When you attended pharmacy school, how many business classes did you take? One? Two?
You learned all about pharmacokinetics, biopharmaceutics and medicinal chemistry. But what practical business skills did you gain?
As an independent community pharmacy owner today, you’re more business-savvy than most pharmacists.
You know that running a business requires an entirely different set of skills than those acquired at pharmacy school. But do you have the business skills you need to keep your pharmacy viable in the future?
Running a pharmacy requires a wide variety of skills that all interrelate and work together. Naming them all would be impossible. However, we see the following 10 business skills as especially important for pharmacy owners today—and in the future.
1. Communication
Don’t underestimate the importance of communicating well.
Besides regularly letting your employees know what you expect of them and updating them on what’s happening in the business, you also need to listen.
Part of communicating means listening to employees’ concerns so you can fix these issues before they morph into bigger problems.
2. Networking
As competition grows and the pharmacy marketplace becomes more complex, networking with the people who influence your business matters more than ever.
You especially want to focus on building relationships with the people you wouldn’t usually consider.
Think beyond your vendors and patients. What about doctors? What about the employers in your area? How can you build relationships with them to better your business?
3. Vision
Succeeding in business often means looking ahead.
If you don’t keep progressing, your business will stay stuck in the past. Your patients will expect services that you don’t offer. And, you’ll lose them to your competition.
Today, patients expect modern offerings from their pharmacy, such as online refills, medication synchronization, vaccinations and a pharmacy app. But, that’s what they expect now.
Pharmacies that can look ahead and predict the important services, products and other offerings that patients will need—and want—are the ones that will have viable businesses in the future.
What can your pharmacy do to move beyond what other pharmacies already do to stay successful in the future?
4. Motivation
If you can’t motivate your employees, then your pharmacy business will go nowhere.
Create an open environment where you regularly communicate the vision of your business to your employees.
If your employees buy into your vision, you’ll have more success at seeing that vision through to fruition.
5. Leadership
You want to surround yourself with team members who can get their jobs done, so you can focus on running the business.
Easier said than done, right?
Finding—and keeping—the right employees relies heavily on leadership.
But becoming a great leader doesn’t happen overnight.
Some qualities of great leaders include:
- Ability to inspire others
- Being open to new ideas
- Constantly learning
- Communicating effectively
- Willingness to fail
(Discover what other pharmacy owners have to say about leadership.)
6. Marketing know-how
Marketing is an essential part of your business. It’s not something you should do every once in a while.
If you want your business to grow, you need to market it properly to gain new patients and to keep your current ones. Potential patients won’t know why they should come to your pharmacy instead of going to the competition—unless you tell them through marketing.
And, savvy pharmacy owners know marketing means more than advertising.
Pharmacy marketing includes:
- Performing market research to find your most profitable patients
- Finding your pharmacy’s target markets
- Identifying your pharmacy’s unique selling proposition
- Branding your business
- Creating a marketing plan
- Reviewing your marketing
As a pharmacy owner, you need to understand the importance of marketing. But it’s perfectly acceptable—even encouraged—to delegate those tasks to an expert. Hire a marketing company to perform your marketing needs. Or invest in an on-staff marketing professional.
7. Problem-solving
Solving problems comes with the territory.
As a pharmacy owner, you probably feel pressure to make good decisions every day. Whether you’re dealing with a patient frustrated because his medication is out-of-stock or an employee calling in sick on an already busy day, you have to solve problems quickly.
If you want to consistently solve problems well, follow a set process. Here are five steps to become a master problem solver from entrepreneur.com.
8. Time management
Learning to better manage your time takes practice.
One big way you can save time is to delegate. But many pharmacy owners feel like they can’t let go of control. They think if they pass on duties to others, they won’t perform those duties as well. But when you do that, you become a bottleneck, which isn’t good for business.
(Check out these seven steps for better time management for even more tips.)
9. Finance management
As you know, managing a pharmacy’s finances is tricky business.
Between managing invoices and rebates from wholesalers and reimbursements from third parties, pharmacy finance management gets complicated—fast.
If you don’t feel completely confident managing your pharmacy’s finances personally, hire a CPA with knowledge of pharmacy to handle it.
10. Professional growth
If you don’t continue to grow professionally, then you can’t keep up with the growing needs of your pharmacy business.
For example, if you base the decisions you make for your business on out-of-date knowledge, then your pharmacy may suffer.
Some ways to improve your professional growth include:
- Attend conferences
- Find a mentor
- Join pharmacy organizations
- Keep up with industry legislation and advocacy efforts
- Take continuing education courses
- Work as a preceptor with pharmacy students
Bonus: Patient focus
A drive to focus on your patients is one of the best business skills you can have.
Even better? You probably already do it.
Independent community pharmacies, in particular, are known for their superior customer service.
View each patients’ praise or criticism as an opportunity to improve your business. For example, if a patient complains about a long wait time, a savvy pharmacy owner views that complaint as an opportunity to do better. Maybe it’s time to add a robot to the pharmacy. Or, maybe the pharmacy needs more staff.
You may not have learned these business skills in pharmacy school, but savvy business owners know learning never ends.
A Member-Owned Company Serving Independent Pharmacies
PBA Health is dedicated to helping independent pharmacies reach their full potential on the buy-side of their business. Founded and owned by pharmacists, PBA Health serves independent pharmacies with group purchasing services, wholesaler contract negotiations, proprietary purchasing tools, and more.
An HDA member, PBA Health operates its own NABP-accredited secondary wholesaler with more than 6,000 SKUs, including brands, generics, narcotics CII-CV, cold-storage products, and over-the-counter (OTC) products — offering the lowest prices in the secondary market.
