All I've read about pharmacists running their own pharmacy is that most people would just rather not do that, mostly because of the stress level associated with it. Did any of you want to run your own pharmacy or do any of you do that now? I'm very curious as to the advantages/disadvantages of it. One of the reason's I'm asking is that, as I said in another thread, I won't be applying to pharm schools until next fall so I would have some time before I actually attended pharm school and I wanted to take advantage of that time and perhaps get my masters. If my goal was to own a pharmacy, then I should perhaps get a business related masters, right? Well that's what I was thinking. Any thoughts?
want to own a pharmacy?
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Stressful like a marriage. That is why I have never done it. But like a good marriage it can be very rewarding.
I had the pleasure of working for Delph Haynie and his family of Durango Colorado. He had started in a tiny store of a strip mall on the main drag through Durango where he thrived to the point of being able to move into the dead grocery store next door. Over a twenty year period he grew his business to include PCCA compounding, servicing two nursing homes, some limited home health care including sterile products (the reason he hired me), a thriving oxygen supply which carried the store as it finally failed, a huge front end with a complete cosmetics and floral department.
He started in his late forties and was in his early seventies when I met him. At that point the financial future of both his children and his grandchildren was assured. In many ways he was a country bumpkin without a lick of business sense or business practice. This explains why he only had the one store. During the same time period the Grass family grew Rite Aid corperation as a comparison. But he was dumb like a fox and had an iron will. One busy Monday the computer system died and he was so incredibly stressed that he burst a blood vessel in his eye. I have never seen that before. He survived with a business model that was outdated for as long as he could. He attempted to change in the face of changing conditions but was not agile enough. We were seeking Joint Commission accreditation as a home health provider in the Four Corners area when he finally threw in the towel. It was too little too late. Rite Aid bought him out lock stock and barrell for his location alone. At the time that he quit he said that his buying ability - his ability to compete against the chains was so poor that he might as well purchase his product from the neighboring grocery and mark it up from their retail price. He was the last independent in town to fold. When he did he actually got some death threats from his long time customers for selling out.
The entire family was involved in the business. It was a tradition that the store be open only two hours on Christmas Day giving the employees the day off. His family would open the store for that two hour period to give ER patients time to get their scripts filled, and it was a hoot to see his youngest grand daughter Cami stood up on a wooden box at the front register to ring customers out
It can still be done, but you must be dumb like a fox and have an iron will. You must also find a niche. There is a compounding pharmacy close to where I live run by a husband/wife team. They do well enough to support three full time employee pharmacists plus ancillary staff. Not too shabby. Another independent specializes in durable medical equipment, a third runs a traditional pharmacy with a specialty in herbs. I suggest that you seek these independents out and ask them. I am sure they would love to share with you.
I personally would like a small one man internet mail order operation of some kind. Nothing so large as to requre hiring employees. That opens all kinds of headaches. My hero at the moment is Michael Quinn RPh of Hahneman Labs. He specializes in compounding homeopathic preparations and has an extensive mail order operation
I had the pleasure of working for Delph Haynie and his family of Durango Colorado. He had started in a tiny store of a strip mall on the main drag through Durango where he thrived to the point of being able to move into the dead grocery store next door. Over a twenty year period he grew his business to include PCCA compounding, servicing two nursing homes, some limited home health care including sterile products (the reason he hired me), a thriving oxygen supply which carried the store as it finally failed, a huge front end with a complete cosmetics and floral department.
He started in his late forties and was in his early seventies when I met him. At that point the financial future of both his children and his grandchildren was assured. In many ways he was a country bumpkin without a lick of business sense or business practice. This explains why he only had the one store. During the same time period the Grass family grew Rite Aid corperation as a comparison. But he was dumb like a fox and had an iron will. One busy Monday the computer system died and he was so incredibly stressed that he burst a blood vessel in his eye. I have never seen that before. He survived with a business model that was outdated for as long as he could. He attempted to change in the face of changing conditions but was not agile enough. We were seeking Joint Commission accreditation as a home health provider in the Four Corners area when he finally threw in the towel. It was too little too late. Rite Aid bought him out lock stock and barrell for his location alone. At the time that he quit he said that his buying ability - his ability to compete against the chains was so poor that he might as well purchase his product from the neighboring grocery and mark it up from their retail price. He was the last independent in town to fold. When he did he actually got some death threats from his long time customers for selling out.
The entire family was involved in the business. It was a tradition that the store be open only two hours on Christmas Day giving the employees the day off. His family would open the store for that two hour period to give ER patients time to get their scripts filled, and it was a hoot to see his youngest grand daughter Cami stood up on a wooden box at the front register to ring customers out
It can still be done, but you must be dumb like a fox and have an iron will. You must also find a niche. There is a compounding pharmacy close to where I live run by a husband/wife team. They do well enough to support three full time employee pharmacists plus ancillary staff. Not too shabby. Another independent specializes in durable medical equipment, a third runs a traditional pharmacy with a specialty in herbs. I suggest that you seek these independents out and ask them. I am sure they would love to share with you.
I personally would like a small one man internet mail order operation of some kind. Nothing so large as to requre hiring employees. That opens all kinds of headaches. My hero at the moment is Michael Quinn RPh of Hahneman Labs. He specializes in compounding homeopathic preparations and has an extensive mail order operation
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I'm always pleased to see peeps still curious and hopefully audacious about independent pharmacy. I know that contrary to pop belief more indie pharmacies are opening than ever bc peeps see so much potential in them. I think these guys usually start them as a business w/some angle thrown into them.
We had a thread like this before, and my conclusion is if you really wanna make it as a pharmacy and not as a servicing center for nursing homes or other such you have to find a way to build a loyal pt/client base through ridiculous patient care/counseling. Moreover, you have to open your business and develop your model as any start-up firm, which includes a large amount of financial backing to begin with.
I worked in an indie compounding pharmacy for my internship and I could see its many strengths, first and foremost was the intelligence, demeanor, and work ethic of the owner, but I could also see its drawbacks bc he only relied on himself. I don't think i'd wanna attack the problem that way. Something as dynamic, where your competing against a coroporate business model requires more than just one intelligent person.
Upshot is: i'm quite confident it can be done and done well, but it takes an inordinate amount of effort and business acumen
We had a thread like this before, and my conclusion is if you really wanna make it as a pharmacy and not as a servicing center for nursing homes or other such you have to find a way to build a loyal pt/client base through ridiculous patient care/counseling. Moreover, you have to open your business and develop your model as any start-up firm, which includes a large amount of financial backing to begin with.
I worked in an indie compounding pharmacy for my internship and I could see its many strengths, first and foremost was the intelligence, demeanor, and work ethic of the owner, but I could also see its drawbacks bc he only relied on himself. I don't think i'd wanna attack the problem that way. Something as dynamic, where your competing against a coroporate business model requires more than just one intelligent person.
Upshot is: i'm quite confident it can be done and done well, but it takes an inordinate amount of effort and business acumen
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any other thoughts?
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The business climate and demographics still support the old
business model? That's just a wild a**ed guess. Actually, I think
it is because the population concentration will support the new business model and the old side by side. There is money there such as you might not find out in the suburbs and people still like the personal attention hank the corner druggist can give them and they are willing to pay his prices to get it. Independents cannot as a rule compete toe-to-toe cost wise so their bread and butter is value added services like delivery.
New York City (my personal impression) was years behind the rest of the country in some areas. When I visited in 1993 after the World Trade Center Bombing I could not find an ATM to save my life. In Dallas at the time ATMs were everywhere. In NYC my only recourse was to go into an old fashioned bank with iron and brass teller windows to ask for a VISA cash advance which was done on the old paper form with the credit card stamper. It took forever and the charges were highway robbery.
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