SWOT Analysis Questions to Ask
For a manager, founder, consultant or student running a SWOT analysis and looking for the questions to ask in each box, whether the subject is a business, a nonprofit or a project. The list takes the four quadrants in order (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats), then the questions that turn a finished grid into decisions, and closes with a short set for a personal SWOT. Each question has a note on what a useful or a worrying answer sounds like and what to do with it.
Want questions from the whole vault instead? Try the random question generator.
The questions
Each question, and why to ask it
Strengths
What do we do better than anyone else we compete with?
Why ask it
The usual opener, and the first answers tend to be things every rival also claims, such as good service or a dedicated team. For each one, ask who outside the room would agree and how you know. Whatever survives that test goes in the box.
What do our customers, clients or donors say they value most about us?
Why ask it
Use their words: reviews, renewal calls, thank-you notes, survey comments. When nobody can quote any, the job is to ask five of them before the grid is finished. A nonprofit should hear from the people it serves and the people who fund it, since the two often praise different things.
What do we have that a competitor would struggle to get?
Why ask it
Think of a location, a license, a customer list, data, a long relationship, cash in the bank. The strong answers took years or luck to build. Something a rival could buy next quarter still counts, but put it lower down.
Which skills or knowledge on the team would be hard to replace?
Why ask it
Ask for the skill and the name together. When the answer is one person, write it in two boxes: it is a strength today and a weakness the day they leave.
What were our last three wins, and what made the difference each time?
Why ask it
Contracts, grants, campaigns and good hires all count. A common cause across the three is a strength you can state plainly, and three unrelated causes mean the room does not yet know why it wins. 'We were cheapest' every time is an answer too, though one a rival can take away with a single quote.
What comes easily to us that others in our field find hard?
Why ask it
These are the strengths a team stops noticing: answering the same day, a low error rate, volunteers who keep coming back. The newest person in the room is the best one to ask, because they still remember how it was done somewhere else.
Which of these strengths would a customer pay more for, or leave a competitor for?
Why ask it
This sorts what matters outside from what the team is proud of inside. A nonprofit can ask which one makes a donor give again or a funder renew. An award, a long history or a handsome office may move nobody, so keep those below the ones that change somebody's mind.
What would people miss first if we closed tomorrow?
Why ask it
It works especially well for nonprofits and small local firms. A good answer names a group of people and the specific thing they would lose. If someone else would fill the gap within a month, note who, because that name belongs under threats.
Weaknesses
What do we do poorly, or avoid doing because we are not good at it?
Why ask it
The first half gets the safe answers. The second half finds the real ones: the product nobody demos, the reports that go out late, the calls that get passed around. If the list stays as mild as 'communication could be better', ask when it last cost money or a customer.
What do customers complain about most often?
Why ask it
Bring the support tickets, refund reasons and low-star reviews so this is counted, not remembered. One complaint that repeats is a weakness. One loud complaint from last week is an anecdote, and it will dominate the room unless you have the tally.
Where are we losing money or time that we should not be?
Why ask it
Trace one order, one grant report or one new hire from start to finish and mark where it waits, gets redone or costs more than it brings in. Bring the accounts so the answer is a figure and not a hunch. When the same step shows up in every trace, write down the step, not the people who do it.
Why do we lose deals, bids or grant applications?
Why ask it
Go through the most recent losses one at a time. 'Price' is often the polite reason a buyer gives, so ask what the winner offered that you did not. A team that never asks why it lost has just found an item for this box.
Where does a competitor clearly beat us today?
Why ask it
Name the competitor and the thing: delivery time, range, reach, how easy they are to buy from. Limit it to gaps a customer would notice. Where the room is guessing, give one person an hour with that rival's website and reviews before the next session.
Which skills, tools or resources are we missing?
Why ask it
Separate missing from thin. Missing means nobody here can do it; thin means one person does it when they have a spare afternoon. For every item ask who feels the gap, or the box turns into a shopping list for next year's budget.
Where do we depend too heavily on one customer, one funder or one product?
Why ask it
Work out what share of income comes from the largest single source, using your own figures, then ask what the first month without it would look like. The worrying answer is that nobody in the room knows the share. Reliance on one person came up under strengths; if a name was written there, copy it across.
What do we keep saying we will fix and never do?
Why ask it
Every team has one: the website, the onboarding guide, the pricing sheet. The fact that it has lasted is the information. Either it matters less than people say, in which case leave it off, or nobody owns it, which is the weakness to write down.
What would an outsider notice about us in a week that we have stopped seeing?
Why ask it
Recent hires, people who left on good terms and long-standing suppliers can all answer this. Collect it in writing before the session, since few people will say it aloud with the boss at the table.
Opportunities
What is changing in our market or community that we could take advantage of?
Why ask it
An opportunity is something outside you that would be true even if you did not exist. When an answer starts with 'we could', it is an action, so ask what changed out there to make it possible now. Write the change in the box and keep the action for the decisions round.
What do people keep asking us for that we do not offer?
Why ask it
Count the requests you have turned away. The same ask from several unrelated customers is a signal; one from your largest customer may only be a custom job. Either way, find out whether they would pay for it or were just wondering.
Which group of customers is being served badly by everyone, us included?
Why ask it
A good answer names people you can actually reach and says what they do today instead. 'Small businesses' is too wide to act on. 'Salons with two or three chairs that still take appointments by phone' is a segment.
What are competitors doing badly, or pulling back from, that leaves a gap?
Why ask it
A rival that raises prices, closes a branch or drops a service leaves customers looking around. Before you move in, ask why they left. A gap someone abandoned because it lost money is a warning dressed as an opening.
Which technology, tool or channel are we not using yet that could help?
Why ask it
Tie every suggestion to a weakness it would shrink or a cost it would cut. One with no such link is a novelty. Ask as well who would own learning it, because a tool with no owner goes unopened.
Are there changes in rules, funding or public attention that open a door for us?
Why ask it
A new grant program, a rule that favors smaller suppliers or a subject suddenly in the news can each open one. Who qualifies and when it closes differ by place and sector, so write the source and the closing date beside the item. An opening nobody can point to a source for stays in pencil.
Who could we partner with to reach people we cannot reach alone?
Why ask it
Name the organization and say what each side gets. A partnership where only you benefit is a favor, and favors rarely survive a busy quarter. Strong candidates already serve your audience with something you do not sell.
Which of our strengths are we not making full use of?
Why ask it
Look back at the first box: a trusted name in one town, a mailing list that only gets a newsletter, a skill applied to a single product. Strictly this is the inside half of an opportunity, so write beside each one who out there wants more of it. Those pairs tend to be the cheapest moves on the grid, because they need nothing you do not already have.
Which of these opportunities will be gone if we wait a year?
Why ask it
Put a rough window next to each item. The ones that close soon go first in the decisions round, even when a larger one is more exciting. An opportunity with no clock on it can usually wait until a weakness is fixed.
Threats
What are our competitors doing that could hurt us?
Why ask it
Ask for moves, not moods: a price cut, a new location, a senior hire, a product launch. Then ask how you found out. A team that hears about rivals from its own customers is learning late.
What outside change would do us the most damage in the next year or two?
Why ask it
Have everyone write one answer privately, covering demand, costs, technology or the wider economy, and then compare. Whatever turns up on several lists goes to the top. Leave the ranking by likelihood and size of damage for later, so the most dramatic story does not win by default.
Who could enter our market, or what could replace what we do altogether?
Why ask it
The replacement is often not a similar organization. It may be a free tool, a bigger firm adding your service as a feature, or customers doing it themselves. Ask what your customers would turn to if you closed, and whether any of them have started already.
Which of our costs or supplies could rise sharply or be cut off?
Why ask it
Walk down the list: rent, wages, materials, shipping, software, the one supplier everything runs through. The item with no alternative lined up is the threat. Give it a name and a date for finding a second source.
What changes in law, regulation or funding rules could affect us?
Why ask it
The answer depends on where you are and what you do, so nobody in the room should guess. Assign one person to check with the regulator, a trade body or a qualified adviser, and mark the item 'to confirm' until they report back.
Are our customers' habits or expectations drifting away from what we offer, and how would we know?
Why ask it
This is the slow kind of threat, and it shows in records before anyone feels it: fewer repeat orders, an aging customer base, the same new question on the phone. 'Our customers are loyal' with no figure behind it is the answer to worry about.
What could damage our reputation, and how fast would we find out?
Why ask it
A bad review that spreads, a safety or data incident, a partner in the news for the wrong reasons. The second half counts as much as the first: with nobody assigned to read reviews, comments and local press, the first sign is a customer mentioning it. Whatever part of it would be your own doing belongs under weaknesses.
What would have to happen for us to lose our biggest customer or funder?
Why ask it
List the routes: your contact leaves, their budget is cut, a rival makes a better offer, you make a mistake. The ones you control move across to weaknesses. The others stay here with a note on what early sign you would watch for.
What are we worried about but have never put a number on?
Why ask it
Vague dread takes up room in every threats box. Pick one worry and estimate how likely it is within two years and what it would cost. Often it shrinks, and sometimes it becomes the main item.
Decisions
What did we set out to decide, and does the grid help us decide it?
Why ask it
Read the original question aloud before touching the grid: a new location, a price change, which program to grow. Items that have no bearing on it can be set aside without being wrong. If nobody remembers the question, agree on one now, because the next steps depend on it.
What did we leave off the grid because it was awkward to say?
Why ask it
Ask it while the grid is still open, before anything is ranked. Hand out blank cards and collect them unsigned. The usual subjects are a founder's pet project, a product that is quietly failing, or a customer everyone dreads, and anything that turns up on several cards goes on the grid.
If each box could keep only three items, which would stay?
Why ask it
Long boxes mean nothing has been weighed yet. Give everyone a few votes, count them, then spend the time on the items just below the cut, where the disagreement is. The losers are not deleted, only moved to a second page.
What evidence do we have for each item, and which are only opinions?
Why ask it
Mark each surviving item as a fact, an estimate or a belief. Beliefs stay, but each becomes homework with a name beside it. A grid made entirely of beliefs is a good brainstorm and a poor basis for a budget.
Which strength can we use to go after which opportunity?
Why ask it
Draw a line on the grid from one to the other. Every line is a candidate project, and the opportunities with several lines are the natural first moves. An opportunity with no line can still be pursued, but only after you build or borrow what it needs.
Which weakness has to be fixed before an opportunity is within reach?
Why ask it
It gives you the order of work. A useful answer sounds like 'we cannot take larger contracts until invoicing stops being manual'. Expect the first step to be dull and internal, and expect someone to want to skip it.
How can our strengths be used to blunt the biggest threat?
Why ask it
Loyal customers can absorb a rival's price cut for a while; cash reserves can cover a lost grant. Where no strength applies, the choices are to build one, find a partner or accept the risk. Say aloud which of the three it is.
Which of our weaknesses would a threat hit hardest?
Why ask it
Of the four pairings this one names the most dangerous spot on the grid: a single large customer and a rival courting them, or thin cash and a lease coming up for renewal. Any pair the room finds gets dealt with ahead of the opportunities, however much less exciting that is.
Which risks are we choosing to live with, and who agreed to that?
Why ask it
Some weaknesses and threats will not be fixed this year, and that is a legitimate choice. Writing down that it was chosen stops the same risk arriving later as a surprise. Be wary when nobody will put a name beside it.
What will we do in the next 90 days because of this analysis?
Why ask it
Three to five actions, each starting with a verb. Compare them with what was already planned before the session. If the two lists match, ask what the grid changed, since the honest answer may be nothing.
Who owns each action, and when is it due?
Why ask it
One person per action, not a department, and a calendar date in place of 'soon'. Read the list back before anyone leaves the room. An action with two owners is waiting for each of them to assume the other started.
What will we stop doing as a result?
Why ask it
New work needs room. A product line, a weekly report, a standing meeting or an event that no longer pays its way can all go. With nothing removed, the new actions get done in spare time, which usually means not done.
When will we look at this grid again, and what would make us redo it sooner?
Why ask it
Put today's date on the page and set a review, commonly at the next planning cycle. Agree on the triggers too: a new competitor, the loss of a major customer or funder, a change of leadership. A SWOT describes one moment and ages fast.
Personal SWOT
What do other people come to me for?
Why ask it
For a personal SWOT this beats listing your own virtues, because it rests on what colleagues, classmates or friends already do. Think of the requests you get most. If none come to mind, ask three people what they would hand to you without checking it afterwards.
What have I achieved that I can show, and what did it take?
Why ask it
Stick to results with proof: a grade, a finished project, a figure, a reference. The second half is the useful part, since 'what it took' turns an achievement into a skill you can name on a resume or in an interview.
What feedback have I heard more than once?
Why ask it
Once is an opinion. Twice, from people who do not know each other, is a pattern. Write it in their words without softening it, and leave out traits that have no bearing on the goal this SWOT is for.
Which tasks do I put off, and what is behind the delay?
Why ask it
The cause is often a missing skill, shaky confidence or plain dislike, and each asks for something different: training, practice, or a role with less of that task in it. Naming which one applies keeps 'I procrastinate' from sitting in the weaknesses box doing nothing.
What is opening up around me that fits what I am good at?
Why ask it
Look for things outside you: a growing field, a new team forming, a class, a job coming open one level up, a contact who has offered to help. The rule from the team version holds here too. 'Get better at presenting' is an action; 'my department is hiring for client-facing roles' is an opportunity.
What could make my current skills or role less valuable in a few years?
Why ask it
Candidates include software that does part of the job, a shrinking industry, a qualification becoming expected, or more people competing for the same jobs. Headlines tend to overstate it in both directions. Someone a few years ahead of you in the field can usually say which of these has already started.
Who knows me well enough to tell me what I have left off?
Why ask it
A personal SWOT done alone mostly repeats the picture you already hold of yourself. Show it to a manager, teacher, mentor or blunt friend and ask what is missing from each box. Their additions under weaknesses tend to be the most useful lines on the page.
What is one step this month that puts a strength to work on an opportunity?
Why ask it
Keep it small and dated: an application sent, a conversation booked, a class signed up for. If no step comes to mind, the goal behind the SWOT is probably too vague, so restate that first. Telling one person the date makes it harder to let slide.
How to run a SWOT analysis with these questions
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Before the session
Name the decision first
A SWOT of 'the company' produces a poster. A SWOT for 'should we open a second location' or 'which program do we expand' produces an answer. Write the question at the top of the page and test every item against it. For a class assignment, the case study usually supplies the decision; if it does not, choose one and state it.
Fix the subject and the time frame
Pick one thing to analyze: an organization, a product, a project or a person. Then set a horizon, such as the next one to three years. Without both, the grid ends up with the strengths of one product sitting beside threats to the whole firm, and nothing can be paired with anything.
Settle what is internal and what is external
Strengths and weaknesses are things about you that you could change. Opportunities and threats are things outside that would be true if you did not exist. Say this at the start. It settles most arguments about which box an item belongs in, and it stops actions being written down as opportunities.
Bring evidence into the room
Reviews, sales or donation figures, the reasons behind recent lost bids, a staff survey, a competitor's price list. Ten minutes with real records at the start saves an hour of opinion later, and several questions under Weaknesses and Threats cannot be answered well without them.
Invite people who see different things
Someone from the front line, someone who knows the money, the newest hire and someone who has been there for years will fill the boxes differently. Five to eight people is a workable group. With more, split into smaller groups, give each a quadrant and rotate. If customers or board members cannot attend, collect their answers to two or three of the questions beforehand.
Filling the four boxes
Pick three or four questions per box
Nobody needs every question on this page. Start each quadrant with its first question, which is the standard prompt, then add two or three that suit your situation. A nonprofit might take the donor and funder questions; a one-person business might skip the ones about the team.
Write before anyone talks
Give people a few quiet minutes with sticky notes or a shared document for each box, then read the answers out. It stops the first or most senior voice from setting the list, and it shows you which items several people reached on their own.
Ask for the example
'Great customer service' is a claim. 'A customer stayed last month after our technician drove out on a Sunday' is a strength you can use. Whenever an item is an adjective, ask when it last showed, and write down the example in its place.
Park the solutions
People will jump from a weakness to a fix within a minute. Keep a separate sheet for actions, write the idea there and go back to the box. The actions sheet is the raw material for the Decisions questions, and the grid stays a description of how things are.
Save time for the Decisions questions
Strengths usually go quickly, and weaknesses and threats take longer than planned. Keep at least a third of the session for the Decisions questions, or schedule a second meeting for them within a week while the grid is fresh.
From grid to plan
Cut every box down
Twelve strengths cannot all be acted on. Rank each box and keep the top three to five, with the evidence for each. Items that drop out go on a second page, so nobody feels their point was erased.
Pair the boxes
The plan comes from the combinations: a strength matched to an opportunity, a weakness that blocks an opportunity, a strength that can soften a threat, and a weakness that a threat would strike. Some textbooks call the result a TOWS matrix. Four questions in a row under Decisions take the pairs in that order.
Turn the pairs into owned actions
Each action gets a verb, one owner and a date. Add one thing to stop doing, so the new work has room. A short list that is finished is worth more than a long one that is filed.
For a personal SWOT
Tie it to a goal such as a job search, a promotion, a change of field or choosing a major. Fill it in alone first, using the Personal SWOT questions and any from the four quadrants that translate, then show it to one person who will be frank. End with a single dated step.
Date it and come back
A SWOT is a snapshot. Write the date on it, set a review, and at that review look first at what turned out to be wrong. The misjudged items teach more about how your group reads its situation than the ones you got right.
Mistakes to avoid
Listing without ranking
A grid with fifteen items in each box, all at equal weight, cannot guide a choice. If time is short, fill fewer items and rank them instead of filling more.
Putting actions in the opportunities box
'Launch an online store' is something you would do. 'More of our customers now buy online' is the opportunity. Keeping the two apart matters, because an action with no outside change behind it is only a wish.
Being polite about weaknesses
When the weaknesses box is shorter and vaguer than the strengths box, the room has been careful. Unsigned cards, written answers collected in advance or an outside facilitator all help. So does the leader naming a weakness of their own first.
Treating opinion as fact
'Customers love us' and 'the market is growing' may be true, and they may be what people hope. Mark what has been checked and what has not. For anything that depends on law, regulation or funding rules, ask how it works where you operate before building a plan on it.
Stopping at the grid
A completed four-box chart feels like a result, which is why so many end up in a drawer. The session is finished when there is a short list of actions with names and dates, and one thing the group has agreed to stop.