One of the sections in a business plan is to complete a SWOT analysis for your pharmacy business. A SWOT analysis is a strategic planning method that you can use to evaluate your small businesses Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. This is a necessary task for every business owner. Despite the workload that every business owner has it is a task that should be carried out because of its importance.
Importance of SWOT Analysis
SWOT analysis helps your business assess what it can and cannot do as well as its potential opportunities and threats. It helps a business looks inward at its internal characteristics (strengths and weaknesses) and the external impacts on it from the environment (opportunities and threats).
SWOT analysis determines what may assist the firm in accomplishing its objectives, and what obstacles must be overcome or minimized to achieve desired results. It helps a business to determine its viability and also help the business take necessary decision in relation to what he found after the analysis.
The SWOT analysis provides information that is helpful in matching the firm’s resources and capabilities to the competitive environment in which it operates
Let us see what the different elements of the SWOT analysis.
Strengths: These are the internal attributes and resources of yourself or your business that will serve to achieve objectives within the company. A business’s strength determines what can be used as a basis for developing a competitive advantage. To know your strength you have to look inward: examples include strong brand name, good reputation among customers, available resources, exclusive supply chain and so on.
Weaknesses: These are the internal attributes of the company that may be detrimental to achieving your goals and work against a successful outcome. These are things or resources lacking in a business. The absence of certain strengths may be viewed as a weakness. Examples include weak brand name, high cost of business, lack of exclusivity, and so on.
Opportunities: These are external factors that will make success easier. These are resources that a business can capitalize on or use to its advantage. The external environmental analysis may reveal certain new opportunities for profit and growth. Some examples of such opportunities include: exclusive partnership with a large hospital, removal of trade barriers, loosening of regulations, favourable government laws and policies, new technologies, and so on.
Threats: These are external factors that may hinder your final objective. These are factors that could jeopardize the business. Changes in the external environmental also may present threats to the firm. Some examples of such threats include: shifts in consumer tastes, emergence of substitute products, new regulations, increased trade barriers, and so on
Once you have determine what your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats are then you can make some far reaching decision for the success of your business. These elements will form a basis for moving your business forward.
You should take advantage of your strengths and exploit them to your benefits. Look for a way of improving upon your weaknesses. External opportunities and threats are key when considering how to move your small business forward. Understanding how these opportunities and threats affect your business will help you a lot taking major decisions in your business. By recognizing these opportunities and threats you will be better equipped to deal with them: forewarned is forearmed!
In what other ways do you think a SWOT analysis can benefit your business?