How is sales growth calculated?
The world for pharmacy owners has evolved from the simplicity of just writing scripts and playing with chemicals. It involves staff management, managing a storefront, rivalling competitors, customer service, stock management, profitability and so much more. You can no longer be a pharmacist owning a business, you need to be entrepreneurial.
Many years ago when I was starting Peak Strategies, I undertook a process that many other new business owners take when setting up a business, deciding on a name. Typical to my nature, I didn’t want the traditional accountant title of “John Thornett & Associates”. I wanted something that had meaning to me and what I wanted to achieve. At about the same time I had taken my family down to the Stirling Ranges. We have been there several times and it has to be my favourite place ever. It is stunningly beautiful, vast, unique, rugged, and full of wonder. Did you know the Stirling Ranges has more species of wildflowers than the entire British Isles? Incredible isn’t it? It’s a place where I feel at peace. As a family we have climbed Bluff Knoll several times and many of the other peaks (Hint…..).
Do customers in your pharmacy have this experience?
I walked into a pharmacy looking for a specific product and I approached the counter.
The Pharmacist and a staff member were standing at the counter discussing a document. They didn’t even look up.
I stood at the counter and waited. Then I wandered around the shop before returning to the counter and waited some more. Ignored, I left the store.
The most dominant companies to emerge from the past decade's tech boom have proven that healthy growth is all about scaling. By adopting a scalable business model, these firms have generated huge profits without all the budgetary strains that plague traditional growth models.
A replicable system for delivering goods and services allows businesses to increase their customer base without having to increase their overhead at the same pace.
By contrast, the traditional growth model has fostered a vicious cycle of inefficiency--a company gains a few new clients, so they hire more people to service those clients, adding costs at nearly the same rate that they're adding revenue.
If you own a pharmacy then your bookkeeping needs are unique. There are times you need to focus and times to dream. In business, you must have time for both.
But focusing in a busy pharmacy environment can be difficult. Distracted staff make mistakes and take longer to get the job done. A distracted bookkeeper could cause serious short-term and long-term problems for the business.
