Business Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats analysis or SWOT analysis is a strategic planning method used to evaluate the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats involved in a project or in a business venture.

A business can use a SWOT analysis for the business as a whole of an individual venture and by using a SWOT analysis helps a business to focus on that project in such a way that highlights both sides and not just the upside.

This technique was originally developed by Stanford University by taking data from Fortune 500 companies and accredited to Albert Humphrey.

The analysis is designed to identify both internal and external factors that affect your business or the venture and is an extremely powerful planning tool.

For a SWOT analysis template tool in PDF format for you to use for your business. A SWOT analysis can be used for setting up a business, buying a business, starting a new project, launching a new product or service and many more reasons. They are a relatively simple thing to complete and work by getting you to think carefully about all sides of the project, both favourable and unfavourable, at hand.

When you consider the analysis keep in mind the following:

Strengths: The attributes of the person or company that are helpful to achieving the objectives of the venture.
Weaknesses: The attributes of the person or company that are potentially harmful to achieving the objectives of the project.
Opportunities: Any external conditions that would be helpful to achieve the objectives of the venture.
Threats: All the identified external conditions which could be damaging to the objectives of the project.

Free sample SWOT analysis tool (pdf format)