What is a SWOT analysis?
A SWOT analysis is a technique used to determine and define your Strengths, Weaknesses,
Opportunities, and Threats – SWOT.
SWOT analyses can be applied to an entire company or organization, or individual projects within a
single department. Most commonly, SWOT analyses are used at the organizational level to
determine how closely a business is aligned with its growth trajectories and success benchmarks, but
they can also be used to ascertain how well a particular project – such as an online advertising
campaign – is performing according to initial projections.
Whatever you choose to call them, SWOT analyses are often presented as a grid-like matrix with four
distinct quadrants – one representing each individual element. This presentation offers several
benefits, such as identifying which elements are internal versus external, and displaying a wide range
of data in an easy-to-read, predominantly visual format, like these SWOT templates.
Breaking down the SWOT analysis definition
Strengths
The first element of a SWOT analysis is Strengths.
Things your company does well
Qualities that separate you from your competitors
Internal resources such as skilled, knowledgeable staff
Tangible assets such as intellectual property, capital, proprietary technologies, etc.
As you’ve probably guessed, this element addresses things that your company or project does
especially well. This could be something intangible, such as your company’s brand attributes, or
something more easily defined such as the unique selling proposition of a particular product line. It
could also be your people, your literal human resources: strong leadership, or a great engineering
team.
Weaknesses
Once you’ve figured out your strengths, it’s time to turn that critical self-awareness on your
weaknesses.
Things your company lacks
Things your competitors do better than you
Resource limitations
Unclear unique selling proposition
What’s holding your business or project back? This element can include organizational challenges
like a shortage of skilled people and financial or budgetary limitations.
This element of a SWOT analysis may also include weaknesses in relation to other companies in your
industry, such as the lack of a clearly defined USP in a crowded market.
Opportunities
Underserved markets for specific products
Few competitors in your area
Emerging needs for your products or services
Press/media coverage of your company
Can’t keep up with the volume of leads being generated by your marketing team? That’s an
opportunity. Is your company developing an innovative new idea that will open up new markets or
demographics? That’s another opportunity.
In short, this element of a SWOT analysis covers everything you could do to improve sales, grow as a
company, or advance your organization’s mission.
Threats
The final element of a SWOT analysis is Threats – everything that poses a risk to either your
company itself or its likelihood of success or growth.
Emerging competitors
Changing regulatory environment
Negative press/media coverage
Changing customer attitudes toward your company
This could include things like emerging competitors, changes in regulatory law, financial
risks, and virtually everything else that could potentially jeopardize the future of your
company or project.
