Partnership are like marriage. When they work, they are beautiful, when they don’t it’s a disaster. In pharmacy land there has been some seriously impressive partnerships that have been formed and gone on to huge success. There have also been some bitter and ugly “divorces”. Partnerships are certainly not for everyone. Some owners I know work well on their own, but not very well in a partnership.
Partnerships all start with the right intention. Parties come together to buy a pharmacy or a pharmacist is introduced and buys into an existing pharmacy. It is an exciting time! Goals are set, everyone is on the same agenda, ambitions are laid out. And it all goes swimmingly well……
Yeah, I have seen best friends become business partners. Brothers, sisters, in-laws, work mates, all sorts of combinations going into business together. Often at this stage people will often say a partnership agreement is not necessary. They say its too expensive, not necessary, “we will worry about it later”. So, tip number one, I can guarantee you there will be some stage of your partnership where you will have to rely on that agreement. Please, please, please, insist a partnership agreement is drawn up and signed before you ahead and get pharmacy married.
Then what if you are in a partnership and its starting to get dysfunctional? What if your individual goals are starting to conflict? Your ambition levels and appetite for change are starting to differ? What if its getting too messy?
Here are some options below on how to manage any conflict when things aren’t going well:
1. Start having honest discussions about each person’s goals and vision for the business, I find this is often a good start to the process. It is not confronting at all and it is done in a very positive environment. When people start talking about their long-term goals and vision for the business, you sometimes get conversations and opinions that have never come up before. You can quickly discover whether your business goals are aligned or not.
2. Create discussions about what is the best way forward for the partnership and the business. If serious issues and differences do come up, it is time to start having an honest, but not confrontational discussion about the partnership. Are the differences able to be overcome? Can both partners make concessions to enable the business and the partnership to continue and function at an optimal level? Can you plan for a mutually agreeable plan and timeframe going forward? Perhaps the individual partners need to change roles. Perhaps there needs to be a planned buy out over a period. Or can you both agree on who continues with the business and who exits? The ideal outcome is for both parties to sit down at the end and can still have a beer/wine and talk as friends. That is what you want to achieve
3. Be careful the business doesn’t become the loser; this is often the case when partnerships do breakdown badly. It is like a cancer spreading. The tension between the partners spreads to the team. The vibrancy and connection the team had starts to break down. Rumours start spreading, ill-informed opinions are made and start to spread. The culture goes and sometimes a toxic atmosphere starts to take over. Before too long it’s the business that suffers. Customers leave, turnover drops and profitability drops. Accusations start flying, and……well……its not very nice…….
Want to read the full article? Join the Peak Pharmacy Hub.