SWOT analysis
Organize internal strengths and weaknesses alongside external opportunities and threats to clarify the factors affecting a decision.
Use SWOT when you need a shared view of your current position before discussing possible actions. Keep the analysis focused on a particular business, project, or decision.
Observations about your resources, capabilities, customers, competitors, and market conditions. Keep their sources and uncertainties visible.
A structured set of factors, gaps to investigate, and questions to explore when developing possible actions.
How to use it
- State the decision or question you want to explore.
- Sort relevant factors into strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.
- Keep factors specific. Distinguish observations from assessments and label uncertain points.
- Connect the factors to possible actions, then identify what you need to verify.
Keep its limits in mind
A completed diagram does not rank your options or prove that a strategy will work. Check the evidence and constraints before choosing an action.
Considering an order-ahead service at a coffee shop
This fictional neighborhood coffee shop is considering an order-ahead service. The factors below are practice inputs, not verified market research.
On a small screen, scroll across the diagram to read it.
Assessment: Customer relationships and interest in ordering ahead suggest a trial may be worth exploring. They do not establish demand or feasibility.
Next check: Ask interested customers what they need and check how orders would fit the team's staffing limits before planning a trial.
Next step: Record the evidence needed to decide whether to run a trial. This example does not assume a budget, timetable, or financial result.
Check your work
- Strengths and weaknesses describe internal conditions.
- Opportunities and threats describe the external environment.
- Each factor relates to the question and has an identifiable basis.
- Proposed actions are separate from the factors that support them.
Method references
Put the method to work
Use this framework in the English Workspace with early access. Local generation copies clearly labeled fields; you can edit the diagram afterwards.
Open in WorkspaceEdit the coffee shop example by hand and export a PNG. No sign-in required.
Try the SWOT examplePractice with an example
Turn SWOT evidence into TOWS action candidates, then plan a small test with a six-person-day limit and clear stopping conditions.
From SWOT to TOWS: turn findings into actions to test →