Pharmacy profession is a noble professional. We are all trained to provide altruistic service to our clients and this has led us into different fields of practice. Apart from hospital practice, the other area of practice where the pharmacists come in contact with patients/clients is community practice. And I know that pharmacists are doing a lot in being altruistic to our clients.
However, a pharmacy is not set up just for altruistic reasons, it is also a business. Many pharmacies are poorly run and face a lot of challenges because the business part of the pharmacy practice is not well attended to. While we provide altruistic value we must also run a good business in order for us to keep providing the service to our clients.
How can we improve our pharmacy practice and make a success of it? It is simply by taking our pharmacy practice as a business. We must employ business strategies in order make it succeed. Below we shall discuss a few things to do to change the face of our community pharmacy practice.
1. To run a successful practice, you need to learn business skills. Our professional training has given us all the necessary skills in providing pharmaceutical care to our clients but we need to add business skills to our arsenal to help us succeed in our practice. Successful business start out with having clear-cut vision and mission statements which act as signpost and guide in their journeys. Along with is that they have a well-researched business plan. If you desire to make your business grow and be profitable then you must adopt these strategies in your business.
2. As a pharmacist, you must also learn sales and marketing. If you do not know how to sell and market your products and business, you are less likely to be a success. How can you learn about sales and marketing? You can gain sales and marketing knowledge by regularly visiting this website to read about new strategies and advice on how to run your pharmacy business better and profitably. Others ways to acquire sales and marketing skills include reading books on selling and marketing; attending seminars and workshops; joining mastermind groups; join coaching classes and so on. Your sales and marketing skills will determine how successful your business will be.
3. Deliver the best possible service. Pharmacists must shift from transactional, retail script counters to more dynamic leaders of high-performance teams with a great culture. We must go the extra mile in serving our clients. You are not just selling, you are providing services. Give your clients a wow experience this will bring them back again and again, and a happy client is highly likely to recommend you to others. You should have a plan on ground on how to deliver this superlative experience.
4. Avoid sentiments, employ the capable hands. Successful businesses employ staff that has the capacity to grow their businesses. Their employment procedures are not clouded by sentiments. Only the best hands are employed irrespective of their gender, race or religion. The single factor that comes up strong is if they have the ability to produce result. You must do the same in your pharmacy business.
5. Build a system in your business. Any business that is heading for success is built on systems. Some businesses call these standard operating procedures (SOPs). Any business without a system runs in all direction and hardly gets to the expected destination. Systems guide what happens in your business whether you are there or not. Systems will help you control quality, increase value, reduce costs, and expand capacity even from the same staffing levels. The business owner must spearhead the process of designing a system. You may seek the help of a business consultant though but you must participate in the process because you are the owner of the vision of the business.
6. Managing your cash flow. Cash flow management is an essential skill in every business. As a business owner you must ensure that you are well vast in this area because it will be a yardstick for measure your business growth and profitability. As mentioned above, you must have a system that monitors your cash flow and the finances of your business. Implementing a clear system with solid tracking will give your business sound financial control and reduce the tendency for fraud. You will also be able to see at first hand the performance of your business. The net result of these efforts is that you will finally have a sound financial base from which to safely and successfully scale your company.
7. Buy business insurance. Around our locality here, insurance is the last thing a business owner thinks of when starting and even running his business. No one can predict when a business may experience any calamities. Serious businesses make provision for insurance in their business plans in order to mitigate against risks that may affect their businesses. Your pharmacy business also should follow such practice. You should get an insurance expert to advice of which insurance policies that you could take for your business. The common ones you should consider include fire insurance, burglary insurance, professional indemnity, etc.