Five Fixes, In The Order They Pay You Back.
Every pharmacy loses money in roughly the same five places. The system walks through them in the order that gets cash back in your hands fastest, not the order that's easiest to talk about.
1. Sort Your Stock Into What's Actually Moving
A simple split: the products that turn over every week, the ones that turn over every month, and the ones sitting on the shelf since you can't remember when. That third group is cash you already spent, doing nothing.
2. Reprice Against Today's Cost, Not The Day You Opened
Supplier prices on common lines move constantly. If your shelf price hasn't kept pace, every sale on that item is quietly paying less than it used to, and you're the one absorbing the gap.
3. Run One Surprise Stock Count
Not a full audit, a spot check on your five highest-value lines. The gap between what your books say you should have and what's actually on the shelf tells you more in an afternoon than a year of guessing.
4. Put A Cash-Handling Routine In Writing
Most shrinkage isn't dramatic theft, it's small inconsistency: no till reconciliation at close, no separation between who sells and who counts. A short written routine closes most of that gap without a single accusation.
5. Test The Second-Location Math Before You Sign Anything
A simple breakeven check against the volume your first location actually does, not the volume you hope a second one will do. Cheaper to find out on paper than six months into a new lease.