Want to take your pharmacy to the next level? These five tips will help you attract more customers, increase revenue, and grow your business.

Growing a pharmacy isn’t just about being a great pharmacist. You need to think like a business owner and an entrepreneur.

Whether you’re running your first pharmacy or looking to expand, the pharmacy experts at RA Accountants have pulled together the following tips to help you grow your pharmacy business.

1. Create a Solid Business Plan

Businesses with a proper business plan grow 30% faster than those without one. Your business plan doesn’t need to be complicated, but it should be clear about where you’re going.

A business plan will help you grow, by giving your actions focus to make the most of your limited time.

The key is treating your plan as a living document. Update it as you learn what works and what doesn’t.

If you’re managing mixed NHS and private income streams, you’ll need to plan how to apportion costs accurately. This affects both your tax reporting and day-to-day financial management. Getting this right from the start saves headaches later.

What to include in your business plan:

• Business Goals: Clearly defined objectives for your pharmacy
• Target Market Analysis: Research on your potential customers, including demographics and their healthcare needs
• Market Strategy: How your pharmacy will meet the needs of your target market
• Competitor Analysis: A thorough examination of competing pharmacies and healthcare providers in your area
• Sales and Marketing Tactics: Strategies for attracting and retaining customers
• Financial Projections: A detailed breakdown of your current financial situation and future projections
• Regulatory Compliance: Plans for maintaining GPhC registration and meeting all pharmaceutical regulations

2. Increase Customer Value Through Enhanced Services

Your pharmacy has physical and staffing limits on how many customers you can serve. Once you hit capacity, the only way to grow is by increasing what each customer brings in.

This doesn’t mean overcharging. It means offering more valuable services that genuinely help your community.

Increasing customer value is therefore a two-way street – you are delivering greater value for your customers, while at the same time increasing the value per customer to your pharmacy.

High-value services to consider:

• Clinical services (blood pressure monitoring, cholesterol testing, diabetes screening)
• Vaccination programmes (flu, travel vaccines, COVID-19 boosters)
• Medicine reviews and adherence consultations
• Specialist services like smoking cessation, weight management, and contraceptive services
• Private prescriptions and lifestyle products
• Medication synchronisation programmes
• Delivery services for elderly or housebound patients

The trick is making sure these services genuinely help your customers. When you solve more problems for people, they’re happy to pay for the value you provide.

Take clinical services. These treatments often have higher profit margins and strong demand from an ageing population. Plus, satisfied customers who receive comprehensive care become your best advocates.

Remember though – if you’re adding private services like travel health consultations or cosmetic treatments, these may be subject to VAT. Understanding your VAT obligations early helps you avoid compliance issues.

If you are adding private services to your pharmacy and would like to discuss the tax implications – then please get in touch with one of our pharmacy accountant experts.

3. Put in Place a Comprehensive Set of Business KPIs

You can’t improve what you don’t measure. This means having a robust set of key performance indicators (KPIs) are essential to any business looking to grow.

As you are looking to grow your business, we recommend at a minimum you track the key metrics below monthly:

• New customer registrations
• Customer retention rates
• Average transaction value
• Revenue per customer
• Prescription volumes and trends
• Clinical service uptake rates
• Staff productivity metrics
• Inventory turnover rates

Use this data to spot trends early. Are fewer new customers registering? Maybe your marketing needs attention. Are existing customers not returning for regular medications? Look at your customer experience.

As you find your rhythm and look at the data regularly, you’ll start to be able to spot any potential issues or opportunities earlier.

Another way to keep tabs on your financial metrics is to use cloud accounting software like Xero. It gives you real-time access to your financial data, so you always know where you stand.

Government legislation is increasingly making accounting software mandatory for all businesses. However, there is often a difference between using the bare minimum features and having the platform set-up by experts to help it supercharge your business. As Xero Platinum Partners, we can help you get the most from the platform.

4. Build a Strong Marketing Strategy

Your pharmaceutical expertise keeps customers coming back, but marketing is what brings them through the door in the first place. Without a steady flow of new customers discovering your pharmacy, even the most knowledgeable pharmacist will struggle to grow their business.

Effective marketing channels that work well in the pharmacy sector include:

• Digital marketing – Local SEO and Google Ads targeting health-related searches
• Word-of-mouth referrals – Your most powerful tool
• Professional referrals – From GPs, nurses, and other healthcare providers
• Customer testimonials – Social proof that works
• Local community involvement – Health fairs, care home partnerships, and community events
• Health awareness campaigns – Seasonal promotions around flu season, diabetes awareness, etc.

Word-of-mouth remains the strongest marketing for pharmacies. Happy customers are your best advocates.

Don’t forget professional relationships either. Build relationships with local GPs, practice nurses, and care homes. Regular communication and excellent service for their patients strengthens these valuable partnerships. This is not about ‘selling’ to these partners, it is about delivering value and communicating – that builds a mutually beneficial relationship that benefits everyone. From customers who receive an excellent seamless service at every point of the healthcare journey, to healthcare professionals who know they are working with partners they can trust to deliver.

5. Consider Opening a Second Location

Once you’ve maximised your current pharmacy, a new location might be your logical next step.

You’ve already learned how to run a successful pharmacy. Now you can apply that experience to a second site.

When setting up a second location you have two options. You can set up a completely new pharmacy or you can buy an existing pharmacy business.

Each has pros and cons. A new pharmacy lets you design everything from scratch – just the way you like it. An existing pharmacy gives you customers and cash flow from day one, plus an established NHS contract.

If you’re buying an existing pharmacy, proper due diligence is essential. You need to assess the financial health, customer base, NHS contract terms, and any hidden costs or risks.

Key considerations you should make when choosing a new location include:

• Location demographics and competition
• NHS contract availability and terms
• Financing options and deposit requirements
• Staff retention and training needs
• How you’ll manage multiple sites
• Regulatory requirements and GPhC approval processes

When picking locations, use Office for National Statistics data to research demographics. Tools like DataAdaptive can help you understand population density, age profiles, and health needs in potential areas.

Think about proximity too. Managing multiple pharmacies is easier when they’re reasonably close together, and you can share resources like locum pharmacists when needed.

For detailed guidance on opening a new pharmacy, check out our complete guide to opening a pharmacy business, which includes practical tips on using data to evaluate locations and navigating NHS contract applications.

Ready to Grow Your Pharmacy?

Growing a pharmacy takes time and the right strategy. Focus on delivering excellent customer care whilst building smart business systems.

Remember – you don’t have to figure this out alone. At RA Accountants, we specialise in helping pharmacy professionals at every stage. From your first pharmacy to multiple sites, we can help you make the right business decisions.

Want to discuss your growth plans? We offer a complimentary initial consultation to chat through your circumstances and see how we can help.

Get in touch to book your appointment today.

These articles are for guidance only and professional advice should be obtained before acting on any information contained in them. No responsibility can be accepted for loss occasioned howsoever to any person as a result of action taken or refrained from as a result of reading.