How to Start a Pharmacy

by Startacus Admin

As you know Startacus is all about helping innovative and enterprising folks (like yourself) to take a step, or indeed a leap, into doing something with their great idea- big or small!

Over the past while, we have been piecing together some of the important info you will need in order to start all manner of businesses. So far we’ve tackled everything from sweet shops to cleaning businesses and today's offering is one that is so obvious we cannot believe it has taken us this long… the humble UK pharmacy.

What is a pharmacy?

Ok… so we are pretty sure that you know what a pharmacy is - but before we begin, a little bit of disambiguation (our new word of the day) is probably in order. In this piece we are talking about pharmacies (you know the ones that dispense medications) rather than health and beauty shops which, despite being wonderful, do not.

Some reasons to start a UK based pharmacy

Like any business, running your own pharmacy will bring with it huge challenges, but it also has the potential to bring you great rewards in terms of money, life style, freedom and so forth.

Arguably the greatest benefit of running a business like a pharmacy is that you get to do something that you like and earn more doing it. Chances are if you are reading this, is that you are someone who has an interest in the health/beauty pharmaceutical industry and perhaps also an interest in retail and customer service. If this is the case, opening your own pharmacy can be a great way to bring together these interests. Couple all this with other perks like choosing your own work times, scheduling your own holidays, getting the opportunity to be creative, the sense of pride and accomplishment as well as a lifetime supply of shampoo then you could really be on to a winner.

Some things you need to do

All joking aside, running a pharmacy is a serious business… there are loads of regulations, rules, laws and legislation to be followed… after all we are talking about the dispensing of tightly regulated prescription-only medication. Here are some of the things that you really should take into consideration;

Research research research and then research some more - The very fact that you are reading this means that you are off to a good start on this count. The internet is a great place to find some of the essential information on rules and regulations- in particular you might want to have a look at the General Pharmaceutical Council . But of course the internet is not the only place that you should be going for advice. You should definitely get in contact with current/previous pharmacy owners to gain their perspective and perhaps some tips to avoid pitfalls.

• Do you want to be part of a franchise or a fully independent business? The merits of being part of a franchise chain are perhaps never better illustrated than when it comes to running a pharmacy. With such tight regulations and a multitude of laws and red tape to battle through, having a structured support network in place can make all the difference. However for the more daring and adventurous among you, an independent venture might be the better option as it offers a higher level of freedom and flexibility. The most important thing is to ensure that you have all of the information at hand before making this important decision - You might find our recent piece on the pros and cons of buying into a franchise useful.

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Published on: 29th January 2014