₦airaland Forum

HAH:
No one is complaining about having a pharmacist around even if it is 24hrs, what we are complaining about is the greedy regulation that the company must have a pharmacist as 60% shareholder. I will appreciate it if in the UK too 60% share must go to pharmacist.

60% if you want to invest is not a regulation per say. It can be 70, 80 or more %. The idea is that it is the Pharmacist that owns the business being a professional business

kalindaminda:
What about buying the drugs? How does one do that?

That's one thing consultants get paid for o. Well just know that you'll get your stock from wholesale pharmacies, pharmaceutical company reps etc

Other info like exactly where, which ones help startup pharmacies and which ones are cheaper,you'll have to pay o.
Hope the above is helpful anyway

surugede:
@OP

I would need further/private communication, how do we take off from the public forum.

I tried reaching you.
Pls send your mail to mailboominn@gmail.com and I'll reply on the appropriate mail which I won't want to put here. Thanks

no2fuks:
inb4 I overdose

I don't quite get dat but please don't overdose o- if you mean drug. If sleep, not too bad

laclass:
Nice one.good information

Thanks a lot!

InvertedHammer:
/
I think a private investor will be better off owning a well-stocked chemist.

I feel sorry for the pharmacists and more for the masses. Some medications require optimum storage conditions which of course most pharmaceutical outlets do not meet because of the electricity situation in the country. The potency of the medications is questionable.
\

U're right 100%.

santuse:
Thanks for the information

You are welcome and thanks for the comment too. Grateful

koolkamzzy:
@ OP PMIcon are you a registered pharmacist, if affirmative, let's communicate. I have something we could work on

I'm a Pharmacy Business Consultant working with a Pharmacist.

noblenadis:
Great article

Thanks a lot.

lagcity:
The pharmacist shareholder law prevents the establishment of chain store like CVS and Walgreens. It is not a good idea because big chains tend to sell drugs at lower prices. I wonder why the pharmacist can't be a salaried employee.

Not everyone is cut out for that employee stuff o.

ohumonkama:
Hi,
I just send you a mail. Please I need to discuss some more details with you on this topic asap.

Thanks

Tried reaching you too. Send me a mail on mailboominn@gmail.com and I will reply you with the appropriate mail (don't want to put that here). Thanks

Lets me give some clues because of some comments on the issue of 60% (which is meant to show that the Pharmacist is the owner).

*In business, you do what you are comfortable with. If you are not,re-strategize

*Where you can make N30,000 sales in one day in Patent Medicine store or FMCG/daily needs store you may be able to make N300,000 sales in a Pharmacy in the same location depending on what you sell and how good the Pharmacist on ground is.
Assuming the gross profit of that 300,000 is 100,000 in just one day multiply by 30= 3000000.
Remove admin and operational cost for that month (salaries inclusive), say N500,000. You will be left with N2.5m.
Assuming you agreed with the Pharmacist to share 60:40 of 30% of the monthly income before tax, that is 30% of N 2.5m=N 750,000.
If you are not the Pharmacist, your 40% will be N300,000 for the month in view.

That makes your 40% of the 30% after removing admin and operational expenditure the same with the 100% of the 100% of the Patent Medicine store or supermarket in the same location although admin/op cost has not been removed from the later (10,000 x 30 days= 300,000)

So it's a choice really. It depends on what you are comfortable with.

** Important added note: as far as Nigerian law is concerned, only a Pharmacist is recognized as owner of a retail Pharmacy.**

kaadibia:
@Op can you use an msc cert in pharmacy to open a pharmacy store?

No please, except you want to deal in WHOLESALE Pharmacy. You have to be a Pharmacist to be the real owner of a retail community pharmacist.

You can opt for investing though

frisky2good:
One popular pharmacy has it's head office in Ikeja and it has a branch at Pen Cinema busstop in Agege, Lagos. How is that possible if the rules are water tight?

A Pharmacist can have as many branches as possible but each will be supervised by a separate superintendent Pharmacist whose license is also used to register the place.

Bolajoko20:
I sure am interested in this.
May I please have your email address?
Thanks.

Okay, kindly reply the nairaland mail. I tried reaching you.

Rawar:
@op what makes pharmacy different from chemist? Just man to know

If you mean Patent Medicine store vs Pharmacy: owner and what is sold. Pharmacist only can own a community Pharmacy in Nigeria.
Chemist is used in some countries to mean Pharmacy too. Patent Medicine store only sell non prescription (over-the-counter) drugs

DareBello:
What about if i want to open up a chemist?

If you mean patent medicine store, you'll still need PCN registration but you can only sell over-the-counter drug (drugs not needing doctors prescription). Pharmacies sell both

mkoabiola:
All ds are paper work ,in reality nigerians cut corners

No doubt they do and many bear the consequence too.
For example, someone set up a Pharmacy in a complex- and it looked very great, lots of money was spent, you can be sure. Not long, PCN came to inspect a store in the same complex where a Pharmacy was about to be located. They noticed this functioning Pharmacy and shut it down because it started operation without PCN approval. Millions wasted.

raffite:
I have been thinking of this business. I own a building that has 2 warehouse-size stores on the ground floor. I am interested in this business. Interested and qualified pharmacists should contact me through my email: s.abugu@yahoo.com

There are good pharmacists out there but it's more than having a Pharmacist. We conduct interviews, interact with pharmacists who run their business and read CVs of Pharmacists and I can tell you many don't know how to run a community Pharmacy (that's y some close down or sell it off. Some just know how to work there. Talk to a consultant, it may save you millions and the Pharmacy itself in the end.

totoakins:
As a pharmacist am absolutely disgusted by this thread, I hope the OP opens one about how to start up an hospital next

what exactly is disgusting about it?

RapLawd:
60 wetin?... I wan buy doctor kiip for the pharm?...

Aboki prefers where him go dey get tramadol and codeine without restrictions of any such!!!



Patent Medical Practitioner Is the only sure pass way... with money in Nigeria you can even convert it to a mighty hospital not only a pharmacy....

The real money comes from selling prescription medicines which patent medicines (I didn't say traditional medicine o) are not allowed to sell.

Yinkay:
@OP....what of the option of franchise with existing Pharmacy outlets like MedPlus and Healthplus....is there any Pharmasists Council requirements apart from the Franchisee conditions and agreements?

The registration is per premises not per company. IF YOU SUCCEED in securing a franchise agreement, the only difference will be that you wont need CAC registration, you will still have to register the new premises with PCN

DareBello:
What about if i want to open up a chemist?

You mean Patent medicine store? In this case, you will not need to be a Pharmacist, a Pharmacy technologist can do that. But YOU MUST NOT BE CAUGHT SELLING prescription medicines like antibiotics (e.g. Amoxil), anti-hypertensives etc. These drugs require a doctors prescription and a registered Pharmacist to counsel on usage. You can sell over-the-counter drugs like Panadol, cough syrup (not with codeine o) etc

As for the process, it is basically the same except for the fees and who is allowed to operate it.
I'm consulting for someone now who was able to get location approval because a Chemist was shut down not too far from the store. That was the cost of playing smart and not following due process.

Just to share some important but brief points on owning a RETAIL Pharmacy.

What Is Retail Pharmacy?

Well it is a Pharmacy that sells drugs in retails basically. They are of two types: one is hospital Pharmacy and the second is what is called Community Pharmacy. The second one represents the usual pharmacies you see around outside the hospital premises and they are what most people call Pharmacy. That's the one I'm talking about here too.

Okay, now that we understand what this is about, what are the basic steps required to own a Pharmacy in Nigeria?

1. You must either be a Fully Registered Pharmacist or your partner with one. Technically, only a Pharmacist can own a Pharmacy in Nigeria. Non Pharmacists can however deal in Wholesale though you will still need a Superintendent Pharmacist to register the Pharmacy with the Pharmacists Council (PCN)

If you are not a Pharmacist and you are serious (+ you have your money) I can help you get one.

2. Register your company with Corporate Affairs Commission You will need some of the documents here later. One warning I must give you is that the Pharmacist must have like 60% shares in the company otherwise you may not be able to proceed later. Your forms must be clear about who owns the Pharmacy (the Pharmacist) and who is/ are the other Director(s)

60%?! So why border then?/b]

Well you should have done your feasibility studies before investing. What I can tell you is that if you have a good location you ( with your 40%) can make more money in the long run than many other retail businesses. Imagine a single Pharmacy making sales (I didn't say profit) of 1million in just one day. This is not common though; it can only happen with excellent locations and great customer service. What is commoner is 300k-500k/day in moderately good locations. You can attest to the fact that this is not bad sales volume though. It's all about location and management skills. Some Pharmacies close down mostly because of bad location and poor management (they think they don't need expert advice- especially true for pharmacists- and end up wasting their investment)

3. [b] Get a business premises (store)

Great if you have your own store but if not, you need to find a way of tying down the location to go through the process of approval

4. [b] Employ A Superintendent Pharmacist if you are not a Pharmacist [b]

To save yourself from stress, experience tells me you better let your Superintendent Pharmacist be the same as the Pharmacist who is your partner. The payment for this role is however different. In fact, it's in two phases: you will pay for the License to register the Pharmacy with PCN and then the monthly salary based on agreement.

It is the Superintendent Pharmacist that will register the Pharmacy with PCN.

The following are the necessary steps to be taken with the assistance of the Superintendent Pharmacist (SP from now)

a) Location Inspection:
>The SP writes the PCN Registrar through the state office requesting for inspection location.
>Payment is then made to the bank. The SP should find out current charge from your state PCN office.

I will advise you start this process around June or early in December or seek local advice through the SP from the state PCN office (better)
It's not yet a good system they are running at PCN.

b. Collect and fill necessary forms and return them to the PCN office

**The reason I said to start the process in December is that they plan for inspection the following year then so you can be among the first to be inspected in your own area (not always so anyway... lots of politics)
June because it may take 6months or more to complete the process. It can save you paying for License twice before starting real business. This is not full proof. You can't be so sure how fast or slow the process will be as at now. Maybe Buhari's administration will help solve making simple processes in Nigeria so complicated.**

c. Set Up The Premises but DON'T STOCK YET!
Once your location is approved, you may be asked to start setting up the Premises for business. You should be given some requirements- things to put in place like your shelves, fire extinguisher, Pharmacist office, A/C, Poison Box and some books. You may be asked to pay some fees at this stage to collect the requirements. The current client was asked to pay N3,000

d. Apply for Registration of Pharmacy Premises
Your premises will be inspected to see if you met the requirements and you will also be asked to pay for the license and registration.
The SP is the one that is involved in all this. In fact, PCN doesn't want to deal with you if you are not a Pharmacist. You don't even need to be there during all the inspections. Only the SP and the Pharmacist on the Board of Directors (if different) are expected to be seen.
e. Once Registered you should receive a copy of all the documents and then go ahead with stocking and business proper.

But bear in mind that each years registration ends December. If you start too early and the inspection was made, and you commence the next step, you may need to pay for registration of premises twice before commencing real business. But like I said, the process is not so predictable. Prepare for 6-8months.
This also means ( if the SP is not the same as the Pharmacist on BoD) you need to be ready to be paying the Pharmacist some "salary" to "tie her/him down" till the process is completed otherwise the SP may not be available for the inspections.



The short cut to all these is to buy a Pharmacy put on sale when you are ready but it comes with its own challenges too.
I'll stop here for now. I hope this will be of help to someone out there.

bebene:
i thought of transportation too, but the prblm is, the number of buses we should start with,is this amount enough to buy,say five(new)buses?

our target is 10% ROI.

And am thinking of suggesting to my friends,reinvesting the profit for like six month or one year.

thank u too.

You are doing something great but to get the best out of any investment, it is best to think long term. In fact, especially because of your size, should know how you intend to exit the business before you start: you want to sell your shares to other members, you want the business to go public (plc) etc and make necessary documentation of your plans.

This will help and guide other decisions to make from the beginning.
And whatever choice you make, please don't forget the cost of running the business for at least one year (if that is what it takes for it to generate enough funds to run itself.

As for what you can do with 6m, may be you can get inspiration from the thread about what business you can start with 2 million here on nairaland or just google it and add coma (,) and the 'nairaland'.

Just some advise, hope it doesn't sound like unnecessary lecture.

losprince:
we shouldn't reveal such informations for security purposes... sorry seun but you pay a programmer by his worth.

I beg to disagree, rather you pay a programmer by YOUR worth. No one can pay people for what they truly worth and that's why Seun is asking for assistance, to help in negotiation.

politricks:
Really? Tell us about the game.

I wish I could right away but it is not advisable to make it public yet (Intellectual Property issues involved). But going by the trend with football and other global sports, I can safely say we have a great time ahead.

Any advise?

I believe strongly in the role sport play in the economy of nations.

Nigeria has however largely depended on sport innovations from other countries. We need to change.

Imagine a game festival like World Cup based in Nigeria and run through public-private partnership instead of FIFA. Imagine how much the country will make from it.

2014 World Cup generated (to FIFA) a net profit more than 10% of Nigeria's 2015 budget (i.e more than $2.2 billion). The remarkable thing is that funds generated from TV rights alone paid all the bills with extra, significant change remaining.

I believe it is time to innovate and change the future in our favour.
I have created a game that has the potential to produce great excitement in the sport industry globally, create jobs, and boost the global economy.

I believe that it can outshine basket ball very quickly with support from Nairalanders.
I also consider Government support essential (or I'm I wrong?)

What would you suggest I do to gain needed Government support?

I believe strongly in the role sport play in the economy of nations.

Nigeria has however largely depended on sport innovations from other countries. We need to change.

Imagine a game festival like World Cup based in Nigeria and run through public-private partnership instead of FIFA. Imagine how much the country will make from it.

2014 World Cup generated (to FIFA) a net profit more than 10% of Nigeria's 2015 budget (i.e more than $2.2 billion). The remarkable thing is that funds generated from TV rights alone paid all the bills with extra, significant change remaining.

I believe it is time to innovate and change the future in our favour.
I have created a game that has the potential to effect great excitement in the sport industry globally like football, create jobs, and boost the global economy.

I believe that it can outshine basket ball very quickly with support from Nairalanders. And it is my desire that, gaining Government support, we will all be glad a game from Nigeria can influence the world.

What do you suggest I do to gain Government support?

I believe strongly in the role sport play in the economy of nations.

Nigeria has however largely depended on sport innovations from other countries. We need to change.

Imagine a game festival like World Cup based in Nigeria and run through public-private partnership instead of FIFA. Imagine how much the country will make from it.

2014 World Cup generated (to FIFA) a net profit more than 10% of Nigeria's 2015 budget (i.e more than $2.2 billion). The remarkable thing is that funds generated from TV rights alone paid all the bills with extra, significant change remaining.

I believe it is time to innovate and change the future in our favour.
I have created a game that has the potential to effect great excitement in the sport industry globally, create jobs, and boost the global economy.

I believe that it can outshine basket ball very quickly with support from Nairalanders.

This and many other courses available for free at ALISON. Just visit and register at www.alison.com

ALISON is an international award winning education based company located in Ireland. You tuition is paid for by advertisers on the website.

The learning experience is great- innovative.
I've enjoyed it so much that I have been sharing the info with people ever since. Other courses (very many actually) include Project Management, Customer Care, Procurement and Logistics, various international languages, social media/ internet related courses.

Let me know your experience when you try.

WHY GIVE JUST 20%?

Well, so that the 20% can become worthwhile.
A business needs to grow and the faster it grows, the better for the investor. 20% of gross profit leaves more funds in the business so that expansion will not require any extraordinary effort, financially.

20% of 1 million is 200 thousand but the same 20% becomes 2 million, 20 million etc as the business is allowed to grow.

I am in this for the long term and that's where the money is.

By the way, happy Democracy Day and successful change in Government.