10 



THE NEW YORK JOURNAL OF PHARMACY 



The Great Difference Between 

 Druggists. 



Now, as I get along toward the end 

 of my address I want to hark back to 

 my statement that the great majority of 

 druggists are faihng to make as much 

 money as they should, and that they 

 could do far better if only they had the 

 facts upon which to base some improve- 

 ment. To prove my point let me tell 

 you something about the differences I 

 have discovered in the profit making 

 capacity of druggists. Two or three 

 years ago, in an address delivered out 

 in Iowa, I gave the facts about twenty- 

 five druggists and their incomes. I 

 found that in these twenty-five stores 

 the percentage of gross profit ran from 

 31 per cent, to 51 per cent! Let this 

 sink in, gentlemen — gross profits rang- 

 ing from 31 to 51 per cent.! Think of 

 it ! The percentage of expense, in the 

 meantime, ran from 18 to 35 ! Thus 

 the percentage of profit realized by some 

 druggists was less than two-thirds that 

 of their neighbors, while it cost some 

 of them twice as much to do business 

 as it did others ! 



There is no excuse for wide varia- 

 tions of this character. It is true that 

 some druggists have to meet more com- 

 petition than others ; that prices vary in 

 different localities ; that as a rule ex- 

 penses are higher in the city than in the 

 country ; but with a full realization of 

 such conditions I am nevertheless con- 

 vinced that these things do not explain 

 except in part the widely varying in- 

 comes which different druggists derive 

 from their stores, and that in the last 

 analysis the results can lie traced direct- 

 ly to the druggists themselves. 



Is it possible to say with any degree 

 of accuracy what the percentage of ex- 

 pense and the percentage of gross profit 

 ought usually to be? In collecting the 

 facts about the twenty-five druggists to 

 whom I have ju.st referred I discovered 

 that the average gross profit of these 

 men was 38% per cent. The average 

 expense, on the other hand, was 24K' 

 per cent. My experience leads me to 

 believe, after studying the statements of 

 many other druggists beside those rep- 

 resented in this case, that these averages 

 are pretty nearly typical of what you 

 will find the country over. I have often 

 said, for instance, that the usual per- 

 centage of expense was 25 and the usual 

 gross profit from 35 to 40. 



Knowledge Is Power! 



I believe that every druggist ought to 

 hold these average figures before him, 

 and strive, in every possible way, to at- 

 tain them. He will do this if he knows 

 the precise facts about his business, and 

 this is the prime reason I have for ad- 

 vocating such a series of records as I 

 have proposed. Knowledge is power. 

 If the druggist realizes that things are 

 not as prosperous with him as he sup- 

 posed, and if he understands the neces- 

 sity of reform, action will be forthcom- 

 ing. 



'Ts it true, doctor," asked the summer 

 girl, "that eating cucumbers will remove 

 freckles ?" 



"Of course," replied Dr. Kidder, 

 "under certain circumstances." 



"Really ! What circumstances ?" 



"Well, provided the freckles are on the 

 cucumbers." — PluIadclpJiia Ledger. 



