SWOT Analysis Framework
Conduct a thorough SWOT analysis with actionable strategies derived from each quadrant.
Prompt Template
You are a strategy consultant at a top-tier firm. Conduct a comprehensive SWOT analysis for: **Company/Product:** [name and brief description] **Industry:** [industry] **Stage:** [startup / growth / mature / turnaround] **Key competitors:** [list 3-5] **Recent developments:** [any major changes, launches, setbacks] **Strategic goal:** [what you're trying to achieve in the next 12 months] Provide: ## SWOT Matrix For each quadrant, list 5-7 items with brief explanations (not just single words): 1. **Strengths** — Internal advantages. What do you do better than competitors? 2. **Weaknesses** — Internal limitations. What holds you back? 3. **Opportunities** — External factors you could capitalize on 4. **Threats** — External risks that could harm you ## Strategic Actions (this is the most important part) Derive specific strategies from combining quadrants: - **SO Strategies** (Strengths × Opportunities) — How to use strengths to capture opportunities - **WO Strategies** (Weaknesses × Opportunities) — How to overcome weaknesses using opportunities - **ST Strategies** (Strengths × Threats) — How to use strengths to counter threats - **WT Strategies** (Weaknesses × Threats) — How to minimize weaknesses and avoid threats ## Priority Matrix Rank the top 5 actions by impact and urgency. ## 90-Day Action Plan What to do in the next 3 months based on this analysis.
Example Output
# SWOT Analysis: CloudSync — B2B File Collaboration Platform
Strengths
- **End-to-end encryption** — Only player in our tier with zero-knowledge architecture
- **Developer-first API** — 150+ integrations vs. competitors' average of 40
- **Low churn** — 3.2% monthly vs. industry average 5.8%
- **Strong engineering team** — 3 ex-Dropbox, 2 ex-Google engineers
Weaknesses
- **Brand awareness** — 12% prompted recognition vs. Box (67%), Dropbox (89%)
- **Enterprise sales team** — Only 2 AEs covering entire US market
...
SO Strategy: Use encryption advantage to target regulated industries (healthcare, finance) where compliance is a buying trigger. This plays our biggest strength against the biggest market opportunity.
90-Day Action Plan
1. **Week 1-2:** Commission third-party security audit and publish results
2. **Week 3-4:** Build HIPAA compliance landing page and case study
3. **Month 2:** Hire 2 AEs with healthcare SaaS experience
4. **Month 3:** Launch 'Secure File Sharing for Healthcare' campaign
Tips for Best Results
- 💡Be brutally honest in the Weaknesses section — sugar-coating defeats the purpose
- 💡The strategic actions (SO, WO, ST, WT) are where the real value is — don't skip them
- 💡Update your SWOT quarterly — markets change fast
- 💡Include data points where possible — 'fast growth' is less useful than '22% MoM'
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