As a pharmacy owner, you have particular strengths, but you may not feel as confident in other areas of your business. A community partner can help to compensate for those weaknesses.
There are several ways a pharmacy owner can enter into a community partnership. These include volunteering, skill-volunteering, mentoring, in-kind service offerings, pro bono services, sponsorships, scholarship and award offerings, employment, and donations, just to name a few.
However, not all businesses or business partnerships are created equal. Some potential partners would help you on the road to success, but others may slow you down.Here’s how to recognize the golden opportunities for partnering with another member of your community.
What is a Community Partner for a pharmacy?
A community partner is a business or organization that a pharmacy can work with for the benefit of both parties. Each member of the partnership provides abilities and resources to the other to reach a common goal.
You may choose to partner with a physician, a health-related organization like an Accountable Care Organization (ACO), or even a seemingly unrelated business like a gym.
“I think if pharmacists looked around their community, they would see a tremendous amount of opportunity for unusual partnerships and alliances that help with the holistic care of the patient,” said Dave Wendland, Vice President and member of the owners group at Hamacher Resource Group.
Ideal Traits of a Community Partner
Partners need to be invested and rely on the other for support in order to have a strong partnership. However, any potential partners are looking for positive traits in your business, as well. If you want to have a good community partner, you need to be a good community partner.
A Focus on Growth
Partners need to do more than provide strengths that compensate for the others’ weaknesses. A partner has the potential to grow your business in areas where it simply couldn’t before.
Paul Parisi, the President of PayPal Canada, says, “Companies that initially grew organically need to look for new ways to drive collaborative innovation that delivers on what their customers need today – and in the future.”
For example, if you partner with a business who refers their clients to your pharmacy website, you should expect to gain more traffic than before. Additionally, your partner should expect to gain new clients who heard about their business on your website.
Watch out for partners who are not as invested as you are. A community partner should want your business to flourish because it will, in turn, help theirs to thrive. If a partner does not put forth much effort to help your business but expects you bend over backward promoting theirs, that’s a red flag.
Shared Vision
As a pharmacy owner, you have specific goals you are working toward in your business. It’s important that a community partner know and understand those goals.
Powerlinx says, “Common goals are important in partnerships, but at the end of the day each partner’s main objective is to improve their own business. More than shared goals, a shared vision and clearly communicated objectives are necessary to make great business partnerships succeed.”
Therefore, pharmacy owners should seek out community partners who have similar missions for their businesses. The products they and their partners offer may be different, but their business philosophies should align with one another.
While you can team up with partners outside of your outside of the field of medicine, take special care to make sure your philosophies may line up. If you’re selling medicine and your partner is selling an unhealthy product, your goals may conflict and that may reflect badly on your business.
Mutual Understanding
Pharmacy owners must seek out community partners who have a strong understanding of their pharmaceutical business. Make sure your partner thoroughly understands at least three major products or services offered in your pharmacy and that you understand the fundamentals of their business, as well.
If you partner with a business to spruce up your advertising but they don’t know how to sell medical products, for instance, you may be disappointed in their work.
Enjoyable Interactions
Seek out a community partner with whom you want to spend time. Attending charitable fundraisers, social events, and volunteer opportunities are all possible networking occasions which could benefit both partners.
If you don’t get along with your partner, attending events with them can become a chore. Even worse, tension between the two of you can hurt business in much more direct and dangerous ways.
Partners don’t always see eye to eye and they sometimes have to put differences aside for the sake of business. However, if your potential partner causes you stress, odds are the partnership wouldn’t last.
Strong Communication
A strong community partnership allows for open and honest dialogue about the strengths, weaknesses, and needs of each partner. Partner with someone who compensates for your weaknesses and allows you to support them in their weak areas.
If an open discussion about these topics isn’t possible, the partnership will not have a strong foundation.
If you are interested in developing a community partnership or would like to learn more about running a pharmacy, sign up for a free membership with PCA. Follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter to connect with other like-minded pharmacy owners, as well.