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| Help Needed For A Business Plan For A Retail Pharmacy |
Question:
Anyone know where I can get information
on doing a business plan more specifically
for a retail pharmacy? This
one is tricky cause the company has
a wide range of products and has been
in business for thirty years.
However, their competitor is
bigger than them. You can say
I have run out of ideas.
Answer:
There are lots of formats and even
some software to aid in putting the
business
plan together. I don't have at my
finger tips the specific references,
but I'm sure you can find them with
a search engine.
The most important thing that strikes
me about your situation is the need
to identify a competitive strategy
for competing. Your pharmacy
is clearly the David in the match
with Goliath, but like that story
you are not necessarily doomed.
Some ideas off the top of my head
(which you may have already considered)
would be to focus on a higher degree
of customer service, availability
of harder to find specialty items,
sponsoring free (or very low cost)
short seminars on things like weight
reduction, stress reduction, etc.
other health related issues. There
may be specialized markets that can
be cultivated, perhaps relationships
might be established with Visiting
Nurses Association or other home health
care providers. One key to the whole
idea is to find the extra value that
can be added. I'm assuming that the
bigger competitor can probably sell
for less. But as we have seen in many
other industries, that is not the
only basis for customer's choices.
They will pay a little more as long
as they believe that they are getting
something extra for it.
My wife changed the pharmacy
she went to simply because they kept
losing the call in for refills or
making her come back because it wasn't
ready when they promised. Some of
the things she gets aren't covered
by insurance, and price never once
entered into her thinking. The repeated
flubs of the customer service undermined
her confidence in their whole operation.
Not a good thing for a pharmacy.
I consult with small businesses on
pay issues; better links of pay to
performance, guidelines for raises,
designing bonus plans
etc. Since this part (more than overall
competitive strategy) is my area,
let me just add that you would be
well served to ensure that your pay
strategy supports your competitive
strategy. All too often they don't.
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