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Find or Create a SWOT Analysis

What is a SWOT analysis?

A SWOT analysis analyzes a company’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. Businesses typically use the analyses to make decisions, which vary, depending on what the company is looking to achieve.

Strengths
Internal characteristics of the company that give it an advantage over others in the industry.
Weaknesses
Internal characteristics of the company that place it at a disadvantage relative to others in the industry.
Opportunities
External chances for the business to increase profits or achieve a more significant market share than its competitors.
Threats
External elements in the industry or environment that could cause problems for the company.

A SWOT analysis can help a company:

  • Identify areas where the company can leverage its strengths to grow.
  • Discover untapped markets or new avenues of business.
  • Locate pain points that could be costing them business.
  • Detect potential issues that may need to be mitigated.

How do I find a SWOT analysis?

Not finding the SWOT analysis you want?

There are times when something seems like it should exist. For example, a SWOT analysis on Hilton Hotels seems like a given. It’s a large, established, publicly-traded company. But, when you run a search or try to find an analysis for Hilton Hotels, you get zero results. Here are some tips to help you find the SWOT analysis you’re looking for:

  • Try searching for the company’s parent company (example: Hilton Hotels' parent company is Hilton Worldwide).
  • Try searching for a single, unique word from the company's name (example: search for Hilton, not Hilton Hotels).
  • Most analyses we offer come from public companies. A SWOT analysis may not be available if your company is private, a non-profit, or a small public company. Check out our Research a Private Company or Research a Nonprofit Organization guides for more information on how to research these types of companies.

Here are some things to think about before you start conducting a SWOT analysis.

  • Depending on the size and depth of the analysis, conducting a SWOT analysis can take some time. Make sure you’ve given yourself adequate time to complete the analysis.
  • Identify the company’s question or what you’re trying to achieve, which can help provide context during the analysis.
  • SWOT analyses require an objective look at the state of the business and a level of honesty that can be difficult to achieve. You will likely benefit from seeking multiple perspectives to ensure you’re getting a well-rounded picture.
  • Keep in mind that what one person views as a strength, another may view as a weakness, so context is critical.
  • Conducting a SWOT analysis is an information-finding activity, not a way to brainstorm solutions to problems. You might identify solutions to problems during the analysis, but that’s not the goal of a SWOT analysis.
  • If you’re trying to complete a SWOT analysis regarding a company you don’t have personal knowledge of (i.e., you’ve never worked there), your information will likely be limited. You may need to contact the company to see what information they're willing to provide.

When should I create a SWOT analysis?

Businesses typically create or conduct a SWOT analysis when they need to make a decision or if they’re trying to understand their environment. While that sounds a bit vague, the reality is that it varies. Some businesses create new SWOT analyses all of the time, while others don’t do them at all, or they do them in a different format. Examples of when a business might create a SWOT analysis include:

  • To determine if the business should break into a new market segment.
  • To understand the potential impact of a new or proposed government regulation.
  • To identify aspects of the purchasing experience that impact customer retention.

How do I create a SWOT analysis?

In your SWOT analysis, you'll want to cover the four areas of SWOT: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. To gather information for your SWOT, you'll need to analyze sources, such as articles, data, financial reports, news, and press releases from various credible sources.

  • Search for news and journal articles about the company.
  • Research your company's industry to find out trends, or threats, to the industry in general.
  • Search the official company website for press releases and news. This may give you some insight into the company strategy or leadership turnover.
  • If possible, consider interviewing the management of your company or key stakeholders based on the goal of the analysis.

These sound like relatively easy steps, but, in reality, it will take some time to sift through all of the information to get a clear picture of the company's SWOT, particularly if you are trying to analyze something outside of your role and department.

You might consider using a template to help you organize your information. We've created a simple one that you can use that organizes the information into the four SWOT categories. Or, if you want something fancier, you can Google SWOT analysis templates and pick one that you like.*

*If you're creating a SWOT analysis as a part of your assignment, there may already be a template provided in your course that your instructor prefers you use. We recommend checking with them before using this template in your assignment.

Database recommendations

We recommend using these databases to research your company and its industry:

Like this guide or have feedback on it? Let us know!

Ask Us!

SWOT analyses can be challenging to research. Whether you're trying to find an existing SWOT analysis or creating your own, we're here to help if you get stuck or just need some guidance on how to find what you need.

SWOT in the Wild

The library did an informal SWOT analysis a few years ago. During the analysis, we realized that one of our most significant weaknesses was that we had too many essential functions reliant on a single person. This discovery led us to kick off a year-long cross-training effort to ensure we always had someone available to do essential work.