Nothing but opportunities

Well,

here's the story.  I'm in a small town and there was a rumour that another pharmacy was going to open its doors, a big one.  That was last year.  There was this new building being built and that was where it was supposed to be.  In the building, there was also supposed to be a medical clinic...  Yeah right.

Anyway, the owner of this building came to see me last year with these informations and asked if I was interested in moving my pharmacy there.  Now, in this town, there's already another pharmacy, we're two.  And the population isn't high enough for three.  His project is a good one but only in it's fetal stage at this point, and he has nothing concrete to show (regarding the medical clinic).

So I say no, and start working on plans to renovate the front of the pharmacy which definitely needs revamping.  I go with this company from a neighbouring town and they start aiming for construction in May.

Meanwhile, the other building owner works hard to find another pharmacist interested in opening up this other pharmacy.  Nobody's yet interested because the project of opening the medical clinic on the second floor still isn't panning out.

So May comes along, delays...  Renovations can't start yet.  Juin, the same.  July, again the same...  I'm starting to get doubtful that the project will start this summer at all.

So august comes along and the other building owner contacts me again.  He finally got 4 doctors to open the medical clinic in October, with 2 more doctors coming in in January.  Now a bunch of pharmacists are interested.

I jump on the chance now.  I guess the delays were a Godsend after all.  I should be opening in the new building in december or january.  We're expecting a 20 to 25% increase in sales in the first year.  Can't wait to see how everything will work out.

Still got a lot of work ahead though.  I have to create a brand new pharmacy within a barren local.

Should be fun!!!

Equal and opposite reaction

Ok,

Everything is done with.  She only has a week and a half left to work here.  Here's how it went.

So I get back from vacation on monday, everything is pretty much the same.  On tuesday, badaboom! I initially thought that she was going to be happy since she could take off earlier than anticipated.  Boy was I wrong.  It was the complete opposite.  You see, she's a bit of a control freak.  She completely flipped when she heard the news because she was no longer in control of the situation.  Wow, who cares who's in control as long as the end result is what you want...

Anyway, she eventually calmed down and everything's fine now.  Let me tell you though that she's not working alone for the remainder of her stay here.  I'm always close at hand in case.  You just never know.

I was really surprised by her reaction, but in the end I really don't mind it.  It was sort of funny in a way...

Happy days!!!

A tangled web

Wow, what a weird situation...

Well, remember the story about my pharmacist who was saying bad stuff behind my back (to put it lightly)?  The story is finally coming to an end.

I never got to confront her, and I think I never will in order to keep good working relations with the other pharmacy in which she will be going.

So on a quiet sunday evening, a friend pharmacist of mine sends me a message on Facebook.  She writes,  ''Do you want to talk?''.  That's it.  Well, knowing full well that my pharmacist was aiming for my friends pharmacy, and that same thursday, my pharmacist had asked for the day off for personal reasons, I answer  ''Sure, what do you want to talk about?'', deducing that thursday must have been THE DAY.

So I phone her up and she tells me that my pharmacist is now part owner where she works.  That leaves only her as a staff pharmacist with five pharmacist owners.  Not a situation that she likes at all, no prospects.  Therefore, since I'd be losing a pharmacist she asks me if I would hire her.  Of course I said yes, pharmacists do not grow on trees you know!!!

Well, on monday morning my pharmacist comes in and I immediately congratulate her.  See, cause I'm nice and she doesn't know that I know all the crap she's been saying about me.  So she tells me that she still wants to stay as a staff pharmacist until november because they have to many pharmacists and in november the only staff pharmacist they have left is leaving on maternity.  (yeah forgot to mention that because I actually like that situation as I have to save a bit of money for renovations and stuff, and I don't mind doing a wee bit more hours)  So I say ok fine.

Anywho, I then call back my friend and tell her that since it's summertime and to cover all the vacations and stuff it would be better to just give her 2 weeks notice on monday the 21st of july.  (The day I get back from Mexico with the family)  I didn't want any funny business while I'm away.  So I'm expecting a resignation from my pharmacist when I get back from vacation even though she's not expecting it.

All I can say to that is ''Goodbye and Good riddance!!''

Everything worked itself out without me doing much about it.  You really have to enjoy these moments as they are so very few and far apart.  Staff problems in a pharmacy usually require too much time and too much work...

Have a great summer everybody, I know I am!!!

Fruits and Passion

Well, we've got this line of products at my pharmacy called ''Fruits and Passion''.  There fruity smelling soaps, creams, bath products and stuff like that.  They are really great and sell well during Xmas, Mother's Day and what not.  Well, the company changed hands a couple of times and since that time the service really sucks.

Last Xmas, I finally got my order 2 weeks before Xmas and it was missing about half.  Because of this I sold 25% less during the Xmas season, which starts way before 2 weeks to Xmas.  For Mother's Day, I got my order 4 days before Mother's Day and only got 15% of my order.

I have a really nice setup at the pharmacy to sell the stuff, but the stuff is not getting here on time, or in the right quantities.

So here's what I've been thinking.  Our orthopedics products seem to be doing well and sales are increasing.  I'm thinking I might modify the space and use it for orthopedics, maybe even have one of those electric fourwheelers for old people on display for sale.  There's no orthopedics store in town, I would be the only one.  The closest store is 20 minutes highway down south.  My rep is going to send me all the info I need and then I'm gonna make a decision....

No solution yet

No solution yet for the problem with my pharmacist.  I tried helping out more to see if there really is a problem with the way to lab works and also decreasing the workload.  The pharmacist in question looked happier while I was there and didn't complain, but as soon as I'm gone it starts up again.  I think one of the problems stem from the fact that she was planning to eventually buy the pharmacy before I came along.  But when her boss was ready to sell, she wasn't ready.  I think she resents me alot, and blames me for the fact that her plan never came to fruition.

Anyway, since I couldn't see a real problem with the lab, I guess it's time for me to confront her.  We'll see how that goes.

Anybody have any suggestions??

Pharmacist problems

Well here's a problem I had hoped I would never have.  One of my pharmacists will be leaving in a few months to buy her own pharmacy.  That's understandable, but not the bigger part of the problem. Since she's been working on this, she has become overly critical of every, and very unpleasant to work with.  I understand how it is.  I went through the same thing before I bought my own pharmacy. You can't wait to start off on your own.  You start thinking about you will do things at your own pharmacy.  Every little thing is over analysed in preparation for when you'll be the boss.  What I did not do however is blame everybody around me for every little problem and blow everything out od proportion.

So now I find myself dreading the day when I'm short staffed, but also anxious to get rid of her.  I know I'm gonna have to talk to her soon, before I start loosing other staff members though.  Worse comes to worse I'll have to fire her before her time.  Hopefully she'll understand and it won't come to that though...

Here's to good times!

Bye bye PepsiCo

I just got rid of Pepsico as distributor for the pharmacie last week.  They suddenly decided to not credit me for my returns.  When taking that into consideration I would be selling pepsi products at a loss.  No thanks!!

So they're coming to get their refrigerator back.  I bought on at Costco and will be filling it up with products from there, all the while controlling my inventory and getting virtually no losses.

Bye bye Pepsico!!!