Report

Strengths

What advantages does your organization have?

What do you do better than anyone else?

What unique or lowest-cost resources can you draw upon that others can't?

What do people in your market see as your strengths?

What factors mean that you "get the sale"?

Consider your strengths from both an internal perspective, and from the point of view of your customers and people in your market.

Weaknesses

What could you improve?

What should you avoid?

What are people in your market likely to see as weaknesses?

What factors lose you sales?

Again, consider this from an internal and external perspective: Do other people seem to perceive weaknesses that you don't see? Are your competitors doing any better than you?

It's best to be realistic now, and face any unpleasant truths as soon as possible.

Opportunities

What good opportunities can you spot?

What interesting trends are you aware of?

Useful opportunities can come from such things as:

Changes in technology and markets on both a broad and narrow scale.

Changes in government policy related to your field.

Changes in social patterns, population profiles, lifestyle changes, and so on.

Local events.

Threats

What obstacles do you face?

What are your competitors doing?

Are quality standards or specifications for your job, products or services changing?

Is changing technology threatening your position?

Do you have bad debt or cash-flow problems?

Could any of your weaknesses seriously threaten your business?