How to do a SWOT analysis
(Plus a free template tool for teams)

So you've been tasked with doing a S.W.O.T Analysis, and your first thought was:

"What the hell is a SWOT Analysis!??"

Well this post will not only explain it, but it will BUILD OUT a customized SWOT Analysis for you (which you can then download and pretend it's your own).  

What is a SWOT Analysis?

It stands for:

Strengths.
Weaknesses.
Opportunities.
Threats.

A SWOT Analysis is a simple exercise you should do maybe twice per year on your business. It will tell you:

• What are the major threats to your business.
• What trends you should be paying attention to.
• Figure out where you should be focusing your time.

The first step in a SWOT Analysis should be finding your strengths.  You can write out a huge list of these, but below are my 3 favorite "Strength" questions to ask.

1.) What can our company do better than ANYONE else out there??
Ex: "We have a better store location than any other burger stand in Pittsburgh."
Ex: "Our cold email templates work 75% better than our competitors."
Ex: "We have a patented way of manufacturing purses for cheaper than anyone."

2.) What do OTHER people think our strengths are??
Ex: "They think we have the best tasting burger in the neighborhood."
Ex: "People like our weird style because it's more fun than typical business jargon."
Ex: "They see we have higher Amazon ratings than other purses."

3.) What unique resources do you have available to you??
Ex: "Our storefront has the most patio seating of any place downtown."
Ex: "We have weirdo writers who do things differently, and are more entertaining."
Ex: "We are backed by Nordstrom's venture capital branch and have unlimited funding." 

Where are you weak in your business?  Being brutally honest here is very important!  Below are my 3 favorite "Weakness" questions to ask:

1.) What do we do a POOR job of??
Ex: "We suck at social media compared to our competitors."
Ex: "We don't have any sales people actively drumming up new customers."
Ex: "Our purses don't have the same "prestige" as brands like Gucci or Coach."

2.) What do OTHER people think our weaknesses are??
Ex: "We have lower Yelp ratings than the other local burger joints."
Ex: "They think our wacky style makes us unprofessional and not useful in the B2B world."
Ex: "People still buy more expensive purses because they have more "prestige" than ours."

3.) What does our ACCOUNTANT think our biggest problem is??
Ex: "While we have a great location, the rent keeps going up every year, biting into profits."
Ex: "We only sell one major product, and aren't diversified."
Ex: "We are selling purses for really low profit margins, and need to increase the price." 

This step helps us figure out what trends or opportunities will be around in the near future.  Here are my 3 favorite "Opportunity" questions to ask:

1.) What LONG SHOT OPPORTUNITIES could we take??
Ex: "We could buy the open storefront next to us and make a convenience store."
Ex: "We could offer "Product Refreshes" for people selling products on Amazon."
Ex: "We can showcase how our purses are all organic and contain no animal material."

2.) What NEW TRENDS are catching on??
Ex: "Healthy food and gluten-free buns are being requested all the time."
Ex: "A more casual style is catching on in the B2B business world, and no one is teaching it."
Ex: "More and more people are looking online at reviews before purchasing, and we have super high reviews."

3.) What NEW PRODUCTS or services could we sell??
Ex: "Gluten free and Vegetarian burgers would sell very well in this city."
Ex: "We could do live in-person trainings in major cities to teach people about cold emailing."
Ex: "We are backed by Nordstrom's venture capital branch and have unlimited funding." 

The final step in a SWOT Analysis is figuring out the threats you face in the near future. Here's are 3 of my favorite "Threat" questions to ask:

1.) What should we be AFRAID of in the next 6 months??
Ex: "Burgers have a bad rap as unhealthy, and that's all we sell in an increasingly health conscious city."
Ex: "We only sell digital information that isn't proprietary."
Ex: "If Amazon drops us from the listings, we would lose 80% of our business instantly."

2.) What MAJOR TRENDS are we not utilizing??
Ex: "People more and more are finding about restaurants from social media, but we have none."
Ex: "People are paying more for experience-based and in-person events than ever before."
Ex: "Many brands do well with influencer marketing, but we're doing none of that."

3.) Where can our COMPETITION crush us??
Ex: "If a healthy restaurant opened up near us, it would bite into our lunchtime crowd."
Ex: "If someone promotes the same information much better than us, they could steal business."
Ex: "If a well known brand like Armani or Gucci makes a lower-price-point purse, it could hurt us badly." 

Burger Store in Pittsburg:

Cold Emailing Writing Service Company:

Low Priced Purse Company:

Click the template above. You can then make a copy of this SWOT Analysis template as a Google Doc, Word Document, or PDF. I sincerely hope you learned and enjoyed these SWOT Analysis examples and templates!