I wrote a previous post on steps to own a Pharmacy in Nigeria here: http://www.nairaland.com/2352771/steps-owning-pharmacy-nigeria
If
you ever wondered why, as lucrative a business as running a Pharmacy
is, many still run down, I'm about to let you know some reasons. Can you
think of some big names that are no more?
Let me give you some insider's clue and, don't mind me, I write with Pharmacists in mind
Why Your Predecessors Close Shop
You can sum the major reasons up under these categories
1. They thought being a good Pharmacist is enough to be a good business owner.
Entrepreneurs
have different mindsets than professionals o. If you don't groom
yourself and even be willing to pay neutral consultants to learn from
(because your should-be mentor is also your competitor) you may learn
the hard way
2. Bad location
Location is (almost)
everything in any business but you will be amazed how many get this
wrong-- may be because it wasn't thought in school? I don't know. What I
know is that good location is not just about where you can get many
customers. It's about where you can get and retain customers with
purchasing power that suit your strategy, get and retain correct staff,
spend less on operations etc
3. No or poor business plan
Success
comes with its own challenges. A Pharmacy that is making a lot of money
can close down because of that- it breeds competition, more tendencies
for dissatisfying customers, expansion crisis. You must have a plan to
scale through the challenges of the business at every stage
4. Poor staff motivation
This is key and I can tell you this is one major Pharmacy killer. Your staff members are not your resources !
I object to that capitalist language- calling humans resources, and of
course, using them as such. If you don't know how to treat your staff
like partners and first customers you will soon join those ones big
Pharmacies that are now dead or a shadow of their past.
Practically
speaking, this entails a lot of discipline and commitment, becoming
groomed for effective leadership (for example, understanding what and
how to delegate is key), planning for long-term employment and many
other stuffs.
5. Bad financial practice
The money
you can make in retail pharmacy multiplies with the number of branches
you have. If you don't plan long term, you put a cap on how far you can
go because your decisions will be poor.
Practical example: Some
Pharmacies are very good in owing suppliers and then suppliers avoid
them or refuse to sell to them and they can't meet up with demands. Of
course, if I come today and you don't have what I want to buy, same
tomorrow, same next week, I may not bother again.
One financial
error some Pharmacy owners make is treating the company as their ATM
machine. You better know where your income to run personal affairs will
come from before opening your Pharmacy. Otherwise, you will kill the
business before it gets the chance to flourish.
Having a solid
financial plan- such that takes as many things as necessary into
consideration AND following it is key to keeping your Pharmacy alive and
well
6. Ahh! I haven't mentioned poor customer service!
Customer
is king is not an entertaining slogan o. And the fact that they are
coming doesn't mean they are satisfied sir! One of them may be planning
to become a competitor and capitalize on how insensitive you and/or your
staff members are. Otherwise, they may be waiting and even praying for
that competitor to come and the good God WILL answer their prayers
because He wants the best for people while you give them trash services.
You
must be deliberate about customer satisfaction. All this promos some
Pharmacies so don't keep customers o. If customers don't FEEL like you
care about them and not just the money you want to make, sorry they will
enjoy your promo and still not be loyal to you.
I hope you'll put these things to heart and use them in business.
If
you have something serious to discuss with me please go ahead or send a
mail to mailboominn@gmail.com and make the subject obvious so that I
can know its not one of those mails.
Thanks.
http://www.nairaland.com/2357298/why-big-pharmacies-close-shop
No comments:
Post a Comment