How to Write a SWOT Analysis paper (With Template and Examples)

What is a SWOT analysis? A SWOT analysis can be defined as a practical evaluation model for a business, product, or brand. This evaluation model looks at internal factors like strengths and weaknesses and external factors like opportunities and threats.

When performing a SWOT analysis, you gain an overview of your business. You also understand how internal and external factors can affect your business performance.

SWOT is an acronym that stands for Strengths Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats of a business, brand, or product. When you are writing your SWOT analysis paper, you will perform in-depth research on internal and external factors that affect your topic.

The internal factors are things that a company has control over, like team members, patent or intellectual property, or even location. These are the strengths and weaknesses of the company you will be researching about.

Likewise, you will look at external factors, which are things that are happening outside the company.  These are opportunities and how the company can protect itself against threats.

Importance of a SWOT analysis

SWOT analysis helps many businesses look at their strengths and weaknesses when assessing their business planning processes. The strengths and weaknesses can be worked on to make a company more profitable and encourage business growth.

A SWOT analysis will enable you to look at your business in new ways and form new solutions and ideas. The businesses will aim to leverage their strengths and weaknesses as well as take advantage of opportunities and reduce threats. Top leaders and founders of businesses and organizations should be deeply involved in performing a SWOT analysis.

How to write a SWOT analysis paper

Creating the best and most in-depth SWOT analysis paper requires breaking down your work into three parts. These three parts involve

• Discussing and knowing about the company you are assessing
• Researching to find valuable information that will help you in creating the SWOT analysis
• Analyzing the findings to come up with a way forward and a solution

Analyze findings from your SWOT analysis

Analyze what you have discovered from your SWOT analysis process. This includes

1.   Provide information about your topic

The introduction of your paper should tell readers about the company you are about to analyze. You may choose to analyze a company or a company’s product.

Depending on your topic, make sure you provide the needed information like the company’s name, what they do, who they are, and when the company was started. Your introduction section gives an overview of what a company is all about.

2.   Strengths

Find out and analyze what the company is doing excellently right now. Look at the resources internally and externally, like company assets and customer experience.

This is what gives the company advantage over competitors. Critically analyze the areas of success that contribute to profit and business growth.

3.   Weaknesses

Look at areas the company is not doing so well. These are things that are limiting the company from reaching its full potential.

Note them down and analyze them one after the other. You can look at the reasons they are not getting more clients. You can also look at their marketing plan and budget.

4.   Opportunities

Look at the external factors that can be beneficial to the business. Some of these factors can be customer repute, business environment, and growth that the company can take advantage of. Check various events that might affect business opportunities.

5.   Threats

Analyze external factors that may be harmful to the business. These are things like advertisements that competitors are using, media expenses, or new technology. These threats are beyond the business’s control, and they are a risk to the company.

Write these sections on your SWOT analysis paper and analyze the company you selected as your topic. Give details on what is currently happening in the company.

6.   Convert the company’s weaknesses

A company’s weaknesses can be converted into strengths. Look at the list of weaknesses you are assessing and find new strategies that can help the company succeed.

Examples of strategies can be creating a strong social media presence for the company. This includes creating business social media accounts like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to generate more conversions and bring more profits.

You can also look at additional programs that can be beneficial to the company, like loyalty programs. Looking at weaknesses that can be converted to strengths at a low cost will help move the company forward.

7.   Growth strategy

Growth can be realized when there is a plan that will increase business. This plan can be created using the business opportunities that have been identified in the SWOT analysis.

You can write down the plan, opportunities, and expected business growth. Also, the business should work to reduce threats or neutralize them. Make sure your paper addresses the steps needed to implement these recommendations.

How to do a SWOT Analysis step by step

When writing your SWOT analysis paper, you will need to break down the details of the company you have picked as your topic. You will focus on the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of a company or product, depending on your topic.

Writing a detailed step-by-step SWOT analysis will require you to do in-depth research and know where to find the information you need. Here is a detailed guide on how to research and find information for your SWOT analysis paper.

1.   SWOT analysis paper: understanding your topic

It is essential to conduct thorough research on the company you will be assessing and writing about. Get as much information as you can online and on the company’s website.

Write about when and how the company started including some background information on the number of employees, and the services that the company offers, and focus on. The next step is to research and build your SWOT analysis

2.   Research and write about strengths

The strength of your topic can be described as the benefits or advantages. The strengths can be beneficial to the company’s bottom line. It can also lead to extended brand recognition

Look at the strengths of your topic. It can be a product or a company. Finding out if they bought another company or made lots of profit can help identify these strengths.

Where to research

Relevant information can be found on the internet. Type the name of your topic plus the press release.

Find out if the company is working on a new product, receiving awards, or merging with other companies. Also, find out what reporters say about your topic, which is the company you are researching.

Reliable sources

Use reliable online sources to research the strength of your topic. Some of the places you can find relevant and credible information include publications, various reliable forums, press releases, and looking at reviews.

Looking at reviews will be very helpful, especially if you are doing a SWOT analysis for a product. Finding out the positive things people are saying about a product and analyzing the pattern will help you know a product’s strength.

3.   Research and write about weaknesses

Understanding the company’s weaknesses may involve looking at the problems the company is going through. These can be problems with unions or even paying workers.

It also includes a lack of diversification of products or services, decline in profits, or market saturation. Research and write about these weaknesses in your paper.

Where to research

When writing about a product, you can look at forums and read the product’s negative reviews. This way, you can come up with a list of weaknesses for your paper. In case you have used the product before, you can note down the weaknesses from your personal experience.

Reliable sources

You must get reliable information from credible sources. You can look at various publications to find information.

You can also search press releases of the company you are assessing, and check out forums and reviews. In case you have used the product your personal experience will also be helpful.

4.   Research and write about opportunities

The chance your topic has to achieve something is an opportunity. An opportunity is something positive like new mergers or when the company is expanding into a new region.

Where to research

Some of the opportunities can be found in weaknesses. You should analyze the weaknesses of your topic first and then explore opportunities. Weaknesses can also become the strength of a company.

Reliable sources

Look at the press releases and find out information about what the company wants to do next. The company’s annual report and financial report can give you an idea of the possible opportunities.

Perform in-depth research by looking at press releases, various publications, and discussion forums about the company or product. This way, you can produce a high-quality SWOT analysis paper.

5.   Research and write about threats

Your target SWOT analysis should also look at things that are likely to damage the company. These things are called threats. Weakness can become a threat if it is left unsolved for a long time.

Where to research

Threats can include market changes, losses, and economic declines, among many other things. The weakness section can help you brainstorm possible threats.

Reliable sources

You can also find information online from relevant forums, publications, or from competitors. You can also look at negative reviews when writing about the threats of your topic.

6.   Discuss the future

In your SWOT analysis paper, you will need to write about the future of your topic after doing your analysis. This involves the threats you have analyzed and how you can turn them into opportunities. In case the threats cannot be converted into opportunities for a company, you will inform your readers of strategies that can minimize or neutralize them.

Reliable sources

In this section, you will be discussing the future of your company. This means you will need to perform thorough research and look at articles about the topic for the last six months.

You will also need to analyze the competition in the business. This way, you can come up with an accurate prediction of the future of your topic.

SWOT analysis template

The needs you have will determine the type of SWOT analysis you will want to perform. A template can make your writing process much easier. For example, if you want to know how to write a SWOT analysis paper in APA format, you can use a template with that specific format.

When writing your paper, you can find insights by looking at different SWOT analysis paper examples and templates. Here are some templates that you can use for performing a SWOT analysis.

1.   SWOT Analysis for Marketing

A SWOT analysis template will help you develop a marketing plan, especially when looking at what you need to do to put yourself ahead of your competitors. The opportunities you will analyze in your SWOT analysis will enable you to understand new and potential markets for your products.

2.   SWOT analysis for nonprofits

A SWOT analysis can be helpful for nonprofits when they are making strategic decisions. Nonprofit organizations can use this analysis to understand how they fit in the market.

Also, they can find ways to maximize their impact in their area of interest. A SWOT analysis template that is specifically designed for nonprofits can help the analysis process. The decision-makers can make informed decisions on things like target campaigns or fundraising projects.

3.   SWOT analysis for executives

Executives in an organization need to be fully aware of the organization’s strengths and weaknesses. When a business is growing, the executives should perform a SWOT analysis to help the business meet specific goals.

A SWOT analysis template custom-made for this purpose will be useful. The SWOT analysis can also help to assess the performance of employees in the company.

4.   Personal SWOT-analysis

A SWOT analysis can help to evaluate personal growth. Some people may be looking for progress in their career or to completely change their career.

A SWOT analysis will help in repositioning the thinking of an individual concerning threats. A personal SWOT analysis will compare threats and weaknesses and clarify where change or improvement is needed.

The analysis can also show things that are hindering progress, like finances or future relocation. A personal SWOT analysis template will be perfect for this purpose.

5.   SWOT analysis for consultants

A consultant is always looking to market him or herself. When starting as a consultant, a SWOT analysis can help you discover your selling points.

This kind of analysis will provide you with the information you need for your project growth and plans. A custom-made SWOT analysis template will give you the right information and the best results.

Key takeaway

A detailed step-by-step process will help you create an in-depth and well-researched SWOT analysis paper. Choosing a topic and analyzing your company or product is the first step to conducting a successful analysis.

When writing your paper, makes sure you analyze all the four elements of the SWOT analysis. Inform your readers how your topic will deal with the strengths and weaknesses and how you will handle opportunities and threats. Also, use the SWOT analysis example paper to elaborate your points. To get assisted do write your SWOT analysis, and place order.