Creating SWOT Analysis

This skill creates comprehensive SWOT analyses to assess strategic position, identify opportunities and threats, and develop actionable strategies.

When to Use This Skill

Invoke this skill when the user:

• Requests a SWOT analysis
• Wants strategic assessment of a company or product
• Asks to evaluate competitive positioning
• Needs to identify strengths and weaknesses
• Mentions opportunities and threats
• Wants strategic planning inputs
• Asks "what are our advantages?" or "what risks do we face?"

SWOT Framework Overview

SWOT Analysis Structure:

INTERNAL FACTORS (Present)     EXTERNAL FACTORS (Future)
┌─────────────────────────┐   ┌─────────────────────────┐
│      STRENGTHS          │   │    OPPORTUNITIES        │
│  (Helpful to objective) │   │  (Helpful to objective) │
│  - Internal advantages  │   │  - Market conditions    │
│  - Capabilities         │   │  - Trends to leverage   │
│  - Resources            │   │  - Unmet needs          │
└─────────────────────────┘   └─────────────────────────┘

┌─────────────────────────┐   ┌─────────────────────────┐
│     WEAKNESSES          │   │       THREATS           │
│ (Harmful to objective)  │   │ (Harmful to objective)  │
│  - Internal limitations │   │  - Market risks         │
│  - Capability gaps      │   │  - Competitive threats  │
│  - Vulnerabilities      │   │  - Adverse trends       │
└─────────────────────────┘   └─────────────────────────┘

SWOT Analysis Process

Step 1: Define Scope and Context

Establish analysis parameters:

Steps:

1. Define what/who is being analyzed (company, product, initiative)
2. Clarify the strategic objective or goal
3. Determine time horizon (current state, 1 year, 3 years)
4. Identify relevant stakeholders and perspectives
5. Set analysis boundaries (geography, market segment, etc.)

Context Template:

# SWOT Analysis: [Subject]

## Analysis Context

**Subject:** [Company/Product/Business Unit/Initiative]
**Strategic Objective:** [What are you trying to achieve?]
**Time Horizon:** [Current / 1-year / 3-year outlook]
**Market/Segment:** [Scope of analysis]
**Date:** [When analysis conducted]
**Perspective:** [Whose viewpoint - company, product team, etc.]

## Strategic Questions
- Primary goal: [What success looks like]
- Key decisions to inform: [What this analysis will help decide]

Step 2: Identify Strengths

Document internal advantages and capabilities:

Steps:

1. Identify competitive advantages
2. List unique capabilities and resources
3. Note superior processes or expertise
4. Document valuable assets (brand, IP, data)
5. Assess team strengths and culture
6. Prioritize by impact and sustainability

Strengths Categories:

## STRENGTHS (Internal Advantages)

### Product/Service Strengths
1. **[Strength name]**
   - Description: [What makes this a strength]
   - Evidence: [Data, examples, customer feedback]
   - Competitive advantage: [vs. alternatives]
   - Sustainability: [How durable is this advantage]
   - Strategic value: High/Medium/Low

### Market Position Strengths
1. **[e.g., Market leadership in segment]**
   - Current position: [Metrics, market share]
   - Brand recognition: [Level and impact]
   - Customer loyalty: [Retention rates, NPS]

### Operational Strengths
1. **[e.g., Efficient operations]**
   - Cost advantage: [Unit economics, margins]
   - Process excellence: [What works well]
   - Scalability: [Ability to grow efficiently]

### Resource Strengths
1. **[e.g., Proprietary technology]**
   - IP portfolio: [Patents, trade secrets]
   - Data assets: [Unique data owned]
   - Financial resources: [Runway, profitability]

### Team & Culture Strengths
1. **[e.g., World-class engineering team]**
   - Talent quality: [Expertise, experience]
   - Culture attributes: [Values that drive success]
   - Organizational capabilities: [What team excels at]

### Partnership Strengths
1. **[e.g., Strategic partnerships]**
   - Key relationships: [Important partners]
   - Channel access: [Distribution advantages]

Step 3: Identify Weaknesses

Document internal limitations and vulnerabilities:

Steps:

1. Identify capability gaps vs. competitors
2. Note resource constraints
3. Document process inefficiencies
4. Assess team or organizational limitations
5. Identify customer pain points with your offering
6. Prioritize by impact and addressability

Weaknesses Categories:

## WEAKNESSES (Internal Limitations)

### Product/Service Weaknesses
1. **[Weakness name]**
   - Description: [What is lacking]
   - Impact: [How this hurts competitiveness]
   - Gap vs. competitors: [How far behind]
   - Customer impact: [Pain points created]
   - Addressability: Easy/Moderate/Difficult to fix

### Market Position Weaknesses
1. **[e.g., Limited brand awareness]**
   - Current state: [Metrics]
   - Impact on growth: [How this limits us]
   - Competitive disadvantage: [vs. alternatives]

### Operational Weaknesses
1. **[e.g., High customer acquisition cost]**
   - Inefficiency: [Where operations fall short]
   - Cost impact: [Financial burden]
   - Scale limitations: [What doesn't scale]

### Resource Weaknesses
1. **[e.g., Limited funding]**
   - Resource constraints: [What's lacking]
   - Runway: [Time pressure]
   - Capability gaps: [Missing expertise]

### Team & Culture Weaknesses
1. **[e.g., Lack of sales expertise]**
   - Talent gaps: [Missing skills]
   - Cultural issues: [Limiting behaviors]
   - Organizational bottlenecks: [Structural problems]

### Technical Debt
1. **[e.g., Legacy architecture]**
   - Technical limitations: [Platform constraints]
   - Maintenance burden: [Resource drain]
   - Innovation impact: [How it slows development]

Step 4: Identify Opportunities

Document external favorable conditions and possibilities:

Steps:

1. Research market trends and growth areas
2. Identify unmet customer needs
3. Spot competitive gaps or white space
4. Note regulatory or policy changes that help
5. Identify potential partnerships or M&A
6. Assess new technologies or channels
7. Prioritize by attractiveness and fit

Opportunities Categories:

## OPPORTUNITIES (External Favorable Conditions)

### Market Opportunities
1. **[Opportunity name]**
   - Description: [What the opportunity is]
   - Market size: [TAM or revenue potential]
   - Timing: [When to pursue]
   - Fit with strengths: [How well positioned we are]
   - Required investment: [What it takes to capture]
   - Risk level: High/Medium/Low
   - Priority: High/Medium/Low

### Customer Opportunities
1. **[e.g., Expanding to new customer segment]**
   - Segment: [Who]
   - Need: [Unmet need we can solve]
   - Size: [Market potential]
   - Entry barriers: [Low/Medium/High]

### Trend-Based Opportunities
1. **[e.g., Remote work adoption]**
   - Trend: [What's changing]
   - Implication: [How this creates opportunity]
   - Timing: [Trend maturity and window]
   - Competitive positioning: [First mover / Fast follower]

### Competitive Opportunities
1. **[e.g., Competitor weakness to exploit]**
   - Gap: [What competitors miss]
   - Differentiation: [How to position against]
   - Market share to capture: [Potential]

### Partnership Opportunities
1. **[e.g., Strategic integration partner]**
   - Partner: [Who]
   - Value: [What partnership enables]
   - Feasibility: [Likelihood]

### Technology Opportunities
1. **[e.g., AI/ML capabilities]**
   - Technology: [What to adopt]
   - Application: [How to use]
   - Advantage: [Competitive edge gained]

### Geographic Opportunities
1. **[e.g., International expansion]**
   - Region: [Where]
   - Market size: [TAM]
   - Localization needs: [Requirements]

Step 5: Identify Threats

Document external risks and adverse conditions:

Steps:

1. Analyze competitive threats
2. Identify market risks and headwinds
3. Note regulatory or policy risks
4. Assess technology disruption risks
5. Consider economic or macro threats
6. Evaluate customer behavior shifts
7. Prioritize by likelihood and impact

Threats Categories:

## THREATS (External Risks)

### Competitive Threats
1. **[Threat name]**
   - Description: [Nature of threat]
   - Source: [Who/what poses threat]
   - Likelihood: High/Medium/Low
   - Impact: High/Medium/Low
   - Timeline: [When threat materializes]
   - Mitigation: [How to defend]
   - Priority: Critical/High/Medium/Low

### Market Threats
1. **[e.g., Market saturation]**
   - Condition: [Market dynamic]
   - Impact: [How it hurts growth]
   - Timeline: [When it hits]

### Technology Threats
1. **[e.g., Disruptive technology]**
   - Technology: [What could disrupt]
   - Disruption scenario: [How it changes market]
   - Preparedness: [How ready we are]

### Regulatory Threats
1. **[e.g., New compliance requirements]**
   - Regulation: [What's changing]
   - Impact: [Cost, operational burden]
   - Timeline: [Implementation date]

### Economic Threats
1. **[e.g., Economic downturn]**
   - Condition: [Macro factor]
   - Impact: [Budget cuts, slower sales]
   - Vulnerability: [How exposed we are]

### Customer Threats
1. **[e.g., Changing preferences]**
   - Shift: [How customer needs changing]
   - Risk: [If we don't adapt]
   - Response needed: [What to do]

Step 6: Strategic Implications and Actions

Develop strategies from SWOT insights:

Steps:

1. Match strengths to opportunities (SO strategies)
2. Use strengths to defend against threats (ST strategies)
3. Address weaknesses to pursue opportunities (WO strategies)
4. Minimize weaknesses and avoid threats (WT strategies)
5. Prioritize actions by impact and feasibility
6. Assign ownership and timelines

Strategic Actions Template:

## STRATEGIC IMPLICATIONS & ACTIONS

### SO Strategies (Use Strengths to Capture Opportunities)
**Strategy 1: [Name]**
- Strength leveraged: [Which strength]
- Opportunity captured: [Which opportunity]
- Action: [What to do]
- Expected outcome: [Result]
- Owner: [Who]
- Timeline: [When]
- Priority: High/Medium/Low

### ST Strategies (Use Strengths to Mitigate Threats)
**Strategy 1: [Name]**
- Strength leveraged: [Which strength]
- Threat mitigated: [Which threat]
- Action: [What to do]
- Expected outcome: [Result]

### WO Strategies (Address Weaknesses to Pursue Opportunities)
**Strategy 1: [Name]**
- Weakness addressed: [Which weakness]
- Opportunity enabled: [Which opportunity]
- Action: [What to do]
- Investment required: [Resources needed]

### WT Strategies (Minimize Weaknesses and Avoid Threats)
**Strategy 1: [Name]**
- Weakness minimized: [Which weakness]
- Threat avoided: [Which threat]
- Action: [What to do]
- Defensive posture: [How to protect]

## Priority Action Plan

**Immediate Actions (0-3 months):**
1. [Action]: [Owner] - [Expected outcome]
2. [Action]: [Owner] - [Expected outcome]

**Short-term Actions (3-6 months):**
1. [Action]: [Owner] - [Expected outcome]

**Medium-term Actions (6-12 months):**
1. [Action]: [Owner] - [Expected outcome]

## Success Metrics
- [Metric 1]: [Target]
- [Metric 2]: [Target]

## Review Cadence
- Next SWOT review: [Date]
- Quarterly updates on: [What to monitor]

SWOT Analysis Patterns

Pattern 1: Product Launch SWOT

• Assess product strengths/weaknesses
• Identify market opportunities
• Evaluate competitive threats
• Develop go-to-market strategy

Pattern 2: Competitive Response SWOT

• Analyze own strengths vs. competitor
• Identify competitive weaknesses to exploit
• Assess threats from competitor actions
• Develop defensive and offensive strategies

Pattern 3: Market Entry SWOT

• Evaluate capabilities for new market
• Identify entry opportunities
• Assess entry barriers and threats
• Decide go/no-go with strategy

Pattern 4: Annual Strategic Planning SWOT

• Comprehensive business assessment
• Multi-year opportunity identification
• Risk landscape mapping
• Strategic roadmap development

SWOT Best Practices

Do:

• Be specific and evidence-based
• Quantify when possible (market size, metrics)
• Prioritize items by importance
• Link SWOT to actionable strategies
• Update regularly as conditions change
• Involve diverse stakeholders for perspectives

Don't:

• List everything (focus on strategic items)
• Confuse internal with external factors
• Leave SWOT as just a list (develop actions)
• Ignore inconvenient truths
• Create SWOT and file it away unused

Validation Checklist

Before completing SWOT analysis:

• Scope and objective clearly defined
• Strengths verified with evidence
• Weaknesses honestly assessed
• Opportunities sized and prioritized
• Threats evaluated by likelihood and impact
• Internal vs. external factors correctly categorized
• Strategic implications derived
• Action plans developed with owners and timelines
• Cross-functional input gathered
• Analysis reviewed for completeness and accuracy

Examples

Example 1: SaaS Product SWOT

Input: "Create a SWOT analysis for our SaaS project management tool"

Process:

1. Define scope (product-specific SWOT)
2. Identify strengths (ease of use, integrations, pricing)
3. Note weaknesses (limited enterprise features, brand awareness)
4. Research opportunities (remote work trend, underserved segments)
5. Assess threats (established competitors, new entrants)
6. Develop SO/ST/WO/WT strategies
7. Prioritize actions

Output: Complete SWOT with strategic action plan

Example 2: Market Entry SWOT

Input: "Should we expand to the European market?"

Process:

1. Assess strengths (product-market fit, capital availability)
2. Identify weaknesses (no local presence, regulatory knowledge gaps)
3. Research opportunities (large TAM, less competition)
4. Analyze threats (GDPR compliance, local competitors)
5. Evaluate if strengths can overcome weaknesses
6. Recommend go/no-go decision

Output: SWOT-based market entry recommendation

Additional Notes

• SWOT is a starting point, not a complete strategy
• Combine with other analyses (competitor, market, financial)
• Review and update SWOT quarterly or when major changes occur
• Use SWOT outputs to inform OKRs and strategic initiatives
• Link to competitive-intelligence for threat identification
• Use researching-markets for opportunity discovery
• Connect to analyzing-business-models for strength/weakness assessment
• SWOT is most valuable when it drives action, not just documentation