A WaypointRx Company 

Last month, we focused on your willingness to delegate tasks to help you on your way to leaving your pharmacy. This month, we will be looking to see if you have an employee driven pharmacy, or an owner driven pharmacy. 

Below are the factors to finding whether you can leave your pharmacy and keep it too:

• First factor is your willingness to delegate
          (Click Here to Read This Blog Post)
• Second, do you have an employee driven pharmacy or an owner driven pharmacy?
• Third, your pharmacy culture
• Fourth, the strength of your systems
• Fifth, your financial controls

Do you have an employee driven pharmacy or an owner driven pharmacy? 

The easiest way to determine if your store is employee driven or owner driven, is to consider how much time you can take off, and know that your pharmacy is still up and running. Do your employees come to you with every little problem or decision that has to be made? How much of your valuable time is spent answering questions that aren't adding value to your pharmacy's business?

The good news is, you can easily turn this around, and will have more time for yourself by developing an employee driven pharmacy.

Below are some key questions to answer in order to be successful:

1. Do you have a chain of command? When I was in the Marine Corp there was a clear chain of command. If I went over that chain of command there would have been severe consequences. It's important for everyone to know who to speak with first if they have a question, instead of coming straight to you.

2. Who is your person that needs to be able to handle situations if you are not there?

3. Are they handling things when you are not there? If not, why?

4. Are you empowering your people to make their own decisions?

5. Do your employees have a clear understanding of your mission, vision and principals to guide their decisions?

6. How willing are you to allow them to make mistakes as teachable moments?

Example:

We have a client whose husband was recently diagnosed with a terminal illness. In order to make the most of their time left, she opted to stop working within the business and spend the rest of his days traveling to everywhere they can on their bucket list. She still checks in with the store occasionally, but since leaving, she has not spent much time worrying about her store. This is because she successfully delegated tasks to each member of her team and is comfortable with the decisions they make on behalf of her business. She has empowered them to make choices and handle problems that come up, without having to consult with her.

Is that something you would be able to do? If not, we recommend focusing on the questions above to help guide your team to developing an employee driven pharmacy.

Another Example:

We have another client whose main business is compounding. He primarily spends his time on those complex compounds that take significant time to create, including those that are high in cost and value. One day, while focusing on a particularly high value compound, he was interrupted by a tech who had a question about some gum that rang up wrong in the system. Imagine losing focus and messing up an incredibly expensive compound over something as little as $0.50.

From that day forward, he made a point to empower his employees to make decisions regarding things such as this. In this case, any decision that costs the pharmacy $10 or less his employees can do without needing permission. By doing so, he no longer has to worry about being interrupted during an incredibly delicate process. 

While evaluating your employees to find and develop a chain of command, or implementing new training to empower your current employees, may take time, it is a key factor to making sure your company is ready for you to leave. By slowing removing yourself from the day-to-day processes, you can start to see what life after pharmacy will look like for you.

For questions or help getting started, feel free to contact a Waypoint Advisor today.

We have also developed several tools to help you prepare yourself, your team, and your store. Click on the Visit The WaypointRx Store button to download the tools. 

At TransitionsRx (a WaypointRx company), it is our mission to ensure you enjoy the greatest possible personal, ownership, and financial success. As champions of independent pharmacy ownership across America, we have amassed a tremendous amount of experience along with the most comprehensive toolbox of resources and solutions you can imagine. Our Inspired Independence Program has helped hundreds of pharmacy owners take full advantage of all their opportunities inside, outside and after their life in pharmacy.

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