What is a SWOT analysis? Free, editable examples
Summary/Overview
If you’ve never heard of SWOT, you’re about to discover a brilliant framework used by businesses worldwide to get a better idea of their own business and the market in which it operates. A SWOT analysis allows you to pin down your S trengths, W eaknesses, O pportunities, and T hreats. For those of you still wondering “what is a SWOT analysis?”, this article will help you understand what it is, how it works, and how to get started on your SWOT analysis for your business.
Adobe Express has a great selection of SWOT templates to help you pin down the important aspects of your business and keep them as the focal point of your next business strategy plans.
Elements of a SWOT analysis
Of the four elements of a SWOT analysis, the strengths and weaknesses cover internal factors of the business, and the opportunities and threats look outside the business to take onboard all the external factors that could impact the business positively or negatively. It's a good idea to regularly perform a SWOT analysis to stay aligned with how your business could increase profits and mitigate risks. Use templates from Adobe Express to record the results of your SWOT analysis.
How to do a SWOT analysis
To understand how to do a SWOT analysis, let’s use an example of a London coffee shop.
Strengths
Location: situated in the heart of a busy London street, the coffee shop is located in an area with high foot traffic, meaning increased exposure and greater chance of more customers.
Layout: there is seating for 20 people and a large counter for multiple employees to serve multiple customers with take-away beverages.
Independent brand: as an independent coffee shop, many customers are drawn to your unique offerings and ability to adapt your menu. Many customers choose to support local businesses over big chains.
Weaknesses
Weather and foot-traffic reliant: If it rains, foot traffic is reduced, and your sales can sometimes halve.
Limited seating capacity: The coffee shop is cosy, encouraging customers to stay for long periods, but this isn’t always ideal as you only seat 20 and want to encourage a somewhat rapid customer churn to make more sales.
Opportunities
Community engagement: you can work with surrounding businesses to create special offers and promote each other, encouraging more customers into your shop.
Loyalty rewards scheme: create an app, stamp card or some other similar reward scheme so that customers can get rewards for loyalty to your shop, encouraging them to come back.
Catering services: diversify your portfolio so that you’re not just a high-street coffee shop but also offer catering for events and office deliveries.
Threats
Competition: In London the coffee shop market is oversaturated: there are thousands of chains and independent coffee shops that you must compete with.
Economic factors: when the economy dips, many customers may reduce their daily coffee spend, impacting your profits.
Supply chain disruptions: reliance on your suppliers puts you at risk of not receiving the ingredients you need to make your products, or worse, using poor quality ingredients that prevents customers from coming back.
Once you’ve completed your own SWOT analysis, use analytics reports templates from Adobe Express to help structure your findings to be shared with different stakeholders in your business.
Take a look at these Analytics Reports Templates.
Customisable SWOT analysis examples
The SWOT analysis is pretty standard; however, many different businesses will want to focus on particular aspects of their findings. For example, if a big opportunity is emerging, then this should be highlighted in the analysis as it can drive the business strategy and goals.
You can use Adobe Express to customise your templates so that the key takeaways really stand out. Create a visually compelling design that highlights your competitive strategy Remember, doing the SWOT process is only half the work, so be sure to put those key takeaways on display to remind you and your team of the results.
Highlight the important points of your SWOT analysis with these Key Takeaways Templates from Adobe Express:
SWOT analysis made easy with Adobe Express
Turn the SWOT analysis and other business analysis results into steps that your teams need to take to improve your business. Make sure the information is consumable, has a context, and makes sense to your audience. Research posters by Adobe Express are great for consolidating additional information that you discover when doing your SWOT analysis.
Transform your SWOT analysis research into valuable Research Posters with templates from Adobe Express:
Useful things to know.
Which templates are best for SWOT analysis?
The Adobe Express editing tool is so easy to use that you can choose nearly any template and transform it into a SWOT analysis! To make things easier, Adobe Express has several excellent SWOT analysis templates that are ready to use. Find the SWOT analysis templates here.
Can I use Adobe Express to edit my SWOT template?
Yes! It’s easy to find SWOT templates and then edit them to fit your needs. Choose from hundreds of options and update the text and add your SWOT results. Use the editing tool to create SWOT analysis results in a matter of minutes!
Is Adobe Express free to use?
Yes! Sign up to the free Adobe Express plan to access your SWOT templates along with hundreds of business-appropriate fonts and graphics. Learn more about Adobe Express’ free plan here.