Whilst pharmacy is undergoing yet another review, the uncertainty of the future of community pharmacy builds even more. As a pharmacy owner, you would be excused for thinking “how can I plan and think forward when there is so many question marks out there? When so many people are trying to unravel what we have fought so hard to establish”. But I am a firm believer in the saying opportunity presents itself in the form or problems.
Being a pharmacy owner can sometimes feel tiring and overwhelming. Some owners have said it can be a lonely existence at times too. There is so much stress and issues to deal with. In one day, you can take on various roles- pharmacists, IT, marketing, merchandising, leadership, finance experts etc. There is a lot you need to deal with, a lot of decisions need to be made, which is all part of your busy day.
The good thing about life is it has funny ways of reminding you why you do things.
As we go through business we can get very wrapped up in the stresses and pressures that we face. There are always problems we must deal with.
Many pharmacy owners have huge rent pressures, declining earnings from their dispensary and front of shop, business values are dropping, staffing issues etc. It is not easy out there at all, there are a lot of problems.
We have recently been going through a period of being quite busy and I have been mentally tested on quite a few occasions. My mentor called me at a time when I had a lot going on. He wanted to meet up with me again. Now I was in a frame of mind of “I have enough challenges going on at the moment, that last thing I need was him challenging my thought processes once again. I don’t have time for you….humph….grumble grumble…..complain”. But we did have a coffee and a good chat which I am glad I spared that time.
