BCG Matrix — free online maker
Sort a portfolio by market growth and market share, then decide where cash goes. Guided prompts on every block, autosave in your browser, and one-click PDF export.
20-30 minutes to a first draft4 blocks How to fill it in
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What is the BCG Matrix?
The BCG matrix plots each product, business unit, or product line on two axes: how fast its market is growing, and how much share you hold relative to the largest competitor. Four quadrants follow — stars, cash cows, question marks, and dogs.
It is a cash allocation tool above all. The logic is that cash cows fund the question marks worth backing, some of which become stars, which mature into the next generation of cash cows. Read that way, the matrix answers a question annual planning usually dodges: which of our products is being subsidised by which, and is that deliberate?
Created by Bruce Henderson at the Boston Consulting Group in 1970. It remains the best-known portfolio management framework, and the most frequently criticised for reducing strategy to two variables.
Use it when…
- Allocating budget across several products or business units
- Deciding what to invest in, harvest, or discontinue
- Explaining to a board why a profitable product still gets no investment
- Any portfolio where cash is being spread evenly by default
The 4 blocks, in the order to fill them
- 1
Stars — High Growth, High Share
What is winning in a fast-growing market?
Market leaders in growing markets. They generate substantial revenue and consume just as much cash to defend position, so they are frequently cash-neutral despite looking like the best thing you own.
How to fill this block - 2
Question Marks — High Growth, Low Share
What could become a star, with money?
Products in attractive growing markets where you do not lead. They consume cash and return little, and every one of them is a decision rather than a position: invest heavily enough to contend for leadership, or exit.
How to fill this block - 3
Cash Cows — Low Growth, High Share
What generates the cash everything else spends?
Leaders in mature markets. They need relatively little investment and throw off cash that funds the rest of the portfolio.
How to fill this block - 4
Dogs — Low Growth, Low Share
What is tying up resources for little return?
Low share in a market that is not growing. Usually candidates for divestment or discontinuation, though not always: some dogs are strategically necessary because they complete a product line, serve an important customer, or feed a cash cow.
How to fill this block
Worked BCG Matrix examples
Complete, realistic canvases with an analysis of what each one reveals. Open one on its own page, or load it straight into the editor above.
BCG Matrix FAQs
What are the four quadrants of the BCG matrix?
Stars (high market growth, high relative share), question marks (high growth, low share), cash cows (low growth, high share), and dogs (low growth, low share). The vertical axis is market growth rate; the horizontal axis is your market share relative to the largest competitor, not absolute share.
How do I calculate relative market share?
Divide your market share by the share of the largest competitor. A relative share above 1.0 means you lead the market. This is more useful than absolute share because 20% share means something completely different when the leader has 22% than when the leader has 60%.
What are the main criticisms of the BCG matrix?
It reduces strategy to two variables and ignores profitability, synergy between units, and competitive dynamics. Market growth is a weak proxy for attractiveness, and 'market' can be defined narrowly enough to make anything look like a leader. Treat it as a conversation starter about cash allocation rather than a decision rule — the GE-McKinsey nine-box matrix exists largely to address these limitations.
Can I use it for products rather than business units?
Yes — product lines, services, customer segments, or even individual SKUs all work, as long as you can estimate a growth rate and a relative share for each. Keep the unit of analysis consistent across the matrix; mixing business units and individual products makes the comparison meaningless.