While watching the NCAA basketball tournament (commonly called March Madness), I realized there are some important similarities between this type of sports insanity and owning a pharmacy.
One of the reasons it is called March Madness is a number of underdog teams always rise to the occasion and beat the teams that are heavily favored. Another reason for the "madness" label is the number of people who madly try to pick the perfect bracket.
These frequency of upsets makes predicting what will happen virtually impossible. So much so in fact that this year a large mortgage company initiated a $1billion (yes, $1 billion!) bracket challenge because they new the odds of someone picking a perfect bracket were astronomical. There were 10 million brackets submitted and all but 20 were eliminated after the first weekend of play.
Pharmacy ownership can be just as unpredictable as March Madness and, in today's economic, political and regulatory environmentit, it helps if you are just little insane.
There are many keys to successful community pharmacy ownership, but, in a maddening environment such as ours, it is easy to overlook two very important ones:
- Tenacity: Having the will to succeed and not letting anything stop you is extremely important in today's environment. Rising to every challenge is something you must do (like the NCAA underdogs). It helps to always remember and celebrate the positive impact you make on the people and communities you serve.
- Flexibility: You must remain flexible as an owner and in the pharmacy in order to adapt to the changes that constantly occur artound you and your business. Success requires you to focus on remaining flexible.
We wish all the best for you in your life inside, outside and after pharmacy. After all, your chances of success are far greater than trying to pick a $1 billion bracket. By the way, I finished 7,503,367 out of approximately 10 million entrants!. As they say, there's always next year.
If you would like a little support in staying positive, visit the web site for
Who is Waypoint and why do we do what we do?
Our vision and mission is to help community pharmacy transition through a life of pharmacy into a life of independence. In order to do this, we focus on protecting community pharmacies and family pharmacies for future generations.
Our process, The Inspired Independence Process, is designed to help pharmacy owners, no matter where they are in their pharmacy lives, achieve all their goals and dreams, inside, outside and after their life in pharmacy. In doing so, we are helping community pharmacies survive for many years to come.
When a pharmacist reaches out to us for information and help, we endeavor to give them as much free value as is possible. In addition to providing educational, self-assessment and strategic planning tools, we invite qualified pharmacists into our formal discovery process.
The first step of the process is completing The Inspired Goals Workshop. This complimentary 90-minute session enables us to deliver a detailed and personal Inspired Independence Blueprint. The blueprint provides a roadmap for achieving your goals and enables you to fully understand the value of joining The Inspired Independence Program.
If you wish to learn more about any aspect of our work, the free value we offer, or to be considered for The Inspired Goals Workshop, visit our web site at www.waypointus.com or call 843.873.4420 and ask for Ben or Matt Coakley.
At Waypoint Pharmacist Advisors, we take care of you
