A SWOT analysis can be used as part of the process to develop a business strategy, marketing strategy, strategic plan, or business plan. It identifies the internal (strengths, weaknesses) and external (opportunities, threats) factors that can affect the achievement of a business’s success. It is useful in evaluating the chances of business success as well as to identify strengths to build upon, weaknesses to mitigate, opportunities to seize and threats to guard against.
The SWOT can then be enhanced by developing a matrix of relative competitive strengths by separately analyzing and comparing your company’s strengths against the strengths of each competitor. This relative strengths matrix can be used to inform the business strategy and the marketing strategy.