Strengths: examples may be your accessibility (location and hours of opening), quality of service, patient experience and trust in your advice. Be sure to test this.

Weaknesses: may lie in your lack of trained staff at the right time of the day or week, or your investment in IT or premises. Your SWOT will very much be personal to you, but your strengths and weaknesses are about your business.

The Opportunities and Threats are about what’s happening external to your business. Examples of your opportunities may be a growing local population who may have health and/or lifestyle challenges, growing your self-care market with a focus on P-medicines, flu vaccination services to local businesses, or travel health. Undoubted threats include existing funding streams and increased competition, but there will be more that you can identify locally.

Once you have understood your current situation, you can begin to consider how you can build on your strengths, minimise your weaknesses, and focus on your opportunities. The output of a comprehensive SWOT should be a number of ‘key findings’ – statements that articulate the insights you have in your business right now in the current environment.