As a business owner, you know how important it is to try out new ideas to expand your pharmacy. Growth in your pharmacy will enable you to offer the highest quality care for your patients for years to come. And with the right strategy, it can be a lot easier than you think.
Here is a list of ways you can grow your pharmacy business:
Decide on Your Niche
It’s great to offer a new service in your pharmacy here and there, but be aware that you can’t offer all of them.
Add a specialty
The first thing you need to remember is that you can’t offer every new service out there. Instead, focus on one and become the master. Perhaps you’d like to become a health-and-wellness guru or maybe your dream is to be your community’s go-to for diabetes management. Whatever you decide on, make sure your niche is specific, specialized, and unique to your pharmacy.
If you struggle deciding on your specialty, pay close attention to your patients and their needs. What are they struggling with most? What might be holding them back from their health goals?
After you’ve pinpointed your specialty, it’s important that you invest in additional training and development. Look for workshops or certifications for you and your staff. Once these tasks have been completed, it’s time to spread the word to your patients!
Draw patients in with a new service
The services that will bring in the most growth and profit in your pharmacy include immunizations, lab testing, point-of-care testing, specialty pharmacy, and veterinary medicine. By adding a new service to your pharmacy, you’ll not only gain immediate revenue opportunities, but you’ll draw in more patients.
Offer convenience
Do you offer convenient ways for your patients to pick up their medications? If not, now’s the time to start.
Have you ever thought about starting a drive-thru service? Busy patients prefer an alternative to walking into a store. Offering a drive-thru service provides them with a quick and hassle-free option. However, if you don’t have the space for a drive-thru window, you might want to consider offering curbside pickup.
Another effective way to simplify how patients can get their meds is to offer a delivery service. This is especially helpful for those patients who are homebound, have a hard time getting to the pharmacy, or those who live in rural areas.
Do you have a mobile app for your pharmacy? If not, it’s time to look into one. A mobile app isn’t just convenient for your patients, but they’re beneficial for you, too. Your patients can make requests, manage their medications, and set medication reminders. Plus, they can communicate directly with your pharmacy.
Cross sell
Your patients come into your pharmacy for various reasons. For example, one may walk in with an intense migraine with a plan to just pick up a prescription. But did they think about the other products available that can also help relieve migraine pain? Most likely not. For a bad headache, they may need other items such as a heating pad, a cold compress, a face mask that blocks out light, or brain-health supplements.
Create product bundles
When recommending products to your patients, don’t stop at just one product. Create a product bundle by putting together several of your favorite items for their needs. Bundle items like vitamins and supplements; cold and flu items; or sports injury kits.
Are you ready for your pharmacy to grow? Try out a couple of these strategies at a time and see what works best for you and your community.
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 run 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 warehouse 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.
