How the Ansoff Matrix Strategy Builder Works
More than just a spreadsheet—this is a guided approach to building your business strategy.
What is This?
🚀 Market Penetration
This is the lowest-risk strategy. It’s about selling more of your existing products to your existing customers.
💹 Market Development
Here, you focus on selling your existing products to new markets. This could be a new geographic area or a new customer segment.
🌱 Product Development
This strategy involves creating new products for your existing customers. Think about what else they might need and what’s missing from your current offerings.
💡 Diversification
This is the highest-risk, but also potentially the highest-rewar15d, strategy. It’s about launching new products into entirely new markets.
How Does It Help My Business?
Every business faces the challenge of growth. This tool helps you systematically address that challenge by guiding you through four key strategic areas of the Ansoff Matrix: Market Penetration, Market Development, Product Development, and Diversification.
Structure Your Thinking
Instead of brainstorming chaotically, you’ll fill out tables specifically designed to capture the core components of a strategy: the idea, its description, a plan, an expected outcome, and the associated risk.
Document and Prioritize
The app helps you clearly document each strategy and its key details. The risk level field allows you to quickly compare and prioritize strategies, ensuring you focus on the most viable options.
Identify New Opportunities
The structured steps force you to consider growth strategies you might not have thought of, from new product lines for existing customers to entirely new markets.
Where Does the Information Come From?
The tool itself is simply a place to document your findings. The real work happens outside the app, where you gather the insights that will fill your matrix. Here is how you can gather the information needed to make your strategies powerful:
Stakeholder Interviews
Talk to key people to get a 360-degree view of your business. Perspectives from different groups can reveal new opportunities.
Customers: Ask about their biggest pain points, what they love, and what they wish you offered.
Employees: Get insights from your front-line team about what customers are asking for and what they see in the market.
Partners: Speak with suppliers or distributors to understand broader industry trends.
Market Research
Your ideas need to be grounded in reality. Use research to validate your assumptions and find hard data to support your strategies.
Competitive Analysis: What are your competitors doing? Where are their strengths and weaknesses?
Industry Reports: Look for reports on market size, growth projections, and key trends.
Online Search: Use Google or other search engines to find news articles, blog posts, and forum discussions about your industry.
Team Brainstorming
Bring your team together to brainstorm ideas. A productive session starts with a clear goal and a safe space for creativity.
Facilitate instead of dominate: Encourage everyone to share ideas freely without judgment.
Use sticky notes: This makes it easy to collect, organize, and move ideas around later.
Set a timer: Work in short, focused bursts to maintain energy and focus.
Sales & Customer Feedback
Your existing data is a goldmine. Use it to understand what’s working and what’s not.
Product Reviews: What are customers saying about your products? What features are they asking for?
Support Tickets: Look for common themes in support requests. This can highlight problems or opportunities.
Sales Data: Analyze which products are selling the most, where they are selling, and what demographic is buying them.
The Final Deliverable: A Cohesive Plan
Once you have worked through the four steps, the tool will automatically generate a professional, summary report. This report isn’t just a formality—it is your final deliverable.
Gain Alignment: Present a clear, structured overview of your strategic options to your team, investors, or leadership.
Prioritize Efforts: The report will help you identify which strategies are the most promising and which carry the most risk.
Track Progress: The report serves as a living document. You can revisit it to track your progress and adjust your plans as you move forward.
By following this process, you’ll transform a simple exercise into a powerful strategic planning asset.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is this different from a spreadsheet?
Unlike a blank spreadsheet, this app provides a structured, step-by-step process with predefined fields (Strategy, Description, Implementation Plan, etc.) that guide your strategic thinking. It’s designed to ensure you consider all key aspects of a growth strategy in a consistent way, leading to a more comprehensive and actionable plan.
Do I need to be a business expert to use this app?
Not at all! This app is designed for anyone involved in business planning, from entrepreneurs to team leaders. The Ansoff Matrix framework simplifies the process of thinking about growth, and the app’s structure makes it easy to fill in your ideas and generate a professional report without prior strategic planning experience.
Where does the information for the matrix come from?
The tool itself does not generate data. You will gather insights through brainstorming, stakeholder interviews, market research, and customer feedback, then document them in the tool.
What is the outcome of using this tool?
The final deliverable is a professional summary report that captures all strategies, their risks, and priorities. This can be used to align your team, present to stakeholders, and track progress over time.
Can I update or adjust my strategies later?
Yes. The tool is designed to be iterative. You can revisit your plan, update details as you learn more, and refine your strategies as your business evolves.