The importance of margin in the retail area of pharmacy is often dismissed/ignored on the basis that the total store has remained profitable. Over the last decade there has been a proliferation of community pharmacies discounting retail products in the pursuit of customer growth.
Some business owners believe if they are profitable they are on the road to riches. Unfortunately I have witnessed good profitable companies fail too often. The majority of these failures are due to either not understanding how their business decisions have impacted their cashflows or alternatively how to effectively manage their cashflow cycle.
Buying a pharmacy is a big investment, so you would of course undertake due diligence before making such a substantial commitment. But what should you check? Do you simply have your accountant check the books of the business and your lawyer check the terms of the lease and the bona fides of the vendor? What
Over the last five years the financial performance of pharmacy has been subject to the following. Flat script growth; Loss of retail sales; Flat to declining retail margin; Loss of customers; A period of rising overheads, namely rent and wages.
With Markets recently focusing on the expectation of the US Quantitative Easing (QE) Program being tapered back, we have experienced a steepening of the yield curve, with longer term Swap rates rising significantly. Under a scenario where QE in the US is ended, longer term yields are likely to rise even further. By way of
The Fair Work Amendment Bill 2013 which was passed on 27 June 2013 has the effect of extending existing family friendly measures (‘the Amendments’) under Fair Work Act 2009 (‘the Act’). Pharmacy businesses should take particular note of these changes given that a significant proportion of a pharmacy’s employees will have or be expecting to
When purchasing a pharmacy, the buyer must consider several key aspects before making the final decision on the value that the business presents to them. Understanding these aspects and incorporating them into the purchase decision is fundamental to the long term viability of the pharmacy, especially in the current business environment.
Retail pharmacy has become a very competitive environment which is unduly exposed to high rentals and threatened by a continual ratcheting of the PBS. Where will prices of pharmacy head in the future? Certainly there are unknowns that are difficult to factor in, but with the volume of loan delinquencies it will take banks sometime
Selling your pharmacy, which is often your largest asset and also perhaps even your retirement purse, is a very large decision. When is the time right for such a move? There are many considerations that go into the decision to divest interest in a pharmacy. One of the key ingredients is the prevailing market conditions
The 2012/13 financial year has provided many challenges for pharmacy. It has also seemingly laid the road map for pharmacy moving forward. Challenges bring out the best in people and there has been many pharmacists working extremely hard to overcome the issues presented and continue to thrive in pharmacy as it remains a strong industry.