How to conduct a SWOT analysis for a small business

Adrian Rasmussen • November 10, 2023

Conducting a SWOT analysis periodically allows you to consider all of your business’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats as you fine-tune your business strategy.

SWOT 101

A Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) analysis typically consists of a grid to help identify these important components:

  • Strength – a positive, internal aspect of your business that’s within your control. A strength could be something that your business is great at, your team’s knowledge and experience, your access to credit or your intellectual property or location.
  • Weakness – a negative, internal aspect of your business that’s within your control. A weakness might be uninterested staff, a lack of experience, a heavy debt, tax burden or obsolete technology.
  • Opportunity – similar to strengths except they’re external, positive factors that could be leveraged to your business’s advantage. For example, an extended drought could be considered an opportunity if your business produces water-saving devices.
  • Threat – similar to weaknesses except they’re external, negative factors that could harm your business. For example, the same extended drought could be considered a threat if your business sells thirsty tropical plants or turf.

The SWOT analysis template, which you can download for free, provides you with an easy way to break down an issue based on your business’s specific strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.

Use the template to analyse a single issue. We recommend identifying the issue and presenting it as a short, easy-to-understand sentence such as:

  • export widgets to Thailand
  • print product labels in-house
  • license our products to third parties.

Once the issue being assessed has been defined, the SWOT analysis template can be used to consider various criteria. Criteria for consideration could be resources, quality control and business capability, competitors, market demand, political effects, partnerships, and even legislative effects. This is along with any relevant strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, of course.

Identify some of the most important criteria where businesses are either strong or weak. Identify criteria that may pose either an opportunity or a threat. These considerations should prompt you to think about your business’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats as they relate to the issue being analysed. These prompts may surprise you, revealing insights you might not have considered otherwise.

After conducting your SWOT analysis, you’ll have a set of objective insights that you can use to make smarter strategic decisions.

How to use the swot analysis template

Using a SWOT analysis template is easy. Here are a few steps you can follow:

Step 1

Define the issue that you’re assessing. 

Step 2

Determine if your business is strong or weak. Enter your strengths and weaknesses accordingly. 

Step 3

Determine whether an opportunity or threat exists. Again, if you think of any other external factors that could pose either an opportunity or threat, add them to your analysis.

Step 4

Analyse your strengths and weaknesses. Ask yourself:

  • Are there any strengths that you’re underutilising?
  • Do you have any weaknesses that you could easily fix?

Step 5

Analyse your opportunities and threats. Ask yourself:

  • Are there any opportunities you could use to your business’s advantage?
  • Do your strengths support such a move?
  • Will you need to strengthen your weaknesses in order to leverage an opportunity?
  • How might the threats you’ve identified affect your business?
  • What steps can you take to mitigate those threats?
  • Is it possible to turn those threats into an opportunity?

Spending time analysing your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats is a worthwhile activity that aids in decision-making and strategic planning.

Use a SWOT analysis template whenever you have a decision to make – or when you want to ensure your business is taking advantage of its strengths and opportunities while minimising its weaknesses and threats.

Source:  NAB
Reproduced with permission of National Australia Bank (‘NAB’). This article was originally published at https://www.nab.com.au/business/small-business/moments/manage/planning/swot-template
National Australia Bank Limited. ABN 12 004 044 937 AFSL and Australian Credit Licence 230686. The information contained in this article is intended to be of a general nature only. Any advice contained in this article has been prepared without taking into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. Before acting on any advice on this website, NAB recommends that you consider whether it is appropriate for your circumstances.
© 2023 National Australia Bank Limited (“NAB”). All rights reserved.

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Do you know how your super is performing?

By Nikki Ashurst • November 2, 2026
Many Australians don't know how their super fund has performed or what it invests in. Are you one of them? Here's what to check and why it matters. Do you know how your super fund performed over the last two years? Many Australians don’t and are working towards their financial future without fully understanding one of their most important assets and without a clear plan for how their super may support them in retirement. That's not surprising, as many people view super as something that should run quietly in the background while they're busy with careers, families and everything else that life throws at them. But when you’re not sure what’s happening behind your balance, it’s harder to know whether you’re on track, whether your current approach reflects your goals or what opportunities might be available to help you make the most of what you’ve built so far. Your super isn't sitting in an account, it's invested Super is invested by a fund on your behalf across a mix of assets, with those investments working to grow your balance over time. Those include: Shares Ownership in Australian and international publicly listed companies. Their value can rise and fall, sometimes substantially over short periods but shares can provide capital growth over the long term. Property and infrastructure Real assets like office buildings, shopping centres, airports and energy networks. They can produce income and don't always behave in the same way as share markets, helping diversify investment holdings. Fixed interest and bonds Lending to governments and companies in return for interest. They can provide regular income and be steadier than shares, although returns and risk vary depending on the investment. Cash Generally, the most stable and lowest risk investment type. It can provide stability and faster access to money but typically offers lower longer term return potential. The investment option you choose determines the mix of assets held in your super based on your risk appetite. Most super funds offer options from conservative to high growth. If you’re young, a growth option with a higher exposure to growth assets like shares could offer higher returns over time – but it also comes with higher risk. As retirement nears, you might want to consider a more conservative approach with more defensive assets, like bonds for example to protect your savings. If you've never made a choice, you're probably in your fund's default option, which is designed to suit a broad membership. It’s worth knowing whether the mix you're in matches your circumstances and goals, including how far you are from retirement. Why performance alone is not a true comparison If you're thinking about how your super compares, returns are often where people start. The trouble is that a return figure means nothing without context: What it's being compared to Growth and conservative options invest differently and with different levels of risk. Compare like with like or the comparison may not be genuine. The comparison period A single year can be heavily influenced by short term market conditions. Super is measured in decades, so five, seven and ten year returns tell you far more about whether a fund is consistently doing its job, albeit not a predictor of future performance. Fees and tax Published returns should reflect investment fees, costs and tax but administration fees may be charged separately from your balance. Two funds quoting the same return can leave you in meaningfully different places once all fees are accounted for. Then there are the things that returns can't show you at all. For example, what insurance is attached to your account and what it's costing you, whether the fund offers guidance, tools and advice or simply sends a statement once a year. Another consideration maybe the level of support available when you need it. When comparing funds, it's worth looking at the full picture, including performance, fees, investment options, retirement support and member benefits. What today’s decisions mean tomorrow To understand how your super stacks up, start here: Find your investment option It's on your annual statement and in your online account. Look at what's in it Your fund publishes the asset allocation (shares, cash etc.) for each investment option. Check the long-term return for that option Focus on five and ten year returns, not just last year and compare them with equivalent options. Understand the total cost Add together administration fees, investment fees and insurance premiums as an annual dollar figure. Comparing super is about working out which option will perform best for you. Before you jump in, it’s worth understanding what's behind the numbers so you can make decisions based on more than a headline return. Knowing where you stand is the first step A super balance tells you where you are today. Understanding how your super is invested, how it compares and whether it's aligned with your goals helps show whether you're heading in the right direction. Source: MLC The information in this article does not take into account your objectives, needs and circumstances. We recommend that you obtain investment and taxation advice specific to your investment objectives, financial situation and particular needs before making any investment decision or acting on any of the information contained in this document. Subject to law, Capstone Financial Planning nor their directors, employees or authorised representatives gives any representation or warranty as to the reliability, accuracy or completeness of the information; or accepts any responsibility for any person acting, or refraining from acting, on the basis of the information contained in this document. Principal Wealth Management Pty Ltd trading as BMO Financial Solutions ABN 53 109 336 601 is a Corporate Authorised Representative (CAR 277821) of Capstone Financial Planning Pty Ltd ABN 24 093 733 969 Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL) No. 223135.

The SMSF landscape is changing

By Jude Schofield • October 7, 2026
More Australians are choosing to take direct control of their retirement savings by establishing a self-managed super fund (SMSF) and according to the SMSF Association, Aussies now see their super as an important part of building and managing their overall wealth.