Strengths: In analysis SWOT, strengths are those of the company and they are classified in the segment called "Forces". For this segment, should be considered about what the company does well. This section thus refers to two types of highlights of the company: its internal forces such as the rare skills, customer relationship, and those that are external, such as its place in the market, its positioning…
This quadrant fills seeking forces objective and relevant business or organization. To find them, should ask you honestly and objectively, for each reporting information, if it is really a force for you. This is useful to maintain the integrity of your SWOT analysis. This is also why you need to take account of feedback from your customers and market returns, as they can reveal forces to highlight in this segment of your SWOT analysis. In all cases, a good knowledge of your market guarantees objectivity.
Weaknesses: it's all the necessary improvements within the company. They can be a Department or the company as a whole.
When you are in a business, the best solution to identify the weak points is to organize sessions of group work, to confront the ideas of all participants and identify the real weak points, blocking points or the problems at hand.
If you are independent, you have no team. Use your memory or you accompanied by a consultant to identify your weak points.
The analysis of this segment "weaknesses" should provide a clear list of the elements that require a plan of development for improvement or to remedy the problems identified. Tools such as action plans and training often represent the means to address the weaknesses. From a competitive point of view, you try to strongly reduce your weaknesses, since they are your faults against the competition.
