I have been working alongside John at Peak Strategies for three months now. In the time I have been exposed to the world of pharmacy only slightly. However, I am beginning to understand the complex and current issues that pharmacy owners are facing. High rents, Chemist Warehouse, the review and the list goes on. Also we are heading up to a long weekend and I thought I would share some advice on the concept of reflection.
On the weekend I was watching a Facebook video by my mentor and friend Jeremy Watkins. He was doing the Cape to Cape walk. At the time of writing this I haven’t yet heard from him to see how he got on. But one thing he said in the video resonated with me. He was saying at the start of the walk that he was feeling a little scared and sometimes we need to do something that scares us. That got me thinking about business and my own personal journey.
Dealing with numbers and figures are inevitable for every business in trade especially in pharmacy. At the end of the day, the bottom line figure is what that matters and determines the continuity/survival of a business. Everyone knows they need to improve their bottom line and see an increasing trend from year to year, but how do you do it?
What to do if you have to get a valuation done. A pharmacy owner at some stage in their life will be required to get a valuation undertaken of your business. Typically this will be needed for the bank, either as part of the lending requirements every three years or for refinancing. Also for when you need to buy/sell or for partner equity swaps. Whatever the reason it is a very important process and it is vital you know what to do to achieve the best result.
Another APP has come and gone, and once again the themes of innovation, community health, change and professional services ruled the conference. They were the key issues for all Pharmacy of the Year contenders who were very inspirational. This week I am going to discuss a couple of concepts that have stuck out in our minds. The Federal Minister for Health Greg Hunt spoke of early access, interventions and preventative health outcomes without going to the hospital. Let’s just think about this concept for a little while, it is nothing new I’m sure. But in essence the pharmacy’s role is to screen patients for a range of ailments, then when identified pharmacists can refer patients to the GP. So instead of GP’s and pharmacies at war with each other, they can actual work really well together for the community’s health, and ease the pressure on hospitals. Patients having greater access to pharmacies and being screened more may help prevent patients from going straight to the hospital. They could be treated at the pharmacy and/or GP. This is a better outcome for everyone.
