Owning a pharmacy is not easy. Why? Because the industry is at a time where retail is under serious pressure (most retail sales we see are going backwards), rents and nasty landlords are a big problem, competition is increasing, and values in a lot of pharmacies are under pressure.
So, if you are keen on investing a lot of money into pharmacy you need to be very careful about what you are doing and be very clear with your strategy. I know this sounds a little bit “Negative Nancy” and doom and gloom however, I cannot stress the importance of being prepared. Working within the pharmacy industry for over twenty years I have seen some really distressed owners. People who have lost A LOT of money. So, I want to educate first time buyers on how to prevent such situations. Owning a pharmacy can be very rewarding but one must be vigilant and prepared.
I am becoming concerned about first time buyers who are very keen on taking on the first opportunity available but don’t have any clear strategies on how they are going to grow the business. I believe this is the number one mistake a prospective owner can make. The reality of modern-day pharmacy is it is becoming a difficult industry where more are losing than are gaining. Some have pharmacies that are difficult to sell and unfortunately some are just unsellable. This is not an outcome any pharmacy owners would ever want. Also, not something many current owners would have thought would have happened when they initially became an owner. Community Pharmacy is changing like many other industries, mine included. So, it defies logic that someone would go and borrow a whole bucket of money to buy a business without any clear strategy.