opening ur own pharm/business?

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I went to pharmacy school to be an independent pharmacy owner.

Even though I owend a DME co with a closed door pharmacy once, my dream hasn't really materialized yet. But I have not given up on it. I want a burger joint pharmacy with a bait shack in the back.
 
StaviZFingerZ said:
I went to pharmacy school to be an independent pharmacy owner.

Even though I owend a DME co with a closed door pharmacy once, my dream hasn't really materialized yet. But I have not given up on it. I want a burger joint pharmacy with a bait shack in the back.
Click to expand...
Sounds like you need to leave Dallas for Belton Tx...
 
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my sister is in medical school, my other sister is in pharmacy school, and I am almost done with pharmacy school. I still don't like to open up a pharmacy. I think it's too much headache. I'll be better off owning subways and buildings and work once a week at a chain.
 
veyep said:
my sister is in medical school, my other sister is in pharmacy school, and I am almost done with pharmacy school. I still don't like to open up a pharmacy. I think it's too much headache. I'll be better off owning subways and buildings and work once a week at a chain.
Click to expand...

Subway...Have you seen their franchise agreement, or how they treat their franchisees? Bad choice...
 
StaviZFingerZ said:
I went to pharmacy school to be an independent pharmacy owner.

Even though I owend a DME co with a closed door pharmacy once, my dream hasn't really materialized yet. But I have not given up on it. I want a burger joint pharmacy with a bait shack in the back.
Click to expand...

Serious question, what kind of image do you think a burger joint pharmacy would give to the field of pharmacy?
 
Pharmacy Kid said:
Serious question, what kind of image do you think a burger joint pharmacy would give to the field of pharmacy?
Click to expand...

What do you think about Sodies this place?
it's a pharmacy.

BTW, what kind of image does a grocery store pharmacy give? What kind of image does a Wal-mart Pharmacy give? Wags...CVS... ?

Do you actually believe pharmacy "image" would be more damaged by a soda fountain - burger joint pharmacy that serves a community?

I think not.
 
i'd love to get the ncpa digest info
thanks,
Michael, 51 and finnally opening up my on pharmacy, i've worked retail and
independent and i know which is better
 
quick question why buy the pre-existing pharmacy, i'm 51 and i want
to start from the ground up, i've been in the same area for over 20 years
and i think and can get this up and running quickly already have a big AL lined
up and know everyone around here by first name. I think I can make this work

Michael
 
I am a third year pharmacy student. I was wondering while working at a pharmacy that how much do bottles of medication cost from wholesale distributor?
I am aspiring to be a wholesale drug distributor along with opening up my pharmacy chain.
How can i find out the cost of wholesale drug from teva, or ranbaxy or dr. reddys?

Information will be greatly appreciated.
 
Doctor McQ said:
quick question why buy the pre-existing pharmacy, i'm 51 and i want
to start from the ground up, i've been in the same area for over 20 years
and i think and can get this up and running quickly already have a big AL lined
up and know everyone around here by first name. I think I can make this work

Michael
Click to expand...

what's an AL?
 
Its Z said:
Do you actually believe pharmacy "image" would be more damaged by a soda fountain - burger joint pharmacy that serves a community? I think not.
Click to expand...
I adore soda fountain pharmacies :love: Well, I also adore independents and have to stop in them whenever I see one on a trip or something. (nerd) Wags and CVS make such a sad replacement for old-time pharmacies.

My dream would be to have a soda fountain pharmacy if I didn't love my current job so dang much.
 
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jvanewportnews said:
So what's the salaries? I've been searching all over the net, and I finally find a good discussion about independent pharmacies, but how much more would you all plan to be making? I heard it can be over 500k a year. If that were true, why isn't every pharmacist trying to run their own pharmacy?
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The general take is somewhere between 8-10$ of your margin.

The truth is that a lot of pharmacists are not willing to work hard enough or take the risks associated with owning your own store. It is not as risky as some people think. There are several ways you can get the capital to start your own pharmacy some of them better than others. Just remember if you start from scratch, don't expect to draw a significant salary from your business for at least 3-5 years. Now, with that being said there are ways to gain ownership of pharmacy besides borrowing a ridiculous amount of money and eating PBJ sandies for 3 years. Jr partnerships with an independent owner are a decent option. There are also some owners who will sell you a pharmacy over time while you work there, and then you only have to fork over a portion of your earnings every year in put them into the business. The benefit of that is that as you buy pieces of the business you begin to get some of the take as well.

Do some research, find some small Indy pharmacies in your area and start talking to the old dogs behind the counter. I have learned that they love to talk to young pharmacists who are interested in gaining ownership one day.
 
DedicationNSU11 said:
what's an AL?
Click to expand...

The benefit of buying a pre-existing pharmacy is that, if it is successful, your marketing is done. Limited market research is needed all of the work is done for you, it is a win win.

The benefit of starting from scratch is that you get to do things the way you want. The down-side is you wont make money for a while. If you have a ton of capital and can afford not to draw a salary for a few years, then go fo it. If you are popular in town and everyone know's you and the town can sustain the amount of business you need to stay profitable then go fo it. If there is already a small independent in town that is successful, and it is a small town, then dont even think about it. I dont think you will be able to overcome their loyalty. Depending on your costs of course, you will need to be filling aroun 100-150 scripts/day just to be in the green (and this may even be conservative). You would be pretty successful to be doing 50 daily by the end of the first year.
If you can walk into a pharmacy that is already filling 250+ you almost can't lose, especially in small town. The only downside is, that after you buy it, you need to do things the same way they have doing it to stay on top.
 
kvl1027 said:
The benefit of buying a pre-existing pharmacy is that, if it is successful, your marketing is done. Limited market research is needed all of the work is done for you, it is a win win.

The benefit of starting from scratch is that you get to do things the way you want. The down-side is you wont make money for a while. If you have a ton of capital and can afford not to draw a salary for a few years, then go fo it. If you are popular in town and everyone know's you and the town can sustain the amount of business you need to stay profitable then go fo it. If there is already a small independent in town that is successful, and it is a small town, then dont even think about it. I dont think you will be able to overcome their loyalty. Depending on your costs of course, you will need to be filling aroun 100-150 scripts/day just to be in the green (and this may even be conservative). You would be pretty successful to be doing 50 daily by the end of the first year.
If you can walk into a pharmacy that is already filling 250+ you almost can't lose, especially in small town. The only downside is, that after you buy it, you need to do things the same way they have doing it to stay on top.
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100-150 within 1 year...we were lucky :)
 
Doctor M said:
100-150 within 1 year...we were lucky :)
Click to expand...

Yes you were. Luckily for us two we have had similar success. We just opened a new store in a very small town, that had a small independent who was doing about 600-700 daily and sold to CVS. We jumped on that town like a fat kid on cake! We have been open for two years now and just last week did 291 and cleared 150 by year one. GREAT SUCCESS!!!! But no typical.
 
kvl1027 said:
Yes you were. Luckily for us two we have had similar success. We just opened a new store in a very small town, that had a small independent who was doing about 600-700 daily and sold to CVS. We jumped on that town like a fat kid on cake! We have been open for two years now and just last week did 291 and cleared 150 by year one. GREAT SUCCESS!!!! But no typical.
Click to expand...

:thumbup::thumbup:
 
kvl1027 said:
Yes you were. Luckily for us two we have had similar success. We just opened a new store in a very small town, that had a small independent who was doing about 600-700 daily and sold to CVS. We jumped on that town like a fat kid on cake! We have been open for two years now and just last week did 291 and cleared 150 by year one. GREAT SUCCESS!!!! But no typical.
Click to expand...
What are your hours like? Do you think it's possible for an independent to be open M-F 9-5?

I know Doctor M's pharmacy opens all 7 days I believe. Btw Doctor M, I went to your pharm's website and it says account suspended.
 
DedicationNSU11 said:
What are your hours like? Do you think it's possible for an independent to be open M-F 9-5?

I know Doctor M's pharmacy opens all 7 days I believe. Btw Doctor M, I went to your pharm's website and it says account suspended.
Click to expand...

i just noticed that...damn web hosting...thanks for the info!
 
DedicationNSU11 said:
What are your hours like? Do you think it's possible for an independent to be open M-F 9-5?

I know Doctor M's pharmacy opens all 7 days I believe. Btw Doctor M, I went to your pharm's website and it says account suspended.
Click to expand...

My pharmacy is open M-F 9am-6pm and Sat 9am-1pm Closed on Sundays.
You have to establish your pharmacy in a town that will accept 9-5 hours. Open in a small town where most businesses are open from only 9-5 and you will have no trouble. In a large city the people expect you to be open all the time and if you are not, they will go somewhere else. In a small town, your patient demos are usually older folks and they do their business during regular business hours.

Once you establish a good relationship with your patients and they become loyal, they will accept your hours and do business with you accordingly, especially if you treat them better than the big box stores. Our patients know we are closed on Sundays, so they wait until Monday. If one of our patients needs to take their meds NOW and it needs to be taken with food, we'll make them a PB&J. Go to Wal-mart and ask the pharmacy technician to make you a PB&J and see what happens.
 
PB&J ? Is this a tray of compartments for times and days?
johnep
 
Something which never caught on in the UK. I did have peanut butter on toast this morning. Use a sprinkling of black pepper.
johnep
 
johnep34 said:
Something which never caught on in the UK. I did have peanut butter on toast this morning. Use a sprinkling of black pepper.
johnep
Click to expand...
Bangers & Mash and now P&PB&J. I'll never understand the tastebuds of the Brits :laugh:
 
Last edited:
johnep34 said:
Something which never caught on in the UK. I did have peanut butter on toast this morning. Use a sprinkling of black pepper.
johnep
Click to expand...

What about baked beans on toast with HP sauce? Yummy. I had a friend from Leeds that introduced me to that treat.
 
Proper use of HP sauce is on a bacon sandwich.
johnep
 
I'm starting to seriously consider owning my own pharmacy again - now that I'm 7 months from graduation. I am finishing my community rotation at an independent pharmacy - which ironically has been my least favorite rotation thus far.

Anyway, the store I am at has been in business for over 30 years. The current owner has had it for about 5 years. He purchased it in conjunction with a partner and they are 50/50. The partner provides some of the infrastructure (attorneys, accountants, purchasing agreements with vendors, etc.) while the owner is in charge of day to day operations. He runs it like he wants for the most part. The partners have their own pharmacy in another town and my preceptor worked for them for a couple of years before they went in on this business together. These partners are also part-owners of many more independent pharmacies in the region.

In the time my preceptor has owned this store, they have built a brand new building, expanded into DME, and opened a 2nd location on site with a new doctor's building in town. He fills for 4 different nursing homes in the area, does nursing home consulting, and does compounding too. He does 250-300 scripts a day. And the best part is, we can see Walgreens out the front window. :smuggrin:

The town is a rural community and has a population of about 11,000. That is deceiving though because the pharmacies really serve a larger population when you count all the tiny towns and countryside around. There is a Walgreens, Wal-Mart, Medicine Shoppe, and another independent in town too.

Even though he hasn't been my favorite preceptor, he is doing something right! He has inspired me to believe that I can be just as successful in this area (not in the same town though!).
 
ajh88 said:
I'm starting to seriously consider owning my own pharmacy again - now that I'm 7 months from graduation. I am finishing my community rotation at an independent pharmacy - which ironically has been my least favorite rotation thus far.

Anyway, the store I am at has been in business for over 30 years. The current owner has had it for about 5 years. He purchased it in conjunction with a partner and they are 50/50. The partner provides some of the infrastructure (attorneys, accountants, purchasing agreements with vendors, etc.) while the owner is in charge of day to day operations. He runs it like he wants for the most part. The partners have their own pharmacy in another town and my preceptor worked for them for a couple of years before they went in on this business together. These partners are also part-owners of many more independent pharmacies in the region.

In the time my preceptor has owned this store, they have built a brand new building, expanded into DME, and opened a 2nd location on site with a new doctor's building in town. He fills for 4 different nursing homes in the area, does nursing home consulting, and does compounding too. He does 250-300 scripts a day. And the best part is, we can see Walgreens out the front window. :smuggrin:

The town is a rural community and has a population of about 11,000. That is deceiving though because the pharmacies really serve a larger population when you count all the tiny towns and countryside around. There is a Walgreens, Wal-Mart, Medicine Shoppe, and another independent in town too.

Even though he hasn't been my favorite preceptor, he is doing something right! He has inspired me to believe that I can be just as successful in this area (not in the same town though!).
Click to expand...

Just out of curiosity, was your independent rotation your least favorite because of the preceptor or because of your duties during the rotation. Just make sure you liked to business, because if you own your own store it will become your life and it will consume you. You will always be thinking about how you can improve things and have little projects running through you mind. Just make sure it is something you want to do otherwise you can lose a lot more than just your business.
 
SHC1984 said:
How does he steal Walgreen's business? by charging less money? there is no way as Walgreens have the best price...its hard to beat.
Click to expand...

Easy. Offer actual customer service. Walgreens is a joke right along with their twin sister CVS. What does CVS and Walgreens offer? Nothing except an understaffed pharmacy with long wait times, zero customer service and a stresse dout pharmacist. This is fine for some people but there are lots of people out there that want something other than this from thier pharmacy. These are the people you will steal from Walgreens and CVS.
 
Walgreens do not have the best price! Not even close. Independents are overall the best prices, period. I own two independent pharmcies (im 30 years old) and we are doing well. I also own a PBM that I started 4 years ago, I am not only taking patients away from CVS/Walmart/Krogers but i am not taking them from Express Scripts and Medco. Independents are poised to make a statement again. Contact me with questions 866-900-3711
 
Now this is my department! :D

First off, the profit margin for the industry of pharmacy in general is amazing. It's the greed that gets them shut down more than Walgreen's, CVS, ect.

Opening a pharmacy can be a headache, but very rewarding. My advice on paperwork, do it right the first time. I read over and cross T's for all my clients. Sending paperwork to the DEA with the wrong address, even by a letter (you put E and not NE) can really delay all approvals, just as an example.

Now, I would say the most time consuming and frustrating, to say the least, part of opening a pharmacy from scratch is the contracting, unless you have retail space already. The second most frustrating thing would be marketing and building up a client base. Walgreen's and CVS, by far, do NOT rule the pharmacy world, they just pretend they do and they say "fake it till you make it!". My entire family, Uncles, Aunts, and even cousins work at Walgreens. It's not peaches and cream. I would venture to say Walgreen's, a single store, has more monthly complaints than all the independent pharmacies in any given zip code in the US. Customer service and ONE ON ONE time are what will make you or break you. Pay attention to your patients. Care for them and make sure they know their pharmacist is there for them. Walgreen's not only wont do that, they cant with the volume they do. My motto is repeat business comes from customer service, not controls. The last thing you need to worry about is staying above water. The 100-150 figure is OUTSTANDING. Well done sir! I would not expect that, ever. The benefit to owning your own is you pick and chose who you buy your medications from. A lot of suppliers have whats called short sales. If a particular medication is going to expire, suppliers will sell them at a huge discount... just make sure they get dispensed before they expire, lol.

In my opinion, it's best when you own your own pharmacy. Staff it right, keep everything legit, show customer service and one on one patient care, and you will be on your way to a chain in no time!

If anyone has any questions, feel free to message me! Hope this helped somewhat.
 
Im on my clinical rotations at the moment and did one of them at an independent pharmacy.

In order to be successful, you have to provide something the big boxes cant. Customer service, exotic high-risk compounds, full DME services, bio-identical hormone replacement therapy (with a physicians help of course). Consider delving into things such as nutraceuticals or a one-stop clinic (once again, need a physician or a prescriber). You dont need to do 400+ scripts a day. Do 200 a day, but do it well.

You're doctors of pharmacy. How about actually practicing pharmacy, instead of sticking to the cookie cutter medicine. Use your knowledge, critical thinking, etc and pioneer the profession. Do your research and give the people something they cant find anywhere else.
 
Diagnostics also good opportunity with so many easy tools available for BP, diabetes, cholesterol. In the UK these are often offered free to get customers in. Anticoagulaton INR also good as visits to hospital time consuming. Dawn is good cptr prog for this.
johnep
 
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