So, the 2020 financial year is about to come to an end, and boy, that one was a bit hectic. It was a little intense wasn’t it? But I have had enough of hearing about Covid-19.
Therefore, I have hoping to write something that is going to make you all stop for a little while to have a bit of a stock take about where you are. Not literally of course. You didn’t think I would be writing about actual stock taking procedures, did you?
As you head towards the end of this financial year, perhaps a little frazzled after the last few months, how has the year gone for you? Have you achieved what you set out to achieve? Or perhaps you didn’t set out to achieve anything and unfortunately succeeded at exactly that…. nothing. Or perhaps you had plans but got swept up in a Covid-19 world and other issues became a higher priority.
We must always look forward, and as owners stay on top of those issues that really matter. Pharmacy is a business and its essential elements are no different than any other business. Your role as a business owner is to grow the business, to do that though involves a lot of planning. It involves a having a vision, a purpose, someone to aim at. Then figuring out how you are going to go about achieving just that. That is where strategy comes into play. But as a business owner we cannot simply idle through business life, doing stuff, without plans and strategies, and then get disappointed your business hasn’t gone anywhere, or gone backwards.
What you need to ask yourself is, what exactly are you doing to move the business forward? Being a pharmacy owner and doing the job of a pharmacist is not enough. You are just an overpaid pharmacist. You are not a being pharmacy business owner, as an owner your role is very different. You are there to grow the business and turn it into something successful. Success for what that means for you personally. Success for what that means for your community’s health. And success for what that mean for your employee’s.
As a business owner you need to be able to clearly answer these questions.
1. What is your vision for your business?
2. What are you in business for?
3. What does success mean to you?
4. What values should your business have?
5. How will you improve your community’s health?
Simple questions, but at the same time potentially difficult, not easy to answer and involve a lot of issues. Now is a good time though to have a fresh look at your strategies knowing the world now is slightly different than what it used to be.