If you set a new year’s resolution for your pharmacy on Jan. 1—whether that was implementing a pharmacy delivery service, opening a telepharmacy or increasing your front-end sales—there’s an 80 percent chance you’ve already given it up or are about to.
It’s tough to follow through on your goals for your business. Every day is filled with dispensing prescriptions, counseling patients, ordering inventory and the list goes on. But to remain profitable in this industry, you must keep up with your long-term vision.
Here are six steps you can take to maintain your pharmacy’s goals.
1. Clearly define your goals
Begin the process of maintaining your long-term goals by making a list of what you want to accomplish.
Having a list to refer to can help you when you’re struggling to stay motivated. And, you’ll know just how far you’ve come when you see improvements and take steps toward reaching your goals.
(Here are some more tips for setting business goals for your pharmacy.)
2. Ensure your goals are attainable
You’ll be more likely to maintain your long-term goals if you make a list of objectives that are actually attainable.
Setting goals—and steps to get there—that you can realistically achieve will prevent you from getting disheartened and not following through.
For example, writing a daily blog post to market your pharmacy may be too much work to consider in your daily schedule. Instead, posting every day on social media might be a more attainable way to promote your business.
3. Hold yourself accountable
Do your employees know about your long-term goals?
Holding your employees accountable for achieving your pharmacy’s long-term goals not only helps you, it also helps them. When your employees know what to work toward, they’ll be able to suggest ideas, strategies and methods you may not have thought of to attain that goal.
For example, when your employees know that implementing health screenings is a vision you have for your business, they may suggest what screenings they think would best fit with your patient base. Or, they may give practical suggestions on how to implement a screening service.
4. Stay focused with outside help
It’s not always easy to stay focused on the big picture when you have so many small details to work through every day.
If you need help staying focused on your long-term goals for your pharmacy, consider the help of a business consultant or a pharmacy mentor. Heeding the advice of a veteran colleague can help you get on the path you need to reach your goals.
5. Get rid of bad habits
What’s stopping you from achieving your goals? Is it scheduling too much on your agenda? Are you getting too little sleep? Or, do you procrastinate more difficult tasks?
Bad habits that limit productivity make it hard to achieve long-term goals. Be proactive. Learn what your bad habits are.
Tracking your bad habits can help you to determine areas in which you need improvement. And, once you know what’s causing you to get off track, you can work to be more productive.
6. Reward your success
One thing that could be stopping you from achieving your goals is a lack of an incentive.
Although reaching your goal is the ultimate prize, it doesn’t hurt to reward yourself (and your employees) when you achieve steps along the way to your goal. For example, if your pharmacy reaches a record-breaking number of sales, hold a pizza party even if you’re still short of your ultimate goal.
Rewards make employees feel appreciated, and acknowledging your successes will keep everyone working toward achieving end goals.
Need help determining a clear vision for your independent community pharmacy? Check out this guide to pharmacy goal setting.
