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There is a nearly 100% correlation between where you spend your time and the results you get.
Believe it or not, there is a nearly 100% correlation between where you spend your time and the results you get.
Your independent pharmacy business can be divided into 3 distinct types of activities:
Technical Work
The process of filling prescriptions is considered technical work. By law, it requires that a pharmacist’s license be present.
Filling prescriptions has nothing to do with business maintenance or business building. It can accurately be done by any pharmacist in any practice setting.
Business Maintenance
Business maintenance encompasses activities that must absolutely be performed within the scope of your business. These processes are oftentimes necessary to protect profits, but they have nothing to do with creating new business or making the business more profitable. Some examples of business maintenance activities are ordering product and bookkeeping.
I want to make something perfectly clear: there is a big difference between bookkeeping and analyzing numbers. The bookkeeper keeps the books (or should), but you, as the entrepreneur, analyze the numbers. The first is a business maintenance activity, while the second is decidedly business building.
Business Building
This is what really differentiates an independent pharmacy owner from a store manager. You are the entrepreneur, so you are the one who should take responsibility for business-building activities. That’s what you’re all about, or at least it should be.
Can someone else do the bookkeeping? Yes. Can someone else fill prescriptions? Absolutely. Can anyone else direct the destiny of your pharmacy business? No, only you can.
The Art and Science of Business Building
Business building covers a wide range of activities. Here’s a partial yet critical list:
As you can see, many business-building activities require your time. The more time you put into them, the better results you will see.
My experience dictates that at least 90% of your time should be devoted to business-building activities in order to get your business from where it is to where you want it to be. Keep in mind that the time you spend on the other 2 areas—technical work and business maintenance—robs you of time that you could be spending on business building.
How to Better Focus Your Time
By simply reallocating your time, you will make a difference in your pharmacy’s results. One thing is certain: if you cannot delegate, you cannot lead, and leadership is an essential ingredient in your success story.
Please note that if you are opening a new pharmacy, you may have to wear many hats. As your business grows, however, the information contained in this article will become critically important to you.
The Pharmacy Sage can be reached at (518) 346-7021 or Lester@ThePharmacySage.com