Pharmacy Owners Should Work Smarter, Not Harder

Is your pharmacy business the way you imagined it would be, or is it more complicated and stressful than you had planned? If it’s the latter, then you may be spreading yourself too thin.

Here are 5 clues that you’re working harder, not smarter:

• At the end of the day, you still have a list of things you wanted to accomplish but didn't have the time to do.
• More important tasks remain unfinished while certain others did get done.
• You are frequently interrupted.
• You often wonder if the insurance companies can possibly make it any more difficult for you to make a decent living.
• You constantly feel indispensable.

Remember that the entire purpose of owning a pharmacy is to accomplish 2 things:

• Create a lifestyle for yourself based on an income that you could not possibly obtain in a chain operation.
• Constantly enlighten your patients on how they can feel better, live longer, and become more energetic.

At chain stores, you’re under too much pressure to accomplish either of these goals, right? But even in your own pharmacy, are you running faster and faster just to stand still financially? It doesn’t have to be this way, but you will only accomplish more if you try to do less.

It all starts by determining how much you want to be worth on an hourly basis. This subject requires some deep thought.

Do you want to be worth $250/hr versus the $50/hr that pharmacists employed elsewhere would be paid? If this is true, then stop doing $10/hr, $15/hr, or even $50/hr work.

The payoff is in doing your own work, not everyone else’s. Once you get into this frame of mind, you can concentrate on doing only the things that require your knowledge and expertise as an entrepreneur and business builder.

The problem is you’re trying to do too much yourself. The solution is that anything is possible when you stop trying to do everything at the same time.

Do less and accomplish more by practicing the 80/20 Principle (Pareto’s Law): 20% of your ideas produce 80% of the results, and 20% of your time produces 80% of the profits.

Whether you currently own a pharmacy or are contemplating ownership, you need to get maximum leverage from the following 2 areas:

1. Your staff

• Make certain that you have only members of the A-team. If they are not currently at the A-team level, then train them. If they are not trainable, then dismiss them.
• Have a strong second-in-command called an Operations Manager who is key to maximizing leverage throughout your entire organization.
• First train, then delegate. Do your own work and not the work of someone else on your payroll.

2. Your marketing plan

• Determine how to differentiate yourself in the marketplace, including embracing elements of a different business model.
• Never stop marketing, but ensure that all of your messages are part and parcel to your total strategic marketing plan.
• Write out your vision of what your pharmacy should really look like. Include everything from the ambiance of your store to the type of people you want on your staff. Also include who your primary patients will be.

It’s all about not only doing less and getting more, but also putting the resources you have to the best use. If you’re waiting for the planets to align and the conditions to be perfect before you create the pharmacy you’ve been dreaming about, then you’re letting the gremlins of resistance that live in your head rule the day. It’s time to turn the tables.

The Pharmacy Sage can be reached at 1-888-737-6400 or info@thepharmacysage.com