My pharmacy is on its last breath

[Doctor M]

Thank you for taking the time to reply with positive feedback.

I do about 30 scripts/day.
I have the retail license however previous owner never utilized it so there is no displays or anything outside. And I dont have the money to change that at the momment.

I offer free same day delivery regardless of radius.
I do local ones myself after work so my typical work day hours are 9-9/12.
Offer Unit dose packaging.free
I also do E-scripts for MD's

I have visited over 300 N.H.,A.L.F's, and clinics door to door myself.
Only got about 5 contracts outta the 300.
Everyone claims that they have a cousin/sister-n-law/relative thats a pharmacist and would not be able to switch.

I have passed out flyers around senior community's at each door.

I plan to hire a marketing agent for commission, and give these options another try with the offer of better coupons and incentives.

I dont understand...5 contracts? you mean 5 accounts, 5 rx's? How many rx's per contract?

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[SAMSSONZ]

5 Assisted living facilities which have an average of 5 patients each.

 

[Doctor M]

5 Assisted living facilities which have an average of 5 patients each.

Ahhh...I see...

 

[that1guy]

You mentioned that the original owner took off. If that's the kind of guy he was, maybe what you're running into with these NHs, LTCFs is the negative reputation carrying over from the previous owner.

Have you thought about changing the name of the pharmacy and rebranding it? Then you could build your marketing around "under new ownership" or "grand opening" strategies. Might be a cheap way to build new interest in your business.

 

[Southbeach]

Where to begin???

m/28/so.cal/R.PH

Basically, I acquired an independent long-term pharmacy over a year ago.
Its a 2 man operation(mostly me), but the service/product is top-notch.

Previous owner of 15 years jumped ship,
All/most of my wholesaler's are C.O.D.
Patient base is weak, Location is not feasable for retail...

I dont know if I'll be open "week by week", I have little experience running a business, and thats where I'm losing. The Pharmacist part is not an issue.

Im looking for insight on how to increase my patient-base, In terms of marketing, anything, to help guide me in this crash course of business 101


Input is very appreciated

Are you doing any Internet fullfilment?

 

[koercive]

Do you offer compounding? I heard of pharmacies receiving rx's from dermatologists for creams, etc. which is pretty profitable.


the point you brought about pharmacists dispensing marijuana is discussed here:
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=696873

maybe in the future, the pharmacy associations will push the state/federal government to place more regulations on who can sell by limiting sale only by pharmacists.

 

[Apteka]

good luck to you... wow, picking up an independent pharmacy in SoCal- it sounds like you provide the services that would make you unique (delivery, blisterpacks, etc..) how about specialization in disease states? Diabetes, HIV, or transplant?

it sounds like you also did a great deal of legwork in meeting with 300+ assisted living faciliities (this was my next suggestion)...

compounding sounds like a good idea but I know that includes some overhead for equipment and supplies. how about pet medication compounding??