Pharmacy Growth Strategies

You’re a pharmacy owner, and like all other entrepreneurs, you probably work crazy hours and find it hard to achieve that all too important work/life balance. You want to spend more time with your family but don’t feel confident being away from your pharmacy.  Stress continues to build both at home and at work, and before you know it, you’re questioning your motivation for being a business owner.

You need to stop, take a deep breath, and exhale. Successful entrepreneurs often feel the pressure of not having enough time to do everything. The good news is there are some simple things you cando to be more efficient at work and at home, so you can enjoy your customers and your time away from the pharmacy. Below are four tips, or four pillars, that will help you find a balance between being a busy pharmacy owner and an engaged family member. No one wants to be stressed out and anxious all the time, and these four pillars should help you focus your mind, body, and soul on the important things.

1. Take Care of Your Own Health

You’ve probably heard the old saying; “If you don’t have your health, then you don’t have anything.” It’s true. Without your leadership, your pharmacy won’t stay afloat. Taking care of your own health will enable you to be a good role model for your team and provide you with the energy you need to be successful in your business.

Working in the healthcare industry, you know how important good health can be. You know that drinking lots of water, eating healthy, and exercising daily is vital for your body and your mind. Here are a few more healthy tips that are also beneficial:

• Stretch – it’s great for joint health, your immune system and can be done quickly anywhere
• Be mindful of your posture – simple posture adjustments can contribute to proper body alignment and can make a big difference over time
• Get plenty of sleep – rest heals the body and has been shown to lessen the risk of heart disease and decrease psychological problems
• Eat a healthy diet and include supplements if needed – your body needs good nutrition and sometimes you may need to add supplements or vitamins for a boost to your diet

2. Build Strong Relationships

People are key to your success and happiness. Your family, friends, and pharmacy team are the people whom you can lean on when you need to. Having a solid support network will ensure that you are able to lead your team and deliver the best possible customer experience in your pharmacy. A team that respects you as a leader and a mentor will provide you with peace of mind so you can spend time away from work. On the customer side, building relationships with your customers will create trust and help you to become an integral part of the community. Serving others with a smile, a handshake, and a thank you goes a long way.

3. Vision

You started your pharmacy with a vision in mind of what you wanted your pharmacy to be. You had dreams of implementing innovative programs, building a strong team, and doing more than you could working in a chain store. Sharing your vision with your team can foster more engaged employees, give them something to believe in, and provide specific goals for them to strive for. If your team feels like they are part of something special they will rise to the occasion and meet the needs of the business and your customers.

4. Business

Your business/your pharmacy is part of who you are. But it’s last on the list of the 4 Pillars of Happiness, because without health, relationships, and vision your pharmacy would most likely fail. Without the prior three things, you wouldn’t be able to bring health and joy to the lives of others. Additionally, if you’re like most business owners, you feel like your pharmacy is your “baby” and it needs constant attention, nurturing and care. However, watching your pharmacy grow and prosper while helping others can be a tremendously rewarding experience. The journey to success is often the true reward, not the destination.

Life is about being happy and finding work/life balance is crucial to your state of mind and the happiness of those around you. Think about these 4 Pillars and how you stack up against them: are you succeeding in some areas but need help with others? Set goals to improve weaknesses and take actions to improve.

Want to know how to better implement goals and action plans that will help you become a more balanced pharmacy owner? Download our free eBook, The Pharmacy Owner’s Guide to an Exceptionally Effective Implementation

Owning a pharmacy can be incredibly rewarding, but it can also be stressful. Although tension is present in virtually every career, that doesn’t mean you can’t reduce it. Some of the factors that impact the amount of stress in a pharmacy environment include: prescription volume, patient population, management style, automation efficiency, store layout, daily distractions and more.
Failing to manage the stress in your pharmacy environment can have a negative impact on patient safety, personal health, and the overall success of your pharmacy. As you already know, too much stress can lead to anxiety, sleeplessness, high blood pressure and even obesity. If left unresolved for too long, it can also cause employee burnout.As a pharmacy owner, what should you do to reduce stress and avoid burnout for yourself and your team? Encourage your team to stay on top of their own well being and focus on those actions that you can take to help your team get through challenging and difficult times.

Communicate with your team

When you feel overwhelmed your natural reaction may be to withdraw from your team. However, the best thing you can do is to engage with your team if you notice that they are at their wits end. Regularly communicate with your employees and figure out how you can help remedy their concerns. Maybe they’re overwhelmed because another team member is out of town resulting in a heavier workload. Or maybe they are in need of additional training, but haven’t reached out to let you know. Leading your pharmacy through a stressful period requires clear and effective communication. Refrain from negativity, anger or placing blame. Work with your team to identify issues and figure out ways to resolve them together.

Watch for road blocks

Inevitably there will be situations that become roadblocks in your pharmacy workflow. Even though you may not be working with patients every day, it’s important that you help your staff recognize potential issues before they occur. Some roadblocks may include insurance issues, problems with physicians, or patients that don’t completely understand their medications. It’s important that you work with your team to find solutions that will help them remain productive and provide patients with a positive customer experience.

Remain calm and positive

This may sound like a given, but remember that stress and anxiety are contagious. If you appear to be stressed out or overwhelmed, your staff will feel it too. Force yourself to speak in a normal tone, slow down your rhythm, and always remember to smile. It may seem counterproductive to “fake it,” but as a leader, your team looks to you for guidance. If you need to, step away from the situation for a moment and come back when you are in a positive mental state.

Prioritize tasks

There’s more to prioritizing than determining which prescriptions need to be filled first. You know all too well that at any given moment, there are a number of different things that need to get done in your pharmacy each day. All of the little things add up quickly, and you and your team may be tempted to tackle the small, less important tasks to “get them out of the way.” However, when things get tough, prioritize which tasks are the most important, and attack those first. Not only will you get your highest priorities out of the way, but you’ll also reduce your stress levels in the process.Regardless of whether you are new to pharmacy ownership or a seasoned veteran, stress will always play a role in your pharmacy. Knowing how to deal effectively with the stress can make all the difference in how your team responds to situations and how your pharmacy operates.Looking for ways to set goals and implement new programs without all of the stress? Download our free eBook,

When you started your pharmacy, you worked hard to lay the foundation for your business, and at times, that meant putting some ideas on the backburner. Instead, you focused on what was important at the moment, all while keeping a mental note of the programs you hoped to some day implement. There comes a time when you need to make decisions about the growth of your pharmacy. Sometimes, that means deciding what new programs to implement and when to do it. However, with all of the different factors to consider, knowing where to start may seem impossible.

If you think that it’s time to grow your list of services, here are a few questions to ask yourself before you get started:

How will this benefit my customers and community?

If you want your new program or service to be successful, you need to think about your customers and your community first. Identify your main customer base and think about all of the different programs and services that those customers would benefit from. Think about the same thing from your community’s perspective. Ask yourself:

• What types of services is your community lacking?
• What programs would your customers benefit from?
• What would make my pharmacy better for my customers?

Think about all of the ways your customers and community will benefit from your new program. For example, if you’re thinking about implementing an off-site vaccination clinic, some of the benefits are that you’re making getting vaccinations convenient and accessible for your community. No matter how beneficial a new program may be for you, it’s important that you think about how it can and will benefit your current and potential customers.

Does this new program align with my goals?

All of the most successful businesses and business owners set goals, so if you haven’t already set goals for your pharmacy, now is the time to start. Setting goals for your pharmacy gives you direction for the future of your pharmacy, but it also helps give you the motivation to see that vision come to life. Goals help you focus your resources, manage your time, and they give you a plan of action for moving forward.

Before you implement a new program in your pharmacy, such as bedside delivery or an immunization program, ask yourself, “Does this program align with my pharmacy’s goals?” Remember: goals change over time, so even if a program doesn’t align with your goals right now, it may fit in with your goals in the future.

What is my strategy?

Trying to implement a new program without a strategy in place is like driving a car without a destination in mind. Sure, you’ll get somewhere, but you’ll never get where you want to go. You can’t move ahead if you don’t have a direction in mind. Before taking on this new endeavor, think about the big picture and the end goal. Some questions to ask yourself are:

• How does this program fit in with your goals?
• Who is your target audience, and who are you trying to reach?
• What steps do you need to take to get this program up and running?
• What training is involved?
• How will I market this program?

It’s a lot to think about, but having a solid implementation strategy in place before getting started will save you a lot of headache in the future.

What do I need to do to help my team prepare?

Implementing a new program means enlisting the help of your team. After all, they’re the ones working day in and day out to make things happen. If your team isn’t prepared for the implementation of a new program, there’s almost no way that it will be successful. It’s not only important that you get your team on board with all of the ideas you have for your pharmacy but that you also provide your team with the training they need to be successful. Take the time to sit down with your team and let them ask you any questions they have. You may not have all of the answers right away, and that’s okay. Write down their questions, figure out the answers, and then meet again to continue the discussion. Your team will appreciate that you took the time to think about their needs, and they’ll be better prepared for when you start the implementation process.

Thinking about implementing a new program in your pharmacy but need some direction on how to move forward? Download our free eBook, The Pharmacy Owner’s Guide to an Exceptionally Effective Implementation