinvestment in failing product lines.

Business owners often struggle to identify their weaknesses impartially. To help identify weaknesses, ask yourself the following questions, and be honest with your answers:

• What do your customers think you can improve on? 
• What part of your business do customers commonly identify as troublesome?
• What are your biggest challenges? 
• Where have you fallen short in your goals over time? Were those goals realistic?
• What are your competitors doing better than you? 
• What are your competitors doing that you wish you were doing better?
• When was the last time you performed a competitive analysis ? 
• What do your employees think of their leaders and your business?

Opportunities in a SWOT Analysis

In a SWOT analysis, opportunities refer to situations that offer a chance to improve or expand. These can be factors such as a gap in the market, new products or services, or positive media coverage.

Some examples of opportunities to note in your SWOT analysis are:

• New Products and Services: When you add new products or services to your offerings, you have an opportunity to expand your product line and grow your business.
• Social Media Engagement: Social media provides an organic way to interact with existing and potential customers in a casual setting.
• Viral Advertising: Many businesses find success after creating popular media on the internet. Viral advertising has the potential to expose your company to potential customers who might otherwise not find you.
• Competition Gaps: Pay attention to your competition. When they switch gears or leave the market, you might be able to fill the gap they leave behind.
• Surplus Budget Reallocation: Sometimes a business finds it has a budget surplus. Extra money is an opportunity to shore up weak spots or take advantage of new opportunities.
• Partnerships: Partnering with other businesses or causes can bring you the exposure you could not have found alone. Fundraising and profit sharing offer beneficial ways to build some community support and help a good cause.
• Social and Cultural Opportunities: In addition to partnering with other businesses, research events and causes within your community that could help grow your business. Participating in social and cultural events can help boost your community standing.
• Hiring Consultants: You cannot be an expert in everything, so consider hiring an experienced authority to handle the tricky stuff or to teach you how to handle it.
• Training and Education: Continuing training and education of your staff (and yourself) can lead to countless future opportunities.
• Expansion: One of the most common, and most desirable, opportunities for a business is the chance to open new locations or expand into new markets.

To identify opportunities present in your business, ask the following questions: 

• Which social media platforms have shown the most growth in followers and engagement?
• Are there areas of local or cultural impact we can highlight in our messaging?
• Is there any kind of gap in the market we can capitalize on?
• Is there a budget surplus in a department that can be allocated elsewhere?
• Are there other companies or organizations we can partner with for shared impact?
• What are our long- and short-term goals for the business? 
• How can we best achieve our goals with our current resources?

Threat in a SWOT Analysis

Threats in a SWOT analysis refer to events or circumstances that pose a risk to your business’s growth or commercial success. These can include competitors, new regulations, negative media or social media coverage, and customer and employee satisfaction.

Opportunities and threats are sometimes considered two sides of the same coin, as many opportunities invite risk if you do not meet them with a solid plan. Opportunities are chances to capitalize on a possibility, but they can often be safely ignored. On the other hand, if you ignore threats for long enough, they often lead to disastrous consequences. Threats vary by industry and location. 

We’ve collected some examples of common threats that could appear in a SWOT analysis:

• Competition: Your competition is always a threat. Other businesses occupying the same market space can dilute sales or push you out altogether. Monitor your competition’s offerings so that you can adjust as needed and stay relevant.
• Customer Satisfaction: Many factors can affect customer satisfaction, but as your clients become less satisfied, they are less likely to patronize your business. Keep an eye on reviews, social media, and customer surveys for insights into your customers’ experiences.
• Employee Satisfaction: Without experienced and motivated staff, it is impossible to operate efficiently. Keep employees satisfied by providing competitive wages, opportunities for growth, and positive reinforcement of their achievements.
• Environmental: Prepare a plan for major weather or environmental events, even if you don’t operate your business where they are common. If possible, carry insurance for fires, floods, and earthquakes so that your work is interrupted as little as possible if one occurs.
• Equipment and Building Maintenance: Delaying expensive repairs and maintenance on your buildings or equipment that are not immediately critical can be tempting. However, putting them off too long can lead to even more expensive repairs and possible closures at a later date when things break down or fail.
• Media Coverage: The adage “no such thing as bad press” is not always true. Negative media coverage can cost you customers and sales. Positive media coverage can run the risk of bringing on more customers than you have the capacity to handle, which can lead to frustration and a loss of customers in kind.
• Regulations: New regulations that interfere with or inhibit your business get passed all the time. Keep abreast of any pending changes, and be sure that you have contingency plans in place.
• Setting Financial Goals: Your business forecasts should be realistic and based on similar market numbers or real numbers you have achieved in the past. You cannot set achievable plans for your business's future if you are not making accurate projections in the present.
• Social Media Coverage: Like regular media coverage, social media can make or break your business. Many companies find success and followings on social media organically. However, some fail to appeal to the average user and can even find themselves publicly ridiculed in this forum instead.
• Supply Chain Delays: Supply chain delays can affect lead times, manufacturing schedules, and the availability of materials. They can be difficult to predict, so consider building in extra time or creating contingency plans.

Identifying threats can feel overwhelming and pessimistic, but they are vital for business planning. Ask yourself the following questions to shine light on potential threats in your SWOT analysis:

• Are there any new major competitors in the market? 
• What are people saying about us in reviews and on social media?
• Where are we underperforming? 
• Where are we missing our goals?
• Will any incoming new legislation directly or indirectly affect our business? What kind of potential legislative changes should we keep an eye on?
• Are we keeping up to date on building and equipment maintenance?
• Are our employees satisfied with their jobs?
• Are we maintaining accurate financial records and creating accurate projections?

Internal and External Factors in a SWOT Analysis

In a SWOT analysis, strengths and weaknesses are considered internal factors, and opportunities and threats are considered external factors. Internal factors are usually a result of decisions the company has made. External factors often come from a wider environment.

Internal factors tend to be easier to address since they come from decisions made within the company. External factors depend greatly on factors outside of a business and can be harder to identify and track. As a result, most organizations find it easier to bolster strengths and shore up weaknesses than to take advantage of opportunities and avoid threats.

Tips for Writing a SWOT Analysis

To write a SWOT analysis for your business, take an objective look at your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Keep it organized and concise, and create a specific and actionable list. 

We’ve outlined these and other tips:

• Be Concise: Stick to the most profound or critical five or six elements in each quadrant to keep the analysis relevant and actionable.
• Be Honest and Impartial: It’s vital to be honest and impartial about the state of your business. This truth can sometimes be difficult for managers and owners who are too close to it, so consider involving additional stakeholders or employing outside help.
• Be Specific: Use real numbers when talking about sales, goals, and times. Point to specific initiatives that were successful (or not) instead of referring to them broadly. “My early SWOT analyses were too general, and I didn’t have the rigor that’s required to provide a detailed and balanced view of a business or opportunity. If I could go back in time, I would consider more elements of the business, including people, product, marketing, sales, customer service, data management, quality, partners, etc. I would also provide metrics and KPIs for each area discussed to provide a proper data-driven basis for discussion or debate,” Colletti contemplates.
• Do It Regularly: Create a quarterly or annual schedule to perform SWOT analyses regularly. “I wish I had known that a SWOT analysis should be performed at regular intervals,” says Wesman. “Changes in technology, consumer sentiment, and macroeconomic factors can drastically alter a business's prior prospects, which can blindside decision-makers during their most critical moments.”
• Follow Up: Once you analyze your results, make an action plan to take advantage of your strengths and opportunities, as well as to address any shortcomings you have found. Use it to help plan your business strategy going forward. “A SWOT analysis is a great way to keep your finger on the pulse of your business’s overall performance,” says Rossi.
• Use Real Data: Use real data from reviews, surveys, and sales to create the analysis. Your SWOT analysis will be more actionable if you include the real numbers associated with each factor.

Mistakes to Avoid when Doing a SWOT Analysis

When performing a SWOT analysis, avoid being vague or too verbose. Be sure to follow up on the findings and create an action plan. 

We’ve outlined these and other potential mistakes to avoid in your SWOT analysis: 

• Being Too Wordy: Your lists should be easy to read and understand without a lot of extra information. Use real numbers and statistics when applicable, and stick to the top five or six items with the most impact in each quadrant.
• Being Too Vague: At the same time, your lists should include all the necessary details to give the reader the full picture.
• Not Being Honest and Objective: It is easy to inflate your strengths and downplay your weaknesses, but that will only hurt your business in the long term. “One common mistake is to downplay the risks and threats in the analysis. As entrepreneurs, we sometimes tend to be overly optimistic or overconfident. We may want to embellish the strengths and opportunities, such as stating ‘our killer technology’ or ‘our amazing sales team.’ Another mistake is to make claims or statements with no real data or analytical support. A proper SWOT requires you to be pragmatic about your strengths, and think really hard about what risks and threats face your business,” explains Colletti.
• Not Creating an Action Plan: One of the biggest mistakes you can make with a SWOT analysis is not using its results to inform your next steps. A SWOT analysis is only useful if you learn from it and let it help you inform your strategy.
• Not Involving a Group: A SWOT analysis performed by a single person will only have a single point of view. For best results, take a more inclusive look at your business from people at all levels.

Benefits of a SWOT Analysis

A SWOT analysis can provide insight into your business’s overall performance, highlight places to improve, and even act as a team-building exercise. 

We’ve outlined these and more benefits of performing a SWOT analysis:

• Develop Action Plans: A SWOT analysis is a great tool for developing an action plan. Use the results to focus on the areas that need work or extra resources and to keep developing the areas that are doing well.
• Do Some Introspection: A SWOT analysis provides a forum to do some real introspection on your business and its practices. “Since many entrepreneurs and business owners can be overly optimistic, a SWOT analysis can help force pragmatism. Leaders need to consider the business from all angles with a heightened sense of rigor,” warns Colletti.
• Get an Objective Overview of the Business: A SWOT analysis can give you an overview of your company’s current performance and its future potential. “You can use these insights to weigh the pros and cons of difficult business decisions. This will help you navigate challenging market environments to your advantage,” says Wesman.
• Help Draft Other Business Documents: A SWOT analysis can serve as the first draft for other business documents, such as project overviews, media releases, and investment reports. “SWOT is a widely known framework, thus providing a common language for communicating the viability of a business or opportunity to leadership, investors, business partners, or board members,” explains Colletti.
• Team Building: When you include a diverse group of employees in business strategy discussions, you increase their buy-in and engagement. They feel more connected to the problem and see themselves as part of the solution. “SWOT is an excellent tool for a strategy session or team-building event , allowing leaders to solicit input and feedback on various aspects of the business,”  Colletti explains.

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How to Do a SWOT Analysis in Project Management: Template & Examples

As project managers, we’re lucky to have a full set of tools available to help us approach any project challenge. We have tools that bring our teams together, uncover issues, guide a project to an end, and everything in between. (I’m still waiting on that “easy” button, though!)

Determining what tool should be used in each situation can feel daunting. There are definitely some I pull out for every project, while others collect a bit more dust. 

The SWOT analysis is one I’ve left in the toolbox a bit too often. It’s probably not fair though. It’s a great tool that can bring the team together, create transparency around tough issues, and identify key risks and opportunities that will help with project planning . 

Let’s take a deeper look to see when and why you should give a SWOT analysis a bigger spotlight in your projects. 

What is a SWOT analysis?

A SWOT analysis is a strategic planning tool that allows you and your team to determine organizational strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. It’s typically represented as a table or matrix with each element in its own section or quadrant. 

A SWOT analysis assesses both internal and external factors:

• Internal factors are aspects within your control. They include skills, assets, resources, and competitive advantages. They are typically the strengths and weaknesses categories in the SWOT matrix.
• External factors are outside of your control. They might be major events, economic changes, marketplace shifts, pandemics, and more. These are the opportunities and threats. 

You can use a SWOT analysis to evaluate a project, business plan, content strategy, and even yourself. It’s very adaptable to many situations.

This type of analysis can be useful in project management because it allows you to identify areas of risk and growth within a project or team. From there, you and your team can use those findings to create a strategic plan that improves your chance of project success. 

Elements of the SWOT framework with examples

A SWOT analysis is made up of 4 core elements:

• S = Strengths
• W = Weaknesses
• O = Opportunities
• T = Threats

Let’s dive into what each SWOT component means and explore simple examples of each one.

Strengths are factors within your control that will help the project succeed. They might include a person, existing skill set, how the organization is positioned, or a specific aspect about the scoped project. I recommend listing out your strengths first to create a clear understanding of what success looks like and start your SWOT analysis on a positive note. 

Examples of project strengths

• Your team has experience delivering a similar custom application.
• The client team has full authority to make decisions.
• Leadership is on board and already started a company-wide digital strategy conversion.
• The budget has contingency built in.
• Your content team is fully staffed for the project.
• Your team has done 4 sites in that vertical in the last year.
• You already have detailed specifications of the product scope.
• A full brand redesign is already complete.

Weaknesses are internal factors that could negatively impact the project and make it difficult to succeed. Some strengths on your list might lead to a clear weakness, while weaknesses can help you identify opportunities in the next step.

Talking about weaknesses can be uncomfortable because no one likes dwelling on the gaps. If you do a SWOT analysis with an external client, let your team know what’s okay to call out in front of the client vs what’s best discussed internally. For example, it's good to alert your client to the fact your team is working on 2 projects at once because it sets clear expectations around your availability and response time.

Examples of project weaknesses

• Your team has never worked together.
• The client has all new leadership.
• Your team is allocated to 2 projects at the same time.
• Your client lacks resources in content, media production, or other areas.
• Your client has multiple levels of stakeholders.
• Project funding is limited and must be spent by a certain date.
• All content needs to pass through the legal department.
• Your team and clients use different project tools.

Opportunities

Opportunities are factors that can help your project succeed—or save it from failure—if correctly executed. The tricky thing is, they’re a bit outside of your control. They might be opportunities that already exist but haven’t been acted on, or they might be future wins that will come with the completion of the project. 

Reviewing the strengths and weaknesses you’ve already captured in your SWOT analysis will help you get ideas for this list. Just be sure any opportunities you include are concrete and realistic.

Examples of project opportunities

• Moving a more experienced team member to your project team
• Creating new channels for the company to capture revenue
• Obtaining a discount from a vendor
• Receiving another grant to fund the project
• Hiring someone new on the client side to support the work
• Attending an upcoming conference with access to real users
• Capturing new leads because of the project

Threats are external factors that could hurt the success of your project and are often out of your control. Identifying these factors before the project begins can help you set expectations with your team and stakeholders around potential points of failure. 

Examples of project threats

• A competitor is releasing a similar product on a faster timeline.
• The software code base for a section was recently released and could be buggy.
• A project vendor hasn’t been responsive.
• A team member is on maternity leave for 3 months.
• The client won’t give you access to other stakeholders.
• You don’t have access to users (or don’t think it’s important).

What are the benefits of using a SWOT analysis in project management?

A SWOT analysis is a simple yet powerful exercise that can easily flow into a project manager’s strategic planning process. It gives you and your team space to worry and dream and can also bring the project and its variables into more focus.

But how you complete the analysis—and what you do with its findings—determines the true value of the tool. Let’s look at several advantages a SWOT analysis can provide when it’s done right.

Identify (and address) project risks and gaps

Conducting a SWOT analysis enables you to identify areas of weakness and potential project gaps from the start. That way, you can address any concerns with a proactive project plan. Of course, not all risks are factors you can control, but at least knowing them allows you to create a better strategy. 

Set a positive tone

Performing a SWOT analysis also gives you the chance to discuss strengths and opportunities. Focusing on the good aspects of your project and team sets a positive tone right from the start. It also shines a light on skills and aspects you might not have realized you have available to you. 

Uncover client expectations

As a project manager, I’m always thinking, “But what do they really want?” I know a lot of time goes into the project scope, but the client always forgets to mention something. 

Think of your SWOT analysis as a free-form brainstorming session that gives you another chance to listen and learn. It’s always easier to work new insights or hidden scope into the plan at the beginning of a project instead of the middle or end.

Identify new revenue

Doing a SWOT analysis before a project begins can also uncover new project opportunities. While some of these items might be addressed in the current scope, many will not. This opens the door to discuss phase 2 work that could generate additional revenue for both you and the client.

Establish a framework for red flags

When reviewing a project’s contract scope, I always find red flags—those pesky items that keep every project manager up at night. 

A SWOT analysis makes it easy to sneak those concerns in with the positives so you don’t have to be a downer in your first meetings. It also gives others a chance to raise red flags so the bad news isn’t always coming from you. Discussing these upfront makes everyone aware of the risks, not just select stakeholders. 

Build a foundation for team communication

Completing this activity as a team with different levels of stakeholders from both sides can set the stage for effective communication . Establishing an open, transparent, direct, and welcoming environment early on can help everyone navigate future conversations—no matter how tricky. 

It also builds a culture of collaborative problem-solving. As a project manager, you might feel like you have to solve all the hard issues yourself. But creating a team approach can lift some of that weight right off your shoulders.

When should you skip a SWOT analysis?

While a SWOT analysis can be a useful planning tool in project management, other tools are too. So when does it make sense to leave this tool in the toolbox?

Here are a few reasons a SWOT analysis might not be a productive use of your time.

You lack stakeholder access

Sometimes a client limits your access to their team, leaving you with only 1-2 people to talk to on the client side. If you can’t pull a diverse group of stakeholders together from both sides, it’s unlikely you’ll be able to build a comprehensive and effective SWOT matrix. 

You and/or your client can’t be honest

The reality is, you won’t have an open and transparent relationship with every client. It might be because they’re new or have a different culture of communication in their organization. Or maybe your sales team committed to a project they shouldn’t have. 

Whatever the reason, if you or your client can’t be transparent about weaknesses and threats, your SWOT analysis won’t be very useful.

You have limited resources

If your budget is small, you likely have limited resources to complete the project—and that includes your own time as a project manager. 

While conducting a SWOT analysis workshop is a relatively quick task, it’s not going to be effective unless you spend time creating and executing an action plan afterwards. If you can’t reasonably take action on what you may uncover, go ahead and skip the SWOT analysis. 

You’re working with a repeat client

If you’ve worked with a client several times before and don’t appear to be solving a new, hard problem—or approaching a new product or revenue stream—there’s no need to go through the motions of a SWOT exercise.

Your project has an unclear scope

Are you managing a project with muddy goals and a scope that’s constantly changing (even though somehow a contract got signed)? If so, it’s best to put all your energy into workshops and tools that focus on clearly defining what you’re doing. In my experience, projects like these just lead to vague SWOTs anyway.

How to do a SWOT analysis for a project

There’s no wrong way to complete a SWOT analysis. It just depends on the project and the preferences of your team and stakeholders. Just be sure whatever process you use effectively brings everyone together. 

Here are the key steps I recommend taking to execute a good SWOT analysis. 

1. Identify your SWOT analysis goal

Every good process starts with a clear goal. If you know why you’re doing a SWOT analysis and what you hope to achieve, you can tailor your approach and conversations accordingly. This clarity might even lead you to other tools in your project manager toolbox that will help you reach your goals.

2. Determine your stakeholders

Next, figure out who needs to participate in the SWOT analysis for you to achieve your goal. While there might be times you need to do this exercise quickly on your own, working as a team that includes both internal and external stakeholders will give you a more comprehensive analysis.

Participants should represent different groups at all levels of the organization to bring a full and diverse perspective. They should also be willing to participate fully, honestly, and kindly in the conversation and be open to talking about some tough topics. For example, someone might have a role in a weakness or threat that ends up on the list. If people aren’t willing to dig in, you’ll end up with a surface-level analysis that’s less useful.

Including more people in the conversion will encourage teamwork and transparency—all things you want for the rest of your project. Of course, too many people could cause chaos and a lack of focus, so shoot for around 10 or fewer participants.

3. Identify which tool you’ll use for the SWOT analysis

Next, decide where you’ll create your SWOT analysis. Many folks love working within the classic SWOT matrix, and you can easily create one using Word or PowerPoint.

If you’re conducting your workshop remotely—or want folks to add ideas before, during, or after the meeting—consider using a collaborative tool instead. You could use an interactive whiteboard tool to create a shared matrix or set up a list or Kanban board in TeamGantt. What’s nice about a tool like TeamGantt is you can immediately transform items from your SWOT analysis into tasks with deadlines and responsibilities assigned.

4. Prepare your team 

One of the most important steps you can take is effectively preparing your team for the workshop. I have to admit, I’ve been lazy about this step at times in the past, but it’s really critical if you want people to be successful in the meeting.

Send the team attending the SWOT analysis workshop the following items ahead of time:

• The goal of the SWOT analysis
• Why they’ve been chosen to participate in the workshop
• An explanation of how the SWOT analysis will work
• What they should do to prepare for the meeting and how much time they need to set aside to prep
• Access to the tool you’ll use to conduct the SWOT analysis so they can get in and comfortable with it beforehand
• Next steps they can expect after the meeting (even if it doesn’t involve them) 
• Gratitude in advance for their thoughts, respect, and time

5. Conduct the SWOT analysis workshop

Use this workshop to brainstorm project strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats as a team. Guide the discussion to make sure the thoughts are clear and specific. If more information has to be gathered for a couple of items after the meeting, that’s okay, but the majority shouldn’t need follow-up.

Since I include both my team and the client in a project SWOT analysis, I like to keep the format simple. While I talk about the concept of internal vs external factors, I don’t build my matrix or workshop around it. In my experience, it’s just another layer for folks to process. Participants should be focused on brainstorming—not figuring out how to work within a complex framework. 

Try to fill in 2-3 items for each box of the SWOT matrix ahead of time to jump start the conversation. If the room gets quiet, give folks 10 minutes to gather thoughts and then share back. You could also use starter questions like the ones below to get ideas rolling.

Example questions to guide your SWOT analysis workshop

• What do your customers love about what you do?
• Does anyone have expertise in this subject or scope? 
• What resources are available in-house?
• What advantages do you have over your competitors?

Weaknesses:

• What do your customers dislike about what you do?
• Could any organizational factors negatively impact this project?
• Are there any gaps in team or project knowledge?
• Do you have any hard limits on the project (e.g., timeline, budget, scope)?

Opportunities:

• What can you do to compete better in your market?
• What resource changes or additions would help you?
• What tools will help you be effective?
• Can you help other areas of the business?
• Do other business initiatives depend on project completion and success? If so, how?
• Are your competitors doing anything related to your project?
• Are you working with any new or untested tools or software?
• Do you rely on any outside vendors?

Download an expanded list of example questions.

6. Prioritize and confirm

In this step, you’ll want to rank the factors from most to least important. Since time is usually limited, I focus on prioritizing the opportunities and threats lists. 

Questions like these can help you weigh the importance of each item on your list:

• Will it impact the project the most? 
• Is it something you can actually do something about? 
• Are there things you can’t address unless the project has more budget? 

You can either jump into prioritization at the end of your brainstorming session or tackle it online as a team after your SWOT workshop.

Once you feel good about the priorities you’ve set, clean up your SWOT analysis document, and send it to all your stakeholders to confirm everyone’s on the same page. 

7. Create and execute an action plan

Now it’s time to create a clear plan of action to execute on. Your to-do list might only take a couple of weeks to knock out, or it might take longer to work through. Either way, you’ll want to jump on an action plan quickly to show participants you took their feedback seriously and are committed to making the project a success.

It’s probably easiest to start with the internal SWOT factors you have control over, so focus on maximizing strengths and mitigating weaknesses first. Your action plan might include rearranging your team, finding a new tool, adding more resources, talking to sales, or more. 

Once these internal factors are in motion, take a look at the threats and opportunities that are more outside of your control. Work closely with your primary stakeholder or client-side project manager to determine the best course of action, including how you’ll handle any new opportunities or threats that may arise.

After you have a game plan, schedule any necessary meetings. Then create a clear plan with deadlines, and assign tasks to team members. Using an online project planner like TeamGantt makes it easy to communicate priorities to your team and report back to stakeholders so they know what steps have been taken and what’s to come. 

Get your action plan off the ground faster with one of our free project templates!

8. Monitor and revisit your SWOT strategy

If time allows, go back to your SWOT analysis throughout the project, as well as at the end. See if you’re accomplishing what you set out to do or if you have room to tackle any additional items now.

Self-reflection and solid data can help you hone your skills as a project manager and improve projects over time.

SWOT analysis example

To help you get a better understanding of how this process might work, let’s take a look at a sample SWOT analysis for a new marketing website build. Our example project also features a large lead-capture component that connects to Salesforce.

• Our development team has completed several Salesforce integrations.
• This project is a top priority for the client. Leadership has given staff permission to set other initiatives aside to help with the project.
• The core team has been through a website redesign in the past.
• The strategists are available right now and can jump into discovery and research.
• The new brand has already been created and approved, and all website assets are available.
• We don’t have much user data or feedback collected yet.
• The timeline is immovable.
• This is the project’s first phase, so the full team has not worked together.
• The company’s top 3 leadership positions changed in the last 6 months.
• The best new feature of the project won’t be ready until launch, so no video or images will be available for the website.
• The client has strict security procedures, and we need to work solely in Microsoft to share documents. However, our team is used to using Google.
• The Salesforce implementation contractor has offered to scale up their team to help implement the tool quickly.
• The client views this launch as phase 1 and has funding for 2 more phases.
• If the dev team gets stuck on another project, we have other dev team members we can move over to start all builds, except the Salesforce integration. 
• For another project, our team created a revenue-generating resource library. It could be another source of income.
• We’ve identified that 75% of site visitors don’t go past the homepage.
• The client doesn’t like their current workflow for lead capture, but they’re arguing internally about how it should change.
• The client has not used Salesforce before.
• The client’s main competitor just launched a new, sleek website. 
• The launch date is set for 4 months. We think the project needs 6 months. 
• Launch is expected to happen right after the December holidays.
• Our dev team has another project to wrap up before starting this project, and it’s been known to miss all its deadlines.

While the matrix format provides a nice visual in the meeting, it doesn’t transition nicely into your next steps as a project manager. Here’s how you might adapt this example to a Kanban board that allows you to prioritize action items easily, assign deadlines and people to tasks, add notes, etc.

Free SWOT analysis templates

If you're looking for a SWOT analysis template, a free one is always a great place to start. We created a few different options to help you save time preparing for and creating a SWOT analysis of your own. 

• SWOT analysis planner template [PDF] : Use these example questions to guide discussions around project strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.
• SWOT analysis template [Word] : Download this editable SWOT analysis template to create a simple one-page matrix for your project.
• SWOT analysis template [PowerPoint] : Use this SWOT analysis template to present your final analysis to your project team and/or stakeholders.

Take easy action on your SWOT analysis with TeamGantt

Want to make a SWOT analysis everyone can collaborate on? Try TeamGantt for free , and use our board feature to create and prioritize your SWOT analysis as a team. 

Once your analysis is done, transform action items into a plan that’s easy to schedule, manage, and track. Check out our free project template hub for ideas you can use to get your plan off the ground faster.

About the author: Lynn Winter

Lynn is a freelance Digital Strategist who combines 20+ years of experience in content strategy, user experience, and project management to bring a holistic approach to her work. She has spoken at numerous local and national conferences and hosts an annual conference for Digital Project Managers called Manage Digital ( http://managedigital.io/ ). You can connect with her at lynnwintermn.com .

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Article • 17 min read

SWOT Analysis

Understanding your business, informing your strategy.

By the Mind Tools Content Team

What Is a SWOT Analysis?

SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats, and so a SWOT analysis is a technique for assessing these four aspects of your business.

SWOT Analysis is a tool that can help you to analyze what your company does best now, and to devise a successful strategy for the future. SWOT can also uncover areas of the business that are holding you back, or that your competitors could exploit if you don't protect yourself.

A SWOT analysis examines both internal and external factors – that is, what's going on inside and outside your organization. So some of these factors will be within your control and some will not. In either case, the wisest action you can take in response will become clearer once you've discovered, recorded and analyzed as many factors as you can.

In this article, video and infographic, we explore how to carry out a SWOT analysis, and how to put your findings into action. We also include a worked example and a template to help you get started on a SWOT analysis in your own workplace.

Why Is SWOT Analysis Important?

SWOT Analysis can help you to challenge risky assumptions and to uncover dangerous blindspots about your organization's performance. If you use it carefully and collaboratively, it can deliver new insights on where your business currently is, and help you to develop exactly the right strategy for any situation.

For example, you may be well aware of some of your organization's strengths, but until you record them alongside weaknesses and threats you might not realize how unreliable those strengths actually are.

Equally, you likely have reasonable concerns about some of your business weaknesses but, by going through the analysis systematically, you could find an opportunity, previously overlooked, that could more than compensate.

How to Write a SWOT Analysis

SWOT analysis involves making lists – but so much more, too! When you begin to write one list (say, Strengths), the thought process and research that you'll go through will prompt ideas for the other lists (Weaknesses, Opportunities or Threats). And if you compare these lists side by side, you will likely notice connections and contradictions, which you'll want to highlight and explore.

You'll find yourself moving back and forth between your lists frequently. So, make the task easier and more effective by arranging your four lists together in one view.

A SWOT matrix is a 2x2 grid, with one square for each of the four aspects of SWOT. (Figure 1 shows what it should look like.) Each section is headed by some questions to get your thinking started.

Figure 1. A SWOT Analysis Matrix.

Swot analysis template.

When conducting your SWOT analysis, you can either draw your own matrix, or use our free downloadable template .

How to Do a SWOT Analysis

Avoid relying on your own, partial understanding of your organization. Your assumptions could be wrong. Instead, gather a team of people from a range of functions and levels to build a broad and insightful list of observations.

Then, every time you identify a Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, or Threat, write it down in the relevant part of the SWOT analysis grid for all to see.

Let's look at each area in more detail and consider what fits where, and what questions you could ask as part of your data gathering.

Strengths are things that your organization does particularly well, or in a way that distinguishes you from your competitors. Think about the advantages your organization has over other organizations. These might be the motivation of your staff, access to certain materials, or a strong set of manufacturing processes.

Your strengths are an integral part of your organization, so think about what makes it "tick." What do you do better than anyone else? What values drive your business? What unique or lowest-cost resources can you draw upon that others can't? Identify and analyze your organization's Unique Selling Proposition (USP), and add this to the Strengths section.

Then turn your perspective around and ask yourself what your competitors might see as your strengths. What factors mean that you get the sale ahead of them?

Remember, any aspect of your organization is only a strength if it brings you a clear advantage. For example, if all of your competitors provide high-quality products, then a high-quality production process is not a strength in your market: it's a necessity.

Weaknesses, like strengths, are inherent features of your organization, so focus on your people, resources, systems, and procedures. Think about what you could improve, and the sorts of practices you should avoid.

Once again, imagine (or find out) how other people in your market see you. Do they notice weaknesses that you tend to be blind to? Take time to examine how and why your competitors are doing better than you. What are you lacking?

Be honest! A SWOT analysis will only be valuable if you gather all the information you need. So, it's best to be realistic now, and face any unpleasant truths as soon as possible.

Opportunities

Opportunities are openings or chances for something positive to happen, but you'll need to claim them for yourself!

They usually arise from situations outside your organization, and require an eye to what might happen in the future. They might arise as developments in the market you serve, or in the technology you use. Being able to spot and exploit opportunities can make a huge difference to your organization's ability to compete and take the lead in your market.

Think about good opportunities that you can exploit immediately. These don't need to be game-changers: even small advantages can increase your organization's competitiveness. What interesting market trends are you aware of, large or small, which could have an impact?

You should also watch out for changes in government policy related to your field. And changes in social patterns, population profiles, and lifestyles can all throw up interesting opportunities.

Threats include anything that can negatively affect your business from the outside, such as supply-chain problems, shifts in market requirements, or a shortage of recruits. It's vital to anticipate threats and to take action against them before you become a victim of them and your growth stalls.

Think about the obstacles you face in getting your product to market and selling. You may notice that quality standards or specifications for your products are changing, and that you'll need to change those products if you're to stay in the lead. Evolving technology is an ever-present threat, as well as an opportunity!

Always consider what your competitors are doing, and whether you should be changing your organization's emphasis to meet the challenge. But remember that what they're doing might not be the right thing for you to do. So, avoid copying them without knowing how it will improve your position.

Be sure to explore whether your organization is especially exposed to external challenges. Do you have bad debt or cash-flow problems, for example, that could make you vulnerable to even small changes in your market? This is the kind of threat that can seriously damage your business, so be alert.

Use PEST Analysis to ensure that you don't overlook threatening external factors. And PMESII-PT is an especially helpful check in very unfamiliar or uncertain environments.

Frequently Asked Questions About SWOT Analysis

1. who invented swot analysis.

Many people attribute SWOT Analysis to Albert S. Humphrey. However, there has been some debate on the originator of the tool, as discussed in the International Journal of Business Research .

2. What Does SWOT Analysis Stand For?

SWOT Analysis stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats.

3. What Can a SWOT Analysis Be Used For?

SWOT analysis is a useful tool to help you determine your organization's position in the market. You can then use this information to create an informed strategy suited to your needs and capabilities.

4. How Do I Write a SWOT Analysis?

To conduct a SWOT analysis, you first need to create a 2x2 matrix grid. Each square is then assigned to one of the four aspects of SWOT. You can either draw this grid yourself or use our downloadable template to get started.

5. How Do SWOT Analysis and the TOWS Matrix compare?

While SWOT analysis puts the emphasis on the internal environment (your strengths and weaknesses), TOWS forces you to look at your external environment first (your threats and opportunities). In most cases, you'll do a SWOT Analysis first, and follow up with a TOWS Matrix to offer a broader context.

6. What Are the Biggest SWOT Analysis Mistakes?

• Making your lists too long. Ask yourself if your ideas are feasible as you go along.
• Being vague. Be specific to provide more focus for later discussions.
• Not seeing weaknesses. Be sure to ask customers and colleagues what they experience in real life.
• Not thinking ahead. It's easy to come up with nice ideas without taking them through to their logical conclusion. Always consider their practical impact.
• Being unrealistic. Don't plan in detail for opportunities that don't exist yet. For example, that export market you've been eyeing may be available at some point, but the trade negotiations to open it up could take years.
• Relying on SWOT Analysis alone. SWOT Analysis is valuable. But when you use it alongside other planning tools (SOAR, TOWS or PEST), the results will be more vigorous.

How to Use a SWOT Analysis

Use a SWOT Analysis to assess your organization's current position before you decide on any new strategy. Find out what's working well, and what's not so good. Ask yourself where you want to go, how you might get there – and what might get in your way.

Once you've examined all four aspects of SWOT, you'll want to build on your strengths, boost your weaker areas, head off any threats, and exploit every opportunity. In fact, you'll likely be faced with a long list of potential actions.

But before you go ahead, be sure to develop your ideas further. Look for potential connections between the quadrants of your matrix. For example, could you use some of your strengths to open up further opportunities? And, would even more opportunities become available by eliminating some of your weaknesses?

Finally, it's time to ruthlessly prune and prioritize your ideas, so that you can focus time and money on the most significant and impactful ones. Refine each point to make your comparisons clearer. For example, only accept precise, verifiable statements such as, "Cost advantage of $30/ton in sourcing raw material x," rather than, "Better value for money."

Remember to apply your learnings at the right level in your organization. For example, at a product or product-line level, rather than at the much vaguer whole-company level. And use your SWOT analysis alongside other strategy tools (for example, Core Competencies Analysis ), so that you get a comprehensive picture of the situation you're dealing with.

A SWOT Analysis Example

Imagine this scenario: a small start-up consultancy wants a clear picture of its current situation, to decide on a future strategy for growth. The team gathers, and draws up the SWOT Analysis shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2. A Completed SWOT Analysis.

As a result of the team's analysis, it's clear that the consultancy's main strengths lie in its agility, technical expertise, and low overheads. These allow it to offer excellent customer service to a relatively small client base.

The company's weaknesses are also to do with its size. It will need to invest in training, to improve the skills base of the small staff. It'll also need to focus on retention, so it doesn't lose key team members.

There are opportunities in offering rapid-response, good-value services to local businesses and to local government organizations. The company can likely be first to market with new products and services, given that its competitors are slow adopters.

The threats require the consultancy to keep up-to-date with changes in technology. It also needs to keep a close eye on its largest competitors, given its vulnerability to large-scale changes in its market. To counteract this, the business needs to focus its marketing on selected industry websites, to get the greatest possible market presence on a small advertising budget.

It's also possible to carry out a Personal SWOT Analysis . This can be useful for developing your career in ways that take best advantage of your talents, abilities and opportunities.

SWOT Analysis Infographic

See SWOT Analysis represented in our infographic :

SWOT Analysis helps you to identify your organization's Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats.

It guides you to build on what you do well, address what you're lacking, seize new openings, and minimize risks.

Apply a SWOT Analysis to assess your organization's position before you decide on any new strategy.

Use a SWOT matrix to prompt your research and to record your ideas. Avoid making huge lists of suggestions. Be as specific as you can, and be honest about your weaknesses.

Be realistic and rigorous. Prune and prioritize your ideas, to focus time and money on the most significant and impactful actions and solutions. Complement your use of SWOT with other tools.

Collaborate with a team of people from across the business. This will help to uncover a more accurate and honest picture.

Find out what's working well, and what's not so good. Ask yourself where you want to go, how you might get there – and what might get in your way.

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Comments (2)

SWOT is useless. When you try it and you find Weaknesses box bulging, but Strengths & Opportunities completely empty, what can that possibly achieve?

Leslie Bartnicki

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The Ultimate Guide to SWOT Analysis

Yes, this is the only guide to SWOT Analysis you’ll ever need…🕶️

10 min read

Table of Contents

SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. It is commonly displayed as a 2×2 matrix and is a popular tool used by businesses all over the world.

You’ve likely heard of SWOT, in fact it’s sometimes even used in personal development to look at an individual’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

This guide will provide you with everything you need to become an expert in SWOT Analysis. We’ve got information, frequently asked questions, video support, examples, and pointers on where you can complete your SWOT Analysis.

So without further ado, let’s begin our ultimate guide to the most famous strategic tool…

Beginner Guide to SWOT

Link: An Introduction to SWOT Analysis

If you have never encountered or heard of a SWOT Analysis before then this is the place to start. This in-depth introductory guide will provide you with all the answers to common questions about SWOT. It covers the following topics in detail:

• Definition of SWOT Analysis
• Imagery around SWOT Analysis
• When to use the tool
• Advantages and disadvantages
• Preparation and risks
• Complementary tools and frameworks
• Difference between SWOT and TOWS
• Common questions asked
• History of the tool and examples

So if you’re looking for a starter to get to know the SWOT Analysis in more detail there is no better place to begin. We’d recommend reading through this article before looking at the other resources in this ultimate guide. If you have already heard of SWOT you may be better off with some of the resources below.

Creating a SWOT Analysis

Link: 5 Steps to creating a SWOT Analysis

Completing a SWOT Analysis is a really effective way of mapping out factors that impact your strategic decision making, which is what this next resource is all about. If you’re looking for the steps on how to develop your own SWOT for you or your business then this is the article for you. It’s the best guide to creating a SWOT Analysis (ok, we’re biased… but it’s pretty damn good! 😎) This article will take you through the following:

• Step by step guide on how to develop a SWOT
• Example list of Strengths
• Example list of Weaknesses
• Example list of Opportunities
• Example list of Threats
• Key questions to ask yourself as you develop your SWOT
• Suggested ways to refine your SWOT
• Suggested next steps from your SWOT
• Methods of reusing your SWOT

There are a few options and templates for creating a SWOT matrix, as you’ll see later in this article, but if you’re looking to start from scratch then this is the resource for you!

Examples of SWOT Analysis

No matter what your company or industry is, it should be possible to find a suitable SWOT examples to get you thinking. There’s a number of resources to discover them, including many within Lucidity itself. Outside of the platform we’ve put together a number of potential SWOT examples that may be of use including:

Leisure Centre: A look at what a SWOT may be like for an independent Leisure Centre.

Budget Supermarket: Some examples around a budget supermarket in the UK.

The Body Shop: What factors may be under consideration for The Body Shop in their SWOT.

Gym: How an independent gym may be addressing their SWOT.

Mars Confectionary: And to balance that gym example, here’s a tasty look at a SWOT for Malteasers

If you’re looking for a more in-depth discussion, here’s a look at a SWOT applied in the retail space , with some considerations about the conclusions you might draw. Of course, every SWOT is different, but looking at examples is a great way to stimulate discussion and get ideas for elements that may be impacting your own business positively and negatively.

SWOT Toolkits

There are a number of ways to create your own SWOT Analyses from DIY templates to software. Here are some of the common approaches:

Word & PowerPoint: Creating a 2×2 in Word & PowerPoint is probably the most common way a SWOT is created for business planning. It’s effective because it’s quick, easy to build, and easy to edit. There are some disadvantages to this approach though. You may find many versions of the same framework and have difficulty with version control or consistency. It’s also often the case that this approach can lead to your SWOT being done, filed and forgotten…

Whiteboard: Maybe less popular since Covid, but the classic approach of a whiteboard and post-it notes is probably the most popular way a SWOT has been run within a strategy workshop. The interactive nature of this approach works really well. You can break into teams to look at specific areas, it’s also easy to group and refine attributes. The disadvantage is where you put the outcomes, as you’re probably often back to Word, PowerPoint, or worse… email! Again, often filed and forgotten.

SWOT Software: Hello! 👋 Yes, we’d have to mention this one… there’s a number of systems to create a SWOT Analysis. In the Lucidity strategy software you can create your SWOT and store it within your strategic plan. Disadvantages? We can’t think of any… 😂

SWOT Video Guide

Link: How to complete a SWOT Analysis video guide

If you prefer to watch a bitesized video rather than read a guide then you’re in luck! We’ve put together this short video that goes through a SWOT Analysis. In just under 2 minutes 30 seconds we cover:

• What is a SWOT Analysis
• Structure of a SWOT
• Considerations prior to completing SWOT
• Tips on how to complete SWOT
• Example Strengths
• Example Weaknesses
• Example Opportunities
• Example Threats
• Helpful questions
• Example refinements

So grab the popcorn and enjoy…🍿

SWOT Tips & Tricks

We can reveal a few tips around SWOT Analysis to help you out with the planning processes. Let’s start with a list of things you should do…

• Prepare well. Make sure you’ve spoken to customers and employees about the company.
• Balance your time and devote equal amounts to the S,W,O and T.
• Get a wide range of people from the company to feed in, you want team members who look inwards and outwards.
• It can help to get the views of someone external

To counter the above, here are some of the things you should avoid:

• Don’t make this the world’s longest list! Keep it high level to the important factors.
• Don’t be subjective, use data to support your reasoning
• Don’t do the SWOT and ignore it – take key actions, make decisions using it

We’ve also gathered a few quotes from strategy consultants and experts on SWOT… 🤔

"SWOT is a great way to summarise the key points from an external and internal analysis and provides a great platform to agree objectives and a suitable strategy." René Moolenaar , Senior Lecturer at University of Sussex

"The simplicity of SWOT means it’s easy to rush it and not get the real value. A comprehensive and discussed SWOT can really alter your strategic decisions. Spend time on it, openly discuss the different areas, and use it as a way to capture conclusions from your other frameworks like PESTLE or Five Forces . Once done you can move on to developing tangible actions…" Mike Fahey

"For me a SWOT Analysis is not the answer in itself is what you do with it that counts so Weaknesses become Strengths and Threats Opportunities. It’s a living document." Nigel Allman, Ashton Consulting

"Recognise, invest in & protect your Strengths. It’s good for a CEO to spend time in the Weaknesses box because you can deal with those issues quicker than a manager can, some of those things can be legacy issues that are quite thorny to resolve. For Opportunities, it’s all about choosing which ones to focus on and – just as important – which ones not to focus on… and lastly remember, you can’t ignore the Threats box. Hope isn’t a strategy so you have to deliberately mitigate and avoid whatever is in there." Tom Ricca-McCarthy

Taking SWOT Further: TOWS Analysis

TOWS Analysis stands for Threats, Opportunities, Weaknesses and Strengths, but it’s not just a simple 2×2. It’s an extension of SWOT that focuses on the relationships between each internal and external factor you list. There are a couple of articles to help…

Link: Introduction to TOWS Analysis

If you’ve not heard of TOWS before then this is the place to start. It’s a resource full of questions and answers around the model, explaining the following:

• Definition of TOWS
• Example diagram
• Preparation and advice on usage

Link: Guide to TOWS Analysis

This is the perfect guide on how to complete a TOWS Analysis, ideal if you’ve just finished your SWOT or if you’re starting from scratch and interested in how to develop your analysis. In this guide we go through:

• Developing key actions
• Focusing on what is important

Finally, if you’d like to see an example then check out this TOWS Analysis for a bus company.

Although less common than SWOT, TOWS is a much more effective way to develop key actions for your business and should always be considered as a framework to use.

SWOT in Communication: SOAR Analysis

SOAR Analysis is a 2×2 matrix that is a very positive framework, focusing on Strengths, Opportunities, Aspirations and Results. SOAR is sometimes used as a way to communicate a SWOT with teams and people in a very positive manner, it’s also a way to map a set of Strengths and Opportunities into real world results.

Link: Introduction to SOAR Analysis

If you’ve not heard of SOAR before then this article will take you through the key facts about this framework including:

• Definition of SOAR Analysis
• Preparation and advice

Link: Guide to SOAR Analysis

If you’ve completed a SWOT or you’re aware of SOAR, then this guide will take you through how to develop your own SOAR Analysis in 5 steps. It includes everything you’d need including:

• Example factors to consider
• Helpful questions to ask at each stage
• Structure of the matrix

SOAR is a useful framework, but keep in mind you can’t ignore the negatives within a business. We’d always recommend you do a SWOT prior to completing a SOAR Analysis.

SWOT Checklist

It wouldn’t be an ultimate guide without a checklist, now would it? As we reach the end here’s a list of items you can tick off to ensure you get the most out of your SWOT Analysis.

✅ Ask customers for their input ✅ Involved a wide range of team members ✅ Don’t restrict feedback or be biased ✅ Create a positive and open feedback culture ✅ Refine your list so you have the key factors ✅ Examine the whole company – even the internal operations like Finance & HR! ✅ Be data driven in your analysis ✅ Create tangible actions from the work ✅ Communicate your findings

This concludes our guide to SWOT, we hope you’ve liked it!

There are hundreds of potential strategic frameworks but SWOT has stood out as the most famous and popular tool for many years. It’s a powerful, comprehensive, yet extremely simple framework that is accessible to all practitioners and professionals, regardless of their strategy experience.

Good luck with your SWOT!

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SWOT Analysis – How to Do It Properly

SWOT analysis involves the collection and portrayal of information about internal and external factors that have, or may have, an impact on business. [2]

SWOT is a framework that allows managers to synthesize insights obtained from an internal analysis of the company’s strengths and weaknesses with those from an analysis of external opportunities and threats. [3]

What is SWOT Analysis

What is SWOT analysis? The answer to the question is simple: it’s a tool used for situation (business or personal) analysis! SWOT is an acronym that stands for:

S trengths: factors that give the company an edge over its competitors. W eaknesses: factors that can be harmful if used against the firm by its competitors. O pportunities: favorable situations which can bring a competitive advantage. T hreats: unfavorable situations that can negatively affect the business.

Strengths and weaknesses are internal to the company and can be directly managed by it, while the opportunities and threats are external and the company can only anticipate and react to them. Often, SWOT is presented in a form of a matrix as in the illustration below:

SWOT is a widely accepted tool due to its simplicity and value of focusing on the key issues which affect the firm. The aim of SWOT is to identify the strengths and weaknesses that are relevant in meeting opportunities and threats in particular situation. [4]

SWOT tool has 5 key benefits:

• Simple to do and practical to use.
• Clear to understand.
• Focuses on the key internal and external factors affecting the company.
• Helps to identify future goals.
• Initiates further analysis.

Limitations

Although there are clear benefits of doing the analysis, many managers and academics heavily criticize or don’t even recognize it as a serious tool. [2] According to many, it is a ‘low-grade’ analysis. Here are the main flaws identified by the research: [2][5]

• Excessive lists of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.
• No prioritization of factors.
• Factors are described too broadly.
• Factors are often opinions, not facts.
• No recognized method to distinguish between strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

How to perform the analysis?

SWOT can be done by one person or a group of members who are directly responsible for the situation assessment in the company. Basic SWOT analysis is done fairly easily and comprises of only a few steps:

Step 1. Listing the firm’s key strengths and weaknesses Step 2. Identifying opportunities and threats

Strengths and Weaknesses

Strengths and weaknesses are the factors of the firm’s internal environment. When looking for strengths, ask what you do better or have more valuable than your competitors have. In case of the weaknesses, ask what you could improve and at least catch up with your competitors?

Where to look for them?

Some strengths or weaknesses can be recognized instantly without deeper studying of the organization. But usually, the process is harder and managers have to look into the firm’s:

• Resources: land, equipment, knowledge, brand equity, intellectual property, etc.
• Core competencies
• Capabilities
• Functional areas: management, operations, marketing, finances, human resources and R&D
• Organizational culture
• Value chain activities

Strength or a weakness?

Often, a company’s internal factors are seen as both strengths and weaknesses at the same time. It is also hard to tell if a characteristic is a strength (weakness) or not. For example, a firm’s organizational structure can be a strength, a weakness or neither! In such cases, you should rely on:

Clear definition . Very often, factors that are described too broadly may fit both strengths and weaknesses. For example, “brand image” might be a weakness if the company has a poor brand image. However, it can also be a strength if the company has the most valuable brand in the market, valued at $100 billion. Therefore, it is easier to identify if a factor is a strength or a weakness when it’s defined precisely.

Benchmarking . The key emphasis in doing SWOT is to identify the factors that are the strengths or weaknesses in comparison to the competitors. For example, a 17% profit margin would be an excellent margin for many firms in most industries, and it would be considered as a strength. But what if the average profit margin of your competitors is 20%? Then company’s 17% profit margin would be considered as a weakness.

VRIO framework . A resource can be seen as a strength if it exhibits VRIO (valuable, rare and cannot be imitated) framework characteristics. Otherwise, it doesn’t provide any strategic advantage for the company.

Opportunities and threats

Opportunities and threats are the external uncontrollable factors that usually appear or arise due to the changes in the macro environment, industry or competitors’ actions. Opportunities represent the external situations that bring a competitive advantage if seized upon. Threats may damage your company so you would better avoid or defend against them.

PESTEL . PEST or PESTEL analysis represents all the major external forces (political, economic, social, technological, environmental and legal) affecting the company so it’s the best place to look for existing or new opportunities and threats.

Competition . Competitors react to your moves and external changes. They also change their existing strategies or introduce new ones. Therefore, the company must always follow the actions of its competitors as new opportunities and threats may open at any time.

Market changes . The most visible opportunities and threats appear during the market changes. Markets converge, starting to satisfy other market segment needs with the same product. New geographical markets open up, allowing the firm to increase its export volumes or start operations in a new country. Often niche markets become profitable due to technological changes. As a result, changes in the market create new opportunities and threats that must be seized upon or dealt with if the company wants to gain and sustain a competitive advantage .

Opportunity or threat?

Most external changes can represent both opportunities and threats. For example, exchange rates may increase or reduce the profits gained from exports. This depends on the exchange rate, which may rise (opportunity) or fall (threat) against the home country’s currency. The organization can only guess the outcome of the change and count on analysts’ forecasts. In such cases, when an organization cannot identify if the external factor will affect it positively or negatively, it should gather unbiased and reliable information from external sources and make the best possible judgment.

Guidelines for successful SWOT

The following guidelines are very important in writing a successful SWOT analysis. They eliminate most of the SWOT limitations and improve it’s results significantly:

• Factors have to be identified relative to the competitors. It allows specifying whether the factor is a strength or a weakness.
• List between 3 – 5 items for each category. Prevents creating too short or endless lists.
• Items must be clearly defined and as specific as possible. For example, firm’s strength is: brand image (vague); strong brand image (more precise); brand image valued at $10 billion, which is the most valued brand in the market (very good).
• Rely on facts, not opinions. Find some external information or involve someone who could provide an unbiased opinion.
• Factors should be action-orientated. For example, “slow introduction of new products” is action orientated weakness.

SWOT analysis example A

This is a basic example of the analysis:

You can find an extensive list of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats by looking at our examples of SWOT analyses , which include Alphabet (Google) SWOT , Amazon.com SWOT , Apple Inc. SWOT , The Coca Cola Company SWOT , Ford Motor Company SWOT , McDonald’s Corporation SWOT , PepsiCo Inc. SWOT , Samsung Electronics SWOT , Starbucks Corporation SWOT , Walmart Stores, Inc. SWOT and many more swot analyses.

Advanced SWOT

At the most, SWOT is considered to be only a reference to further analysis as it has too many limitations and cannot be used alone in the situation analysis. The previous guidelines identified in this article meet most of the SWOT limitations except one: “prioritization of factors”. An advanced SWOT goes a step further and eliminates this important drawback.

In a simple SWOT, strengths and weaknesses or opportunities and threats are equal to each other. Therefore a minor weakness can balance a major strength. Without prioritization, some factors might be given too much or too little emphasis and the most relevant factors might simply be overlooked.

The aim of advanced SWOT is to identify the most significant factors of the analysis from all the items listed in it. How to perform it?

Step 1. Identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Step 2. Prioritize them.

(The first step was discussed earlier so please refer to it when doing an advanced SWOT analysis. See example B when reading further instructions.)

Prioritization

Strengths and weaknesses are evaluated on three categories:

• Importance . Importance shows how important a strength or a weakness is for the organization in its industry as some strengths (weaknesses) might be more important than others. A number from 0.01 (not important) to 1.0 (very important) should be assigned to each strength and weakness. The sum of all weights should equal 1.0 (including strengths and weaknesses).
• Rating . A score from 1 to 3 is given to each factor to indicate whether it is a major (3) or a minor (1) strength for the company. The same rating should be assigned to the weaknesses where 1 would mean a minor weakness and 3 a major weakness.
• Score . Score is a result of importance multiplied by rating. It allows for prioritizing the strengths and weaknesses. You should rely on your most important strengths and try to convert or defend your weakest parts of the organization.

Opportunities and threats are prioritized slightly differently than strengths and weaknesses. Their evaluation includes:

• Importance . It shows to what extent the external factor might impact the business. Again, the numbers from 0.01 (no impact) to 1.0 (very high impact) should be assigned to each item. The sum of all weights should equal 1.0 (including opportunities and threats).
• Probability . The probability of occurrence shows how likely the opportunity or threat will have any impact on business. It should be rated from 1 (low probability) to 3 (high probability).
• Score . Importance multiplied by probability will give a score by which you’ll be able to prioritize opportunities and threats. Pay attention to the factors having the highest score and ignore the factors that will not likely affect your business.

SWOT analysis example B

This SWOT example is adopted from the previous example and additionally includes prioritization. Highlighted cells point to the most significant factors affecting the organization.

Advanced SWOT of Company X

• Thompson, J. and Martin, F. (2010). Strategic Management: Awareness & Change. 6th ed. Cengage Learning EMEA, p. 140, 817
• Pickton, D.W. and Wright, S. (1998). What’s SWOT in strategic analysis? Strategic Change Vol. 7, pp. 101-109, 105-106
• Rothaermel, F. T. (2012). Strategic Management: Concepts and Cases. McGraw-Hill/Irwin, p. 105-106
• Johnson, G, Scholes, K. Whittington, R. (2008). Exploring Corporate Strategy. 8th ed. FT Prentice Hall, p. 156, 160
• Coman, A. and Ronen, B. (2009). Focused SWOT: diagnosing critical strengths and weaknesses. International Journal of Production Research Vol. 40, Issues 20, pp. 5677–5689
• Kotler, P. (1991). Marketing Management. 7th ed. Prentice-Hall
• David, F.R. (2009). Strategic Management: Concepts and Cases. 12th ed. FT Prentice Hall, p. 125-126, 166-168
• Virtual Strategist (2008). SWOT analysis: How to perform one for your organization (VIDEO). Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNXYI10Po6A
• Wikipedia (2013). SWOT analysis. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SWOT_analysis
• SWOT Analysis of Walt Disney 2023
• SWOT Analysis of Blackberry 2023
• SWOT analysis of BMW 2023
• SWOT Analysis of eBay 2023
• SWOT Analysis of Dell 2023

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