Eight ways to clean up your pharmacy for sale: The importance of facility decorum

By Max Beairsto and Mike Jaczko

Have you ever shopped for a car on a sale-by-owner basis? In some ways, the buyer’s frame of mind in that situation is pretty much the same as when someone is considering buying a pharmacy for sale. In short, appearances matter.

Let’s go back to our car-shopping example. You find two cars of the same vintage, same mileage and same general mechanical condition. One smells like stale tobacco and has fast-food wrappers littered all over in the backseat. The other smells like, well, a new car and all its surfaces are glistening clean. If you’re like most buyers, it’s a pretty easy decision: you want the “new car”-smelling vehicle more.

That’s not just because you won’t have to clean it up. It’s also because its pristine state tells you that the owner has cared for the car, looked after it, and respected the next owner enough to keep it clean. And chances are you’ll be willing to pay more for it than for its odiferous counterpart.

It’s the same with pharmacies. Buyers will put a premium on a pharmacy for sale whose facilities are in top-notch condition. If they fall short of that, anyone considering buying a pharmacy business might look askance at the entire operation – and not want to pay as much for it as they otherwise would.

Sprucing up your pharmacy is often among the easiest, quickest and most affordable ways to improve its market value. Here are a few things to look for to make sure you’re doing it right:

1.?????Check the lights

Poor lighting can make even the cleanest spaces look dingy and ill-kempt. Look for burnt-out or malfunctioning bulbs and replace them as necessary. If there are dark spots in your store, consider springing for the electrical work to shine a light on them.

2.?????Paint it

It’s amazing what a fresh coat of paint will do for your store – and the first impression it gives to customers and potential buyers.

3.?????Clean, clean and clean again

Your pharmacy should be spotless from top to bottom. You can start with the floors, and make sure they are in good condition while you’re at it. Mid-level spaces require your attention, too: pay special mind to dust on shelves and to the cleanliness of waiting-area chairs. Finally, don’t forget to look up and search for dangling cobwebs and stains on the ceiling tiles. You are putting a pharmacy up for sale – not a haunted house.

4.?????Be visible

You might be surprised how few pharmacist-owners pay attention to window areas. Not only should yours be clean, but they should also be free from clutter (old plants, boxes, stuff that you just couldn’t find any other place for).

5.?????Clear away the clutter

Speaking of clutter, it doesn’t belong anywhere. It tends to build up most often in the front of store and in the aisles. Get it out of the way.

6.?????Tidy up the dispensary

It’s typically the busiest area of the pharmacy, and with all those technicians, pharmacists and bottles milling around, it can get chaotic-looking in a hurry – if you don’t take the time to put everything in its place on a regular basis.

7.?????Dress for success

Your staff should look presentable and professional – not to mention well-groomed. They should be in uniforms, and those uniforms should have name tags. And the tags need to be meaningful: they must not only tell customers what to call the employee, but also tell them what the employee does.

8.?????Watch the merchandise

Over time, products that have been sitting on the shelf for a while can begin to look tired and worn. So remove or replace shelf-worn stuff before a buyer comes looking. Also, pay attention to how your merchandise is displayed, particularly on end-aisles and point-of-purchase, which tend to attract the eye. Is the merch displayed on the same level? Is the purchase area clean and tidy? If not, fix it.

It's true that many buyers will look at a pharmacy for sale and only pay attention to the financial numbers. But even for those buyers, visual impressions count, even if only subtly.

So when you are considering selling, pay attention to facility decorum. For a few extra bucks and a little bit of effort, it can make the difference between a successful pharmacy sale and a huge disappointment. If you want to learn more about preparing for selling your pharmacy, please contact us.

Max Beairsto?is a Valuation Analyst and the President of EVCOR (Enterprise Valuators Corporation), a boutique M&A firm focused on the valuation and sale of pharmacies.

Mike Jaczko?is a principal, partner and Portfolio Manager with KJ Harrison, a private investment firm based in Toronto that offers discretionary investment management to individuals and their families.