I have also been working on getting paperwork to the wholesaler for an opening order. The wholesalers will finance the initial order so you don't have to pay 40-50k up front. The downside is they require lots of stuff, its like applying for a loan. Financial statements, tax returns, banks statements etc. And if you have a partner in the business they will need all that information from as many as you have."
I ended up getting the exact opposite of financing for the opening order. I had to pay upfront and then draw from that account. I was really upset about this, especially since the business development manager never mentioned it as a possibility. The process reminded me of buying a house (only in recent times when lending has been tight) their is an underwriter that of course no one can talk to and seems to have no idea what matters to them or how they came to their decision. I am told after 3-4 months of good standing I can get regular terms and financing if I want it. I didn't spend very much on the opening order, around 5-6k for front end otc items and another 5k for Rx drugs. I have been ordering more every day as new patients come in and I get some cash flow.
Everything has been going really well so far. I have not done any advertising or had a grand opening, more of a soft opening. I wanted to work out all the problems before telling everyone to come by. I am planning on starting some advertising next week and I am going to do a decent amount (what I consider a lot). I am still waiting on several things, my beer/wine/tobacco permit, Lotto and being able to accept SNAP (food stamps) All things considered I think I am doing well. We are probably averaging around 10 a day I think but we usually transfer several others meds in with the one that actually gets filled. Between filled and transfered in rx's I have 265 in less than 3 weeks. Front end merchandise is doing much better than I thought, i rather not give away exactly what I am selling but just use your brain and get what will sell in your area. I have gone above and beyond what a chain would do for 4 people, I basically searched and searched to find a specific product and get it in for those patients, one product even ordered from Europe.
Sadly I have already had to send a compounded medication to another pharmacy in the area. I am planning on compounding but have not been able to set that up yet. Another surprise and disappointment is that I have had 3 people come in with Rx's for DME i had but they wanted to bill insurance. To bill insurance for DME you need a separate accreditation through medicare, I will do this eventually but it takes more money and time.
At this point I am not out of the woods but the trends are very positive. Another thing, you barely make any money from insurance paying customers, mine have averaged 10-11 dollars a script. you make all your money through your cash patients. I have beat CVS, WalGreens and Walmart on cash scripts for several people, I was very surprised at this. I thought with the chains buying power that it would be very hard to sell things cheaper than them but it is actually very easy. Also, apply business principals to some medications when it comes to supply and demand, thats how you can make up some ground. I think it is reasonable to expect 6-12 months before getting to a break even point. I believe I will beat that but I am not planning on it.
biggest surprise-already working on 2nd pharmacy, may or may not happen but would be really cool.
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