Free template
See where the business stands and what customers could choose instead. The SWOT turns each important entry into evidence and an action; the comparison sets your offer beside competitors, doing it yourself and not buying — on the criteria customers actually use, with every fact sourced and every gap visible.
Enlarge preview: SWOT and action worksheetReviewing where the business stands and what to do about it.
Strengths and weaknesses (inside the business) and opportunities and threats (outside it), then each important entry with its evidence and date, what it means, a possible action, an owner and a date.
Blank and an example · Word and PDF
Choose a version and a format. After the first download, the others need no new form.
Word files open in Microsoft Word, Google Docs, Apple Pages and LibreOffice; we checked them in LibreOffice. US Letter; change the paper size for A4.
Weights and scores look precise but hide judgement calls, and they turn missing information into points. The workbook shows the facts side by side and counts what you still do not know; you decide what matters to your customers.
Unknown means you have not found out — leave the cell blank or type Unknown, and it is shaded grey and counted. Not offered means you checked and they do not offer it. Mixing the two makes competitors look weaker than they may be.
Because they are often what customers actually choose. If the alternative to your service is an evening of DIY or simply waiting, that is the comparison that matters.
Only from what you can check — published prices, terms, reviews, a phone call — recorded on the Sources sheet with the date. Facts without a source are flagged. The example’s businesses and findings are invented; it is not market research.
Each important entry goes into the action table with its evidence (or a note that it is an assumption), what it means for the business, and a possible action with an owner and a date.
The workbook is a standard .xlsx file with no macros; the SWOT is Word and PDF. We checked them in LibreOffice only, not in Excel, Word, Google Workspace or Apple’s apps.