๐ FREE TEMPLATE ยท ARABIC + ENGLISH
SWOT analysis template for startups โ free, with an example
Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats โ written so they lead to a decision instead of a list.
What a SWOT Analysis is for
A SWOT sorts what is true about your company into what you control (strengths, weaknesses) and what you do not (opportunities, threats). Its reputation for being useless is earned: most SWOTs are lists of adjectives. A useful one is specific enough that each entry implies an action.
ุชุญููู SWOT ุจูุฑุชุจ ุงูุญูุงุฆู ุนู ุดุฑูุชู ุจูู ุงููู ุฅูุช ู ุชุญูู ููู (ููุงุท ุงูููุฉ ูุงูุถุนู) ูุงููู ู ุด ู ุชุญูู ููู (ุงููุฑุต ูุงูุชูุฏูุฏุงุช). ุณู ุนุชู ุงูุณูุฆุฉ ู ุณุชุญูุฉ: ุฃุบูุจ ุงูุชุญูููุงุช ุฏู ู ุฌุฑุฏ ุตูุงุช. ุงูุชุญููู ุงูู ููุฏ ุจูููู ู ุญุฏุฏ ูุฏุฑุฌุฉ ุฅู ูู ุจูุฏ ุจููุชุฑุญ ุชุตุฑู.
What goes in each part โ with a an early-stage MENA SaaS company example
Strengths
ููุงุท ุงูููุฉAdvantages a competitor could not copy this quarter. 'Great team' is not one unless you can say why.
Example โ Native Arabic product design โ competitors would need to rebuild, not translate
Weaknesses
ููุงุท ุงูุถุนูThe ones you would rather not write down. A SWOT with flattering weaknesses is a waste of the page.
Example โ One founder builds, sells and supports everything โ a hard ceiling on growth
Opportunities
ุงููุฑุตExternal shifts you could ride โ regulation, funding, behaviour change. Not 'grow the market'.
Example โ GCC government programmes funding founder readiness
Threats
ุงูุชูุฏูุฏุงุชExternal changes that would hurt. Include the boring ones: payment friction, a competitor localising.
Example โ General AI assistants absorbing the 'help me plan my startup' job
THE PART MOST PEOPLE GET WRONG
Rank by likelihood ร impact, or it is just a list
Four quadrants of unranked bullets do not tell you what to do on Monday. Mark each entry high, medium or low, then read only the highs: those four or five lines are your quarter. Everything else is context.
Fill it in, don't download it
A PDF you fill once is a file you lose. Here it stays with your startup, feeds the other tools, and appears on your public page as you finish it.
Questions founders ask
How many items per quadrant?
Three to six. More than that and nothing is prioritised, which defeats the exercise.
When should a startup do a SWOT?
Before planning a quarter, before a raise, and after any surprise โ a lost deal, a competitor launch, a regulation change.
Is SWOT still useful?
The framework is fine; the usual execution is not. Specific, ranked entries make it useful. Vague ones make it decoration.
SEE IT DONE FOR REAL