Do you ever find yourself staring at your business’ balance sheet and wondering what it all means? If so, you’re certainly not alone!
As an owner, knowing what the numbers represent and what they tell you, allows you to drive smart business decisions, become financially literate and sleep at night knowing your position.
Not every pharmacist is meant to be an owner, because being a business owner is a different way of thinking. But that doesn’t mean you can’t learn to become a successful business owner. I have no doubt many pharmacy owners and other business owners (like me) went into business not having the faintest idea of what you are doing. We all can learn, adapt and change, it’s a case of choice. To take the leap to make the decision and commitment to change, to learn and to be flexible. Deciding that is the crucial first step, next comes who you learn from.
As a pharmacist, you are qualified and well trained to help the community with their health needs and I think you do a fantastic job at it! Being the most accessible healthcare professionals in Australia, you are taking care of the needs of patients’ day in and day out. So, when you become a business owner, how do you learn the business side of things?
Firstly, a quick disclaimer. I have been doing some valuations lately where the quality of financial reports presented to me has been on the poor side and contain several clear errors. So, to slay these dragons (yes, I am a GOT fan) I thought its best to write about it so hopefully you don’t make the same mistakes.
There is a reason why you decided to become a pharmacy owner. You had goals, dreams and aspirations. Amid running a business day to day it is often easy to forget about why you started. However, to run a profitable pharmacy you must understand why it exists and how you’re going to leverage that into success.
