What is a SWOT analysis?

SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Strengths and weaknesses are internal factors you control. Opportunities and threats are external factors in your market. A good SWOT helps you see, in one picture, where to attack and where to defend.

How is the balance score calculated?

Each item you enter gets an impact rating of 1, 2, or 3. Internal balance is the share of your internal points that came from strengths versus weaknesses. External balance is the share of external points that came from opportunities versus threats. The overall score is the average. 50 means perfectly balanced. Above 50 means strengths and opportunities dominate. Below 50 means weaknesses and threats dominate.

What is a TOWS matrix and why are the actions in those pairs?

TOWS is the action-oriented version of SWOT. It pairs the quadrants to surface concrete moves: SO (use strengths to seize opportunities), WO (fix weaknesses blocking opportunities), ST (use strengths to neutralise threats), and WT (defend against threats compounding weaknesses). The actions in this tool are generated from the items you actually entered, paired by impact, so they are specific to your situation.

Is the SWOT tool free?

Yes. It runs in your browser, takes no sign-up, and never sends your answers anywhere.

Free SWOT analysis tool for small business

Work through strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats with prompts written for small businesses. You get a balance score, a prioritised action list, and a clean summary you can take to a meeting.

Strengths

Internal: things you control.

Need prompts? Open them here

What do customers consistently praise you for?
Where do you outperform competitors (price, quality, speed, expertise)?
What assets do you own that are hard to copy (location, team, reputation)?

Weaknesses

Internal: things you control.

Need prompts? Open them here

Where do you lose deals or customers most often?
What do you avoid talking about because it is not working?
What capability are you missing that the better operators in your market have?

Opportunities

External: things in your market.

Need prompts? Open them here

What customer problem is currently underserved in your market?
Which trend or new channel could you act on before competitors do?
What partnerships, geographies, or adjacent services could you expand into?

Threats

External: things in your market.

Need prompts? Open them here

Which competitor is most likely to take share from you in the next year?
What economic, regulatory, or platform change could hurt your model?
What customer behaviour shift would make your current offer less relevant?

0 items entered

How this works

You enter items in each quadrant and rate the impact of each. The tool computes whether your internal posture (strengths versus weaknesses) and your external posture (opportunities versus threats) lean positive or negative, and surfaces a strategic posture: attack, build, defend, or rebuild. The action list is a TOWS matrix: it pairs your top strengths with your top opportunities (use what you have to seize what is there), pairs your top weaknesses with your top opportunities (fix what is blocking the upside), and so on. Nothing is invented: every action references items you actually entered.

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