A powerhouse in the world of independent pharmacy, Lester offers free business resources for Pharmacy Owners on his website, ThePharmacySage.com. Offering insight, wisdom, and strategy, Lester is an esteemed voice in pharmacy business. Lester helps his clients increase patients and profits in spite of the 3rd party payment fiasco.

Lester Nathan, MS

Being effective may be the single most challenging tasks facing the pharmacy owner today. Ever-so-many owners, as leaders, concentrate on efficiency. And yes, efficiency is important. However, in the long run, effectiveness may prove to be far more important.

Effectiveness may be the single most important area in which leaders need to work on improvement.

To be effective means doing the right things. On the other hand, efficiency means doing things the right way.

When efficiency becomes conflicted with effectiveness, effectiveness must rule. An example: someone wishing to establish his or her own pharmacy. If that individual does not seek enough qualified advice, there is so much that can go wrong.

Take, for example, a pharmacist who got this process totally wrong. When she wanted to start her own pharmacy, she talked to a consultant, and then created these errors:

In the beginning, she attempted to save some money by not employing the help of the consultant, who is a master of the process. Instead, she hired an architect and builder to create her dream pharmacy. She overspent by $80,000, according to her own budgets.

She hired a lawyer to negotiate her lease. Unfortunately, he did not understand the intricacies and the legalities of the pharmacy industry. The outcome was that she had to pay rent for an extra 3 months, spending an additional $9000. Lease terms are better negotiated by someone who knows the constraints put on pharmacies by the regulatory agencies.

She hired a compounding tech that lacked certain necessary characteristics to be the owner’s prime assistant. The tech could compound well, but she could not help obtain the patients for whom that compounding was necessary. 

When the owner finally sought the assistance of professional help, she totally ignored 3 major corrective actions that could have quickly multiplied cash flow.

It is well established that when efficiency collides with effectiveness, effectiveness must rule the day. When efficiency of the budget challenges achieving one's goals, the goals must reign supreme; otherwise, the vision cannot be achieved.

Yes, fat should be trimmed from the budget, but not at the expense of achieving goals and objectives.

Effectiveness can and must be learned. Mostly, it starts with goal setting. When you set a few meaningful goals to accomplish on a monthly or quarterly basis, you begin the process. When you help your team members set individual goals, you carry that a step further. And when you set goals for yourself to accomplish on your own, then perhaps you will have completed the cycle.

The important thing is to measure results, determine what action steps need to be changed so that you stay in alignment with your goals. Some can be accomplished on a daily basis. If you do not accomplish longer-term goals in the time allotted, that does not mean you have failed. It simply indicates that maybe the time element needs to be elongated a little bit.

The measure of the successful leader lies in his ability to 'get the right things done.' This usually involves doing what other people have overlooked, as well as avoiding that which is unproductive. 

To be truly effective, the leader must master the following 5 practices.

 Effective leaders know that time is the most limiting factor. Money can be replaced, so can people and products. However, time cannot be.

	Systematic time management tries to identify and eliminate the things that need not be done at all, and the things that are purely a waste of the leader’s time. The effective leader concentrates his time only on those activities he is passionate about, and those that no one else in the firm could or should possibly do. The rest he delegates. 

on making contributions that you, and you alone, can make

. Prioritizing the mission statement becomes imperative. What is your mission, and what should it become? This is the first question that needs to be answered. It is so basic and fundamental that failure to do so can lead to many a wrong decision.

 The leader knows that building on strengths is the key to becoming more effective. To be effective means asking the right questions before believing you have the right answers. Great leaders don’t start out asking “what do I want to do?” They ask, “what needs to be done?” Then they ask, “of those things that would make a difference, which are the right ones for me?” They don’t do things they are not good at. Those they delegate.

 on those tasks that are most important to results. Delegate the rest and/or bring in expertise from the outside.

 This may be the most important item because even decisions about time are evolving. Effectiveness enters into every decision because every decision is about achieving objectives, goals, and dreams. When budgets vs goals becomes an issue, the achievement of goals is most important in order to achieve one’s vision and one’s dreams. When a major problem is encountered, the problem should be spelled out. 

Effectiveness must be mastered in order for the leader to achieve his or her dreams

Being effective may be one of the biggest challenges facing pharmacy owners today, because without effectiveness, very little good is going to happen. 

For Pharmacy Times readers, The Pharmacy Sage is offering his proprietary “

The General Theory of Entrepreneurship, Leadership, and Marketing for Pharmacy Owners.

” Contact the Pharmacy Sage via email to obtain. The Pharmacy Sage can be reached at (518) 346-7021 or 

Articles

Being effective may be the single most challenging tasks facing the pharmacy owner today.

Becoming a More Effective Pharmacy Leader

You know what DNA is, but do you really know what leadership is?

The Pharmacy Sage defines it as “rendering uncommonly good performance, and then getting it from others.”

As such, your main job as the leader of your pharmacy can be divided into 2 parts:

Build your cash flow and profits to greater heights

Build strength into your organization by creating a place where the best employees not only want to come to work, but also want to stay for the rest of their careers

To accomplish the first, you create—or bring in&mdash;the finest marketing available for independent pharmacies. Put it to work using a multiplicity of different online and offline strategies to make certain that you deliver the right messages to all the right people.

The second part is where your leadership becomes much more apparent to your team members. It is your job to attract the best possible applicants for any job opening. And that means, not only those who are actively seeking a job, but also anyone who might possibly want to leave her present position in order to find a better one…with you.

Creating a place to work where the best want to stay on a permanent basis is key to attracting the best. When you have such a working environment, people are more happy, more productive, and your employee turnover becomes negligible.  

At Rx Profits Now, I practice what I preach. Many firms pretend that they treat team members like family. I make certain that concept is a reality, day-in and day-out. As such, I…

Use “please” and “thank you” for anything and everything possible during the course of the day

Commend people as often as possible for a job well done or any improvement they make

Use a goals-oriented program for getting improved work performance wherever I feel that improvement needs to be made. It leads to a variety of rewards for me.  

Evaluate and give raises twice yearly based on how well those goals are achieved

Good leaders enjoy giving rewards to their people when those increases are based on improved performance. It’s part of the leadership psyche. In addition, I also provide:

Partial gas reimbursement based on the distance each travels to and from work on a daily basis. Costs very little; nevertheless, it shows I care.

Some fruit, yogurt, and other foods on an almost daily basis to make certain that people, in their haste to come to work on time, do not go through the day on empty stomachs. Fruit is healthy, and I try to make certain that a minimum amount of protein becomes part of their morning food consumption.

Weekly or bi-weekly staff meetings to keep them apprised of changes that are occurring; also to seek their opinions and input. You’d be amazed at how much talent you can bring out in these meetings using such an approach.

If you want to attract the best and keep them forever, turn their work into fun. Show some humor once or twice a day to help them enjoy their work. And, when preceded with some training, 

ou can delegate much of the work that you really should not be doing.

The more you attempt to do the routine and mundane that does not belong in your job description as the owner, the more you have diluted your role as the leader. And your people decidedly recognize that fact. Believe it or not, they know what you should be doing versus what you should be handing off to other team members, so that you can concentrate on that work which you, and you alone, should do.

If you cannot delegate, you cannot lead. As a result, where should you be focusing your time, effort, and energy now?

Upgrading your marketing so that you deliver messages that resonate with your intended audience. Seek outside help to do this very specialized activity.

Write down what the next 5 years of your pharmacy should look like

Put on your research cap, gather some data to see how much revenue even a part-time personal assistant could bring to your pharmacy business

Finally, look inward at what is truly holding you back. Where is the chokepoint? Are you looking at all possible alternatives?

To the degree that you practice what you have learned from the above, the DNA of your leadership will become more and more pronounced.

The Pharmacy Sage can be reached at (518) 346-7021 or 

The DNA of Your Pharmacy Lies in Your Leadership

As The Pharmacy Sage, I often write about solving your most brutal problems by asking the right questions. They are so basic and fundamental that I am presenting to you some of the most powerful ones that I have discovered for helping create a far more profitable and successful pharmacy than ever before.

Have I differentiated my pharmacy in the marketplace?”

Differentiation is the essence of strategy and the prime source of competitive advantage. You do not earn money just by filling regular scripts for your patients. You earn a lot more by being different from your competitors in many ways. The more ways you differentiate, the greater you’re pulling power— as long as these differences are beneficial to both current and future patients. In this manner, you serve your core patients better and more profitably.

“Is what got me where I am today going to get me where I want to go tomorrow?” 

This is the first and most basic question that needs to be answered. Is what got you results many years ago. Things that worked in bygone years just simply do not bear fruit in today’s fast changing marketplace and economy. You need new tools and new strategies. New tools like a more comprehensive demographic study of your surrounding population, as well as a new business model. And new strategies regarding where you market, how you market, and which media you choose to dominate for your particular niche. Without these new tools and strategies, you may continue to flounder—at an even worse level.

“Am I organizing my time, effort, and other resources around winning strategies and great marketing to build the future I want, or am I still clinging to the status quo, which is based on yesterday’s breadwinners and today’s mistakes? 

Make certain that everything that you do each and every hour of the day is organized around all of your marketing, including your training and selling. Do not spend 1 hour doing anything that does not lead to your enhancing your cash flow. Make marketing paramount because marketing is the engine that drives your business to greater and greater heights of success. Other people can fill prescriptions. And other pharmacists can put their seal of approval on them.

A version of this article was originally published by Total Pharmacy. Visit 

 to view the full article "The 5 Most Powerful Questions Every Pharmacy Owner Should Ask."

Call (518) 382-1990 to get a copy of the free report “

Entrepreneurship, Leadership, and Marketing for Pharmacy Owners.”

The Pharmacy Sage can be reached at (518) 346-7021 or thepharmacysage@rxresultsnow.com.

As The Pharmacy Sage, I often write about solving your most brutal problems by asking the right questions. 

Powerful Questions Every Pharmacy Owner Should Ask

Failure to understand and appreciate the dynamics of the pharmacy marketplace is costing owners money. One of the things that is interfering with the accomplishment of dreams is that the marketplace is not the same as it was 10 years ago.

Neither is it static. It is constantly changing and constantly moving.

If your beliefs about the marketplace are erroneous, then you will never be able to deal with the problems you currently face.

 identified 4 barriers to success that any business owner might encounter.

The inability to prioritize that which is most important to the business at any one moment in time.

Failure of the leadership team to grow as leaders in their abilities to delegate and predict.

The inability to navigate the increasingly tricky dynamics of the marketplace.

Not being organized for success— lacking systems and management structure.

And The Pharmacy Sage would well recommend another decided blockage: confusion between 

Efficiency of the budget, when confronted with achieving goals, is often solved by owners by cutting expenses. Immediately, marketing or getting good advice is slashed. This is the wrong answer because it leads to mediocrity and to less than normal take home pay. 

In addition, The Pharmacy Sage has identified 4 sets of fundamentals that successful pharmacy owners have embraced.

Providing a rhythm for relating to team members, patients, and vendors  

Mastering the X factors: what differentiates you, what is the best brand name promise you can bring to your patients, and what is your single biggest choke point?

A closer examination reveals that further understanding certain aspects of being an entrepreneur is fundamentally imperative to succeed in the world of pharmacy today.

As a Would-Be Pharmacy Owner, These Are the Pitfalls You Could Encounter:

Not going down a straight and narrow path to opening your doors to a decidedly successful pharmacy. Wandering rather aimlessly in pursuit of the pathway to success.

Not finding the best specific location possible.

Not having the right budget for build out, as well as taking you to the point of making a profit.

For Owners Who Want to Establish Financial Freedom

Not having the business model that avoids the insurance payment fiasco.

Not having marketing messages that magnetically attract a steady stream of patients through the doors.

Not having the potent products that can do the job, as opposed to the lesser potent ones that proliferate the mass marketing giants.

Not understanding what business you’re in, and that includes a relationship to the information business.

Establish priorities, especially relating to the use of time. And make very certain that these priorities are the right priorities—ones that give employees maximum productivity, and therefore maximum profitability. 

Constantly examine real time data, what’s working and what is not.

Establish a rhythm for doing everything relating to employees, patients and vendors.

Failure to understand and appreciate the dynamics of the marketplace is costing pharmacy owners money.

Understanding the Dynamics of the Pharmacy Marketplace

Efficiency is good. You want to be efficient at doing things you should be doing. 

One of the biggest problems in the independent pharmacy industry is that people become all too efficient at doing the wrong things. Efficiency means doing things right, while effectiveness means doing the right things.

You want to make certain that you’re doing the right things. Let’s take a look at 1 simple example.

A Florida based pharmacy owner, after a succession of improvements, finally said, “I no longer want to fill traditional scripts. I’m only interested in compounding, and building my natural med business.” He had been efficient. He simply concluded that he was all too efficient at doing the wrong things. He wanted to activate the right things.

That’s how to win in the pharmacy business world today.

Far too often, independent pharmacy owners get caught in the enigma of budgets versus goals. Which one should prevail? Which one must prevail for success?

This paradox is based on the age-old question of efficiency versus effectiveness. Which one should rule the day?

When efficiency comes in conflict with effectiveness, effectiveness must prevail.

So it is with the budgets and goals. Budgets are important, and it is certainly imperative to remove the fat wherever it exists in the budgetary process. That is an accepted rule of thumb for any profitable pharmacy.

Nevertheless, if a pharmacy wishes to take advantage of opportunities and not just be fighting fires day-in and day-out, then the goals should reign supreme.

To do the opposite, that is, make budgets the ranking power, is to ensure that your high and lofty goals will never be achieved (except the goal of holding down expenses).

And so, in allowing budgets to dominate the thought process is to ensure that large amounts of cash flow will never be captured, and the business will never become wealthy. It will creep ahead inch-by-inch. Yes, eventually more money will be made. However, it will be miniscule compared to the money that could have been made had the goals been the dominate factor in this equation.

So the rule of thumb for creating a truly successful pharmacy, one that is decidedly financially rewarding to its owners and investors, is the one where major goals dominate budgets every day.

For the truly savvy pharmacy owner, major goals are indeed the basis of his thinking, day-in and day-out. And so, he organizes his daily work accordingly. 

Efficiency means doing things right, while effectiveness means doing the right things.

The Price of Efficiency for Independent Pharmacies

You have a passion for helping people feel better, live longer, and enjoy life more. That’s why you went to pharmacy school. But, is your current place of employment allowing you to do that?

Those who establish a wellness pharmacy flourish because the better care associated with a wellness pharmacy puts more money into the owner’s bank account.

No more constraints. No more lack of time. You call the shots, and you take care of patients the way you want because it’s your pharmacy.

When properly located and embracing a truly successful business model, you can achieve great success.

Most of the risk can be removed from your newfound venture by your being highly analytical and by using the 3 biggest wealth protectors that you could possibly apply, according to The Pharmacy Sage.

Know your mission— and make sure it’s the right one

Constantly practice systematic abandonment

They’re powerful wealth builders. More about one of them later.

Many highly successful pharmacy owners got there by breaking through limitations, going beyond how other pharmacies are defined. They do more for their patients and provide extra value above and beyond that which the others do.

The most successful owners have the following things in common:

They are really good at what they do, and it’s all about what they have a passion for.

They have differentiated their pharmacy. They are not just practicing pharmacy as everyone else in their state is doing nor are they simply abiding by the rituals and practices of the industry. They are getting bigger results with a wider swath of patients and making a bigger impact than anyone around them because they have differentiated themselves in the marketplace.

They are not in the business of dispensing one-size-fits-all medicine. They dispense medicine customized to each patient’s body, and they apply information and education that goes light years beyond the industry standards.

They command immense respect from their patients and prescribers because they offer better solutions to chronic health diseases than any other pharmacy.

They use marketing that gets the job done. And that is the only marketing on which they spend a dime.

. It’s not always dramatic, but there is always a sense that they are doing things that help more patients and they’re making steady progress as they make inroads in their communities.

Most of them find that they can make plenty of money, but beyond a certain point, that’s not the main point. They get total satisfaction from what they do for patients. As a result, they have happy families, take extensive vacations, and even enjoy hobbies and community attachments.

Armed with this information, you should find it easier to become successful with a wellness pharmacy.

First, it deals rather differently with patients’ chronic diseases. Primarily, it provides superior quality nutraceutical 

 as an avenue of combating those aches, pains, and other discomforts that befall its patients.

For instance, rather than supplying the usual, publicized flu shots, it helps patients self-immunize. As a result, by taking 1 or 2 herbal supplements daily, a patient can build his immune system to fight the usual rash of upper respiratory viral infections so that he does not succumb to the flu, colds, bronchitis, or even 

. In essence, he is building his glutathione, his master defense mechanism.

As a result, that patient is also reducing the effects of 

 that is based on allergies. No more need for allergy shots. No more doctor visits.

Another example can be arthritis. As you well know, OTC NSAIDs can damage the liver and create other upheavals in a patient’s body. On the other hand, you can supply high potency herbal and homeopathic supplements that can do as good a job, even better, without the adverse effects.

The same holds true for muscle and tissue 

And those are just a few examples. For instance, if you have patients that suffer from:

You can also provide the proper herbal and homeopathic remedies. And you can easily acquire the proper information and training for it, all backed up by science and studies.

If you practice systematic abandonment month-in and month-out, you will have a pharmacy business that runs like a lean, mean, fighting machine. You will constantly reallocate your investment in products, services, people—even ideas&mdash;from low profit areas to those that are much higher. You will always be seeking the best, most profitable ways of doing business. And, you will never have to struggle to make a good living for yourself and your family, nor will you be stressed out.

It is truly time-honored wealth-gathering tool.

The Pharmacy Sage can be reached at (518) 346-7021 or thepharmacysage@rxresultsnow.com

You have a passion for helping people feel better, live longer, and enjoy life more. But, is your current place of employment allowing you to do that?