8 SWOT Analysis Tools for Small

Businesses

Conducting a SWOT analysis prompts you to think critically about your business or career. By
analyzing strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats, you can better understand why your
business is growing and what challenges lie in wait. The key to benefitting from this exercise is
critical thinking – you need to analyze yourself and your business accurately and honestly to
determine a proper strategy. There are different tools that can help you throughout this exercise,
most of which provide good questions to guide your thinking.

Once you've established some strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, try combining
information from different categories. For example, by looking at strengths and threats, you can
accurately plan for how to deal with problems in an active way. By looking at weaknesses and
opportunities, you can develop some areas for your business to improve. The goal of this exercise is
to think about each category in isolation and then let each one interact with one another. This will
illuminate new challenges and areas for development for your business.

The following  tools feature templates, starter questions and overall guidelines for conducting a
SWOT analysis.

1. Smartsheet
Free SWOT analysis templates so you have a framework to begin analyzing your career or business.
It provides Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint and Word templates and Smartsheet-specific templates.

Some templates are equipped with extra sections that focus on competitors or combine categories to
create a space for identifying strategies. Plus, there are more creative templates for presentations,
like the puzzle, diamond and leaves template.

Cost: Free
2. MindTools
 Provides free worksheets to get started on your SWOT analysis. It offers other resources for
conducting a good SWOT analysis, like an explainer video, an infographic, lists of starter questions
and information on strategies. There are some good SWOT tips as well as an example of a
completed SWOT analysis. MindTools provides extensive resources on what a SWOT analysis is
and how to complete one in the best way for your business.
Cost: Free
3. Creately
This tool allows business owners to create SWOT diagrams and map out important strategies
resulting from the exercise. Creately is great for small business owners looking to draft impressive
diagrams for presentations or company handouts. You can create and download five public diagrams
for free. Otherwise, you'll have to pay a monthly subscription cost depending on your business's
needs and users. This program also integrates with Google Images and can support collaboration
from team members.

If this is your first SWOT analysis, Creately provides some examples from other companies so you
understand what kinds of strategies your SWOT analysis will reveal once you've completed the
exercise.

Cost: Free or $5 per user per month

4. Canva
Provides a host of online, business-relevant templates to work from when creating a SWOT
analysis. While this tool may not be ideal for completing your SWOT analysis, it is a good way to
convert what you've found into a professional, presentable format for colleagues or other businesses.

You can either upload your own photos or choose from more than one million stock images. You
can also add filters, crop and edit images directly in Canva. You can share your SWOT analysis with
colleagues for feedback and collaboration by sending a link or clicking the share button in the top
right corner of the page. Canva works online and with iPhone and iPad devices, so you can view or
edit an analysis from anywhere.

Cost: Free
5. Grapholite
This tool is ideal for SWOT analysis diagrams that need to be created on Android or Windows 10
devices. Grapholite is, at its core, a flow-charting tool. But it possesses all the characteristics and
tools to create a SWOT analysis diagram. This tool is also flexible and allows you to create SWOT
diagrams that differ from traditional constructions, such as a Venn diagram. Grapholite features
drawing tools, drag-and-drop capabilities, online and offline modes, and export options. It's
available for free in the app store for iOS users.
6. WikiWealth SWOT Analysis Generator
 Free SWOT Analysis Generator provides prefilled SWOT sections to help you get started with your
analysis. Once you've reviewed what's listed, you can choose prelisted strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities or threats, or you can add your own company-specific ideas.

This is a great tool for business owners who aren't sure where to start on their SWOT analysis. You
can view explanations of each SWOT statement and add comments to each section. Business owners
and their teams can prioritize different items by up voting or downvoting them. If your business still
needs more resources, there are more than 4,000 SWOT reports from other companies you can view
as examples or even work from.

Cost: Free
7. IvoryResearch SWOT Analysis Generator
Provides a SWOT Analysis Generator that can walk you through the steps for creating your report.
Similar to WikiWealth's version, Ivory provides users with the ability to select strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities and threats from a preselected list. Ideally, these items will help you
brainstorm other ideas specific to your business.

Once you've filled out all four categories, Ivory provides the option to have one of its writers draft a
professional SWOT analysis specific for your business. While the generator is free, this service is
not. The Ivory service isn't geared toward design, but it could be a good starting point for your
SWOT analysis.

Cost: Free
8. Microsoft Office or G Suite
Sometimes the best tools are the simplest ones. For brainstorming strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities and threats, Microsoft Office or G Suite programs provide the necessary tools for
creating a SWOT analysis. After all, most of the time working on a SWOT analysis should be spent
brainstorming and thinking critically about your business. You can use Google Sheets or Excel to
make a quick list and then work with another program to design the diagram for handouts or a
presentation.

If you're looking to design your SWOT analysis using these programs, Microsoft PowerPoint
provides some templates for creating charts or Venn diagrams directly in PowerPoint. Google also
offers the ability to create charts in Google Docs that can be imported into Google Slides.

Cost: Packages vary based on your business's subscription.