Book a time to chat

The Community Pharmacist Blog

Pharmacy shelves_blurred_wide

Pharmacy Owners: It's Time to Go Back to School

Posted by Benjamin Coakley on Tue, Aug 16, 2016 @ 09:57 PM

It's that time again. It's time for the kids to go back to school and for your life to go back to normal for the next 9 months. Speaking of normal, what is normal for you? We did a marketing campaign a few years back where we asked pharmacy owners if they were normal. Some of the responses were humerous.

One owner said if "Running around all day like a chicken without a head is normal, then I'm normal." Another said, "I get up do my family duties and then head off to the pharmacy with the thought that I won't see my family again until the next morning. If that's normal, then I guess I'm normal." Finally, a young lady said to us that "If being able to spend time the way I want to is like chasing rainbows and unicorns, then I'm pretty much normal."

All of these examples are humerous, but they are sad as well. The questions that come to my mind when I think about this are: Why don't most pharmacy owners have the time for the things they feel are most important? Why can't pharmacy owners have their proverbial cake and eat it too? Is it too much to ask for pharmacy owners to have the life they want to live?

I think the answers to this require pharmacy owners to go back to school.

Read More

Topics: community pharmacy, community pharmacy owner, community pharmacist success

What We Learned in Chicago these Past Three Weeks

Posted by Benjamin Coakley on Tue, Jul 26, 2016 @ 07:46 PM

Trade shows are great for many reasons and not so great for a few. Some of the reasons they are great are they bring people together to discuss new ideas, you get to see old friends you haven't seen in a while, and the destinations are usually first class. The reasons they are not so great are they are extremely hard work, you learn so many new things it is often hard to prioritize them, and they are extremely hard work.

The Waypoint team prides itself on going to these tradeshows because it is a great honor to be invited and at the same time it allows us to be the eyes and ears for the community pharmacy owners who are not able to attend.

With this being said, we normally stumble across several ideas or observe certain things that are helpful for independent community pharmacy owners. We attended two of the largest tradeshows in Chicago over the past month and what we learned/observed may surprise you. Below is a list of those things.

Read More

Topics: community pharmacy owner, community pharmacist independence, pharmacy patient experience

Pharmacy Owners: What is Your System for Personal and Family Success?

Posted by Benjamin Coakley on Wed, Jan 21, 2015 @ 05:41 PM

A system is defined by Merriam-Webster as a set of connected things or parts forming a complex whole. Everything that works very efficiently and effective is the result of a good system. The human body is a great example of this. Community pharmacy owners are no strangers to systems. They have systems to keep track of drugs, process payments for their patients, keeping employees happy and paid, along with hundreds of others that we don't have time to mention here. Then, why is it so difficult for them to have a system of personal and family success? This is the million dollar question.

Read More

Topics: community pharmacy owner, community pharmacist, community pharmacist success

Community Pharmacy Owners: What are you thankful for this year?

Posted by Benjamin Coakley on Thu, Dec 04, 2014 @ 07:22 PM

One of the wisest men I ever met told me something extremely important earlier this year.  He said that every year during the holiday season, he goes away (for him it is hiking in the mountains where he has no cell phone signal) and spends an entire day reflecting on all the things that happened to him that year. He said that he always comes out of that day very thankful for his life because he realizes all his blessings. He also said that he is able to see the difference he makes in this world.  I found myself asking the question, "Why doesn't everyone, and particularly pharmacy owners, do this?"  I believe the answer to this question revolves around the facts that it is difficult to do and some people don't want to know these things because they are scared of what they might be.

Read More

Topics: community pharmacy owner, community pharmacy owners

Are You Happy with Your Life Outside the Pharmacy?

Posted by Benjamin Coakley on Fri, Sep 12, 2014 @ 11:15 AM

One of the questions we ask pharmacy owners is "Are you happy with your life outside the pharmacy?" Owners typically tell us that there are many things that they would like to improve about this aspect of their lives. Some even laugh and say I didn't know such a thing existed. It is our opinion that most owners want to work to live rather than live to work.

Read More

Topics: community pharmacy owner, community pharmacist, life outside pharmacy