Stop being such a whiner - open your own store

U.S. prescription dollar sales have gone from $104 billion in 1999 to $234 billion in 2008. Moore’s Law of Exponential Increases says it won’t be long until the industry sells $1 trillion worth of prescriptions. That’s a pretty damn big pie. Why shouldn’t you get a piece of it?

Some of the big players are still emphasizing the speed of the “prescription mill” as the only carrot that gets patients into the stores and keeps them coming back. Your best bet is if your competition keeps doing the same things the same way.

Inattentive pharmacists who keep their noses in the mills are working for you.

You have a student loan and taking a chance is scary. You are also a professional. Deborah Van Sant opened her “snowbird” Arizona store in 2009 using SBA money. She said, “I’m liberated and, frankly, I feel the chains are our best advertisement.”

The demands are going to stretch the seams as the baby boomers age. There are so many baby boomers who will be getting 10 to 12 prescriptions each because Big Pharma will be driving the train. There will be boomers all over you. They will want more than prescriptions. For starters, women’s health is about more than attending to female plumbing. And nobody is paying attention to the needs of the mature weekend athlete.

The opportunities for making a living will be incredible. Goethe said, “Boldness has genius, power, and magic. Begin. Begin it now.”

Jim Plagakis, RPh, is a community pharmacist in Galveston, Texas. He is also author of Drug Topics’ monthly JP AT LARGE column. You can reach him at jpgakis@hotmail.com and cc Drug Topics at drugtopics@advanstar.com. You can also visit his website at jimplagakis.com.