Many years ago we ran a marketing campaign titled "When is an independent community pharmacy like a penguin?" The thought process behind this was that many community pharmacists have a patented response when asked what makes their pharmacy different and successful. They all say "We treat our patients better than anyone else." This is why we chose penguins as a metaphor for this issue. They all look exactly alike and it is almost impossible to pick one out from the others. We actually issued what we call "The Penguin Challenge" because it is imperative for community pharmacists to know what makes their pharmacies uniquely successful.
This is also what pharmacy junior partners are going to want to know before the decide on taking the plunge into the icy waters of being a community pharmacy owner. They are not only going to want to know how your pharmacy is different, they are going to want to know how you are different, and that the pharmacy is being run efficiently and different from the pharmacy one town over. How well you are prepared to make the case that your pharmacy is different than others can mean entering into a successful junior partnership in a timely manner or a never ending search to extend your legacy for your patients and community.
The good news is that there are things you can do to seperate yourself. The first is to identify a potential junior partner. This can be inside your store our outside your store. Once you identify a candidate, start creating a list of all the positives of your pharmacy. Then, all you have to do is approach the candidate and show him or her the list of positives and show him or her how they can buy the pharmacy. A career map and pharmacy buyout proposal is a great way to package this for the candidate.
This all sounds extremely simple to accomplish. However, this can be one of the toughest things that you will have to do in your pharmacy life. We recommend that you have an expert on your team to help you think through all the issues that go along with selling the pharmacy.
