12      Four  Things  Every  Druggist  Should  Know.     { ATaSaryPi907.m' 
In  another  paper  1  have  commended,  and  I  want  again  to  com- 
mend, the  practice  of  a  successful  Detroit  druggist  who  aims  to 
make  100  per  cent,  on  drugs  and  prescriptions  and  50  per  cent,  on 
sundries.  Even  at  that  his  average  gross  profit  is  but  41,  the  small 
margins  or  even  losses  on  "  patents  "  and  other  goods  bringing  down 
the  figure  greatly  It  will  perhaps  be  remembered  that  Mr.  Falken- 
berg,  the  Chicago  druggist,  attained  some  notoriety  in  the  drug 
journals  a  year  or  two  ago  by  insisting  that  one  should  make  200 
per  cent,  on  his  prescriptions  if  he  desired  to  get  an  adequate  reward 
for  his  time  and  skill,  and  if  he  wanted  his  business  as  a  whole  to  yield 
him  the  returns  that  ought  to  be  realized — and  it  may  be  said  in 
passing  that  Mr.  Falkenberg  wasn't  so  far  wrong  as  he  might  have 
been. 
Returning  to  the  factor  of  average  percentage  expense,  it  may  be 
said  that  this  should  of  course  not  be  applied  with  hard  and  fast 
rigidity.  It  costs  more  to  sell  some  goods  than  others.  A  rapid- 
selling  patent-medicine,  permitting  of  frequent  turnovers  of  capital, 
involving  no  such  waste  as  cannot  be  escaped  in  bulk  goods,  and 
consuming  little  of  the  clerk's  time  in  making  a  sale,  can  be  handled 
at  a  much  smaller  expense  than  a  prescription.  Some  allowance 
should  be  made  for  these  differences,  and  when  it  is  made  it  will  be 
seen  that  patent  medicines  and  similar  ready-for-sale  goods  are  after 
all  disposed  of  at  a  larger  net  profit,  or  certainly  at  a  smaller  loss, 
than  otherwise  seems  to  be  the  case. 
But  despite  this,  the  small  druggist  has  to  be  guided  more  or  less 
clearly  by  his  average  gross  profit,  and  he  cannot  follow  the  practice 
of  the  well-organized  department  store  in  considering  each  depart- 
ment a  separate  unit,  with  its  own  percentage  expense  and  set  of 
figures  and  rules  generally. 
It  is  a  good  idea  to  estimate  the  percentage  expense  in  two  ways  : 
by  the  customary  method  of  including  the  proprietor's  salary  among 
the  expenses,  and  also  without  this  element  of  cost.  Often  this 
plan  is  of  great  help.  Suppose,  for  instance,  that  some  article  will 
at  best  pay  a  gross  profit  of  but  26  percent.  Your  total  percentage 
expense,  say,  is  30  per  cent.  Your  expense  minus  your  salary  is  22 
per  cent.  Such  an  article,  then,  is  seen  to  pay  a  part  of  your  salary 
allowance,  and  not  to  be  carried  at  an  absolute  loss  to  your  pocket- 
book.  This  may  prove  a  comforting  assurance  if  the  article  is  one 
which  a  trade  demand  necessitates  that  you  keep  in  stock. 
