Pharmacy U news

When the day comes to start thinking about selling their business, a pharmacist-owner usually hopes that the transaction will be their big step towards realizing dreams of financial and personal independence. So, why does selling a pharmacy often turn into a nightmare?

The right succession plan isolates your strengths and weaknesses, or depth, while putting you in control of your destiny. Since you are in the driver’s seat, you will have confidence in knowing there is a plan that is onto paper and out of your head.

Many years ago, I was building out a network of pharmacists to serve as “MTM specialists.” These pharmacists were being used to address a specific group of patients whose problems were going to be very challenging.

We love superheroes and villains because they are unique in their clear identity. We understand their strengths, their weaknesses and what makes them special. Why should you be any different?

I struggled for a long time with the idea of “winning.” A big part of the struggle came from my definition of winning. I confused dominating with winning.

Most pharmacist-owners are more concerned with running their businesses than with planning how to get out of them. Yet inevitably, the day will come when you realize it is time to turn the equity in your pharmacy into capital.

The greatest threat to pharmacy practice today is in pharmacists maintaining their relevancy to both patients and payers. While we are becoming less necessary for technical work and checking prescriptions, our other role as “counselling” on medications can also easily become obsolete.

In any given hour the always accessible, no-appointment needed, world’s number one trusted health care provider has phones ringing, patients in the aisles looking for recommendations, patients waiting in the counselling room for vaccines, deliveries arriving.