SWOT analysis: a template, a worked example and how to check it with customers

A SWOT analysis lists an organization's strengths and weaknesses, which are internal, and the opportunities and threats it faces, which are external. The four lists are only as good as the evidence behind them. A SWOT written in a meeting room records what the team already believes. One checked with customers and people who know the industry shows you which of those beliefs hold up.

Below: a copyable template, a hypothetical worked example, how to check each item with outside input, and how to turn the result into actions.

The SWOT template

The basic layout is a two-by-two grid. The University of Kansas Community Tool Box guide to SWOT describes the same split: strengths and weaknesses are internal, opportunities and threats come from outside. It notes that the method was originally developed for business and industry and that its strengths are its simplicity and how widely it applies.

The grid alone hides the evidence. Use a second table as your working copy, with one row per item:

The last three columns are what turn a list of opinions into something you can act on.

A worked example: a custom box maker

Suppose you run a 20-person company that makes custom printed corrugated boxes for regional food producers, such as bakeries, coffee roasters and snack makers. You are deciding whether to invest in a second digital press. Everything in this example is hypothetical, including the company, its customers and the interview results.

A first draft from the leadership team might look like this:

This draft is a reasonable start, but every item is the team's opinion.

Check each item with the people who would know

The Community Tool Box makes the key point: strengths and weaknesses are internal, but identify them from the point of view of outsiders too, including the people you serve, because they may see problems or assets you do not. Opportunities and threats need people who watch the market.

Different items need different people:

• Strengths and weaknesses: customers and lost prospects. Ask five or six customers why they chose you and what nearly made them leave. Ask two or three prospects who went elsewhere why. "Customers love our design help" (S3) is confirmed only if customers bring it up without being prompted.
• Opportunities: buyers in the market you want to grow into. For O1, talk to founders or operations leads at small online food brands. What boxes do they use now, how do they buy them, and what goes wrong?
• Threats: industry people. For T1 and T2, talk to packaging buyers at larger food companies, or to people who have worked at paperboard mills or large converters. Ask what they have seen, not what they predict. If you talk to a competitor's former employees, tell them up front that you do not want confidential information. Competitive intelligence covers the rules.

The SBA's market research guidance lists in-depth interviews alongside surveys and focus groups as ways to research customers directly, and notes that asking customers yourself can reveal where they might go instead of your business. For a SWOT, a handful of interviews is usually more useful than a survey because you need the reasons behind each answer. Interviews vs. surveys covers the trade-off.

Record what you hear in the working table. After those conversations the example might read:

The counts are hypothetical, but the arithmetic is simple and worth doing: an item confirmed by most of the people who would know stays, and an item nobody outside the company mentions moves to "unconfirmed" until you find evidence.

The Community Tool Box suggests cutting each list to the best 10 or fewer points. After checking, you may end up with three or four per box.

Turn the SWOT into actions

A SWOT that ends as a grid does not change anything. The Community Tool Box describes a TOWS matrix, adapted from Fred David's Strategic Management text, that pairs items to produce actions:

In the example, the evidence supports the second press only if the online-brand opportunity turns into orders. A sensible next move is to publish prices for a small-run mailer and see whether orders arrive before committing to the press.

Two limits to keep in mind

The Community Tool Box notes two cautions. First, a SWOT describes your current position, so it can steer you toward what you already do and away from new possibilities. Second, it is easy to use a SWOT to justify a decision that has already been made. Checking the items with outsiders helps guard against both. It also warns that an opportunity can turn into a threat if everyone else sees it and goes after it too, which is worth asking industry people about directly.

For market-level forces that a SWOT may skip, such as how much power suppliers or buyers have, Porter's five forces is a useful companion. For comparing specific competitors, use a competitive analysis template.

Your next step

Write your first-draft SWOT in 20 minutes. Next to each item, write who outside the company could confirm or reject it. Then book conversations with five customers, two or three lost prospects and two people who know the industry, and update the grid with what they say.

If you do not know the industry people, Instant Expert can find people who match a description you write, such as "packaging buyers at mid-sized food manufacturers." You review who it finds, it sends your invitations, and you pay only for calls that get booked. The directory pages for procurement professionals in packaging and sales professionals in packaging are one place to start.