So you want to be a Pharmapreneur?

Here is what you need to know...

Hmmm.. how does one describe a Pharmapreneur?

I asked ChatGPT..

Here is what it told me..

"Pharmapreneurs are individuals who are not only involved in the research and development of pharmaceutical products but also take an entrepreneurial approach to create innovative solutions, launch new drugs or medical technologies, and bring them to market."

nahh.. too bland..

So I came up with my own definition, based on my journey:

Pharmapreneur: 'A pharmacist who embraces risk and combines their pharmaceutical knowledge and expertise, with faith in the potential of an idea, a bit of optimism, and whatever entrepreneurial or business acumen they have to bring their idea to life, in the form of a thriving business that serves their patients and the profession.'

I like that better!

It describes perfectly:

• The fact that I am still A Pharmacist

• That I embraced risk, knowing that I may well fail miserably

• That I have faith and charged ahead with the perfect balance of optimism (and pessimism!)

• That I have little if any, business acumen but willing to learn

• That the ultimate aim is to have a thriving business that provides better care to patients through pharmacists

I think any pharmapreneur reading this would probably agree with my definition!

Before proceeding, take heed and be warned: This article may strike a deep chord within you to start that 'something' that you've been thinking of building for the last 6564 years, BUT pharmapreneurship is not for the faint-hearted!

So take my advice with a grain of salt..

Because..well... y'know.. I am not an expert... this is just my experience, and experience is contextual.

In this article, I want to talk about:

• Why I chose to be a pharmapreneur

• What skills helped me

• The failures

• The rewards

• My advice

Why I chose Pharmapreneurship..

The short answer is, "I'm crazy and would do anything under the sun!"

Risk-taking runs in my blood...And yes, I've done crazy things like bungy jumping 134m..

I mean, the worst-case scenario is a miserable failure.

But even then, I will have learned a thing or two!

The long answer

I got sick of the status quo.

Thinking about how I used to practice makes me gag sometimes.

Dispensing 500+ scripts per day solo is not exactly my definition of SAFE nor fulfilling pharmacy practice. It is the definition of insanity and the perfect recipe for burnout.

(Note: This is not the situation in many pharmacies, but it was an unfortunate situation for me. So, if you're not in this situation, I congratulate you, you're lucky that you're in an awesome workplace!)

Every day I would go to bed dwelling on:

• How many patients I should have counselled but didn't get the chance to

• How many errors I may have made that may have fallen through the cracks

• How many medicine-interventions I could have actioned but was so time-poor

• How I had no energy for my family (or myself, in fact!)

This chain of thoughts hovered over me for a couple of years and culminated in my own unwellness resulting from a lack of care for myself.

In short, one day, I was the in-charge pharmacist, ended up with full-blown septic shock, and then I kind of collapsed on the shop floor!

(Because, you see, there was no one else to help out!)

So yeah, if that wasn't enough to make me quit, I don't know what else would have. I'm somewhat stupid to have waited for that long anyway.

And no, I wasn't scared or worried. I learned to trust my gut instincts, and the voice was too strong to ignore.

I chose to trust myself and take the road less travelled. I told myself:

• My skills as a pharmacist are needed throughout healthcare, not just in hospital or retail

• There is so much medicine-harm and I need to use my skills to better help patients

• There is so much scope for innovation in pharmacy, it would be crazy to miss out on being part of it.

• I am doing this for myself and to lead the way for others

• Every failure is a stepping stone to success. I told myself I would fail a lot (pessimism) but I would get what I wanted if I persevere and learn from my mistakes (optimism).

Simply put, I chose to be a pharmapreneur because:

1. It challenges the current narrative of how we can practice pharmacy and sets an example for generations to come

2. It aligned with how I wanted to use my skills to serve patients

3. It allows me to care for myself and my family

Skills to succeed as an entrepreneur

I could give you a long list of attributes, but here are the top 5 that have served me most:

• Embrace Risk - we are inherently risk-averse due to the nature of how we practice pharmacy (verifying scripts doesn't exactly give room for risk-taking!). Take calculated risks, read more about them here.

• Accept Failure - This is an integral part of your growth. You Will Fail. And that's ok. Give yourself permission to really suck at the beginning. You will get better. If you must really cry about it, give it no more than 24 hours and get back to plan B.

• Strategic Thinking - don't think of just now, think about where you want to be in 1 year, 5 years, 10 years.. how are you gonna get there? This is your roadmap that outlines the steps needed to reach your desired outcome. And when your plans don't work, what are your Plan Bs?

• Accountability - You said you'll have it done by a certain time, so stop fluffing around and get it done. When you're accountable for yourself, complacency easily lures you and gives you 100 excuses to distract you from your goal. Set Goals with Deadlines. Write them down. Hang them in front of you. Hold yourself accountable (or get an accountability partner if you're struggling)

• Resilience - ahh the number of times I got off my desk and danced to the Happy song because the alternative would be to sit in a corner and cry! Yes, there'll be tough times, just learn to bounce back. You'll get better at this with time.

The failures

Ok, these were my failures at the beginning of the journey. Obviously, I have learned from them!

Here are my top 5:

• Failing to stop pursuing an initiative even when all the signs were pointing to the fact that it just ain't working and I need to do something different.

• Failing to ask for help, thinking that people may not give me the time of day. Well I was surprised, there are some very generous humans out there!

• Failing to delegate - I like to do it all myself. I quickly learned that was not sustainable and was hampering my business from growing.

• Failing to spend money when it is totally justifiable. To grow, I had to pay - simple! yet it doesn't come easily to many of us. Saving money initially was necessary, but if there was software that could do my job, and save me two hours a day, it was totally justified.

• Failing to unlearn things - recognizing that I didn't know it all and I need to relearn some ideas, habits, and thoughts (or totally abolish them!) was the biggest contributor to my growth. Yes, not everything you learned at uni is necessarily correct!

The rewards

This is somewhat obvious but the biggest reward was:

" I get to build my own dream, instead of spending my life building someone else's."

Where do I start...here are my top rewards:

• More time for me to be creative

• More time for my family

• Building my own wealth, instead of working my xxx off to build someone else's wealth

• GROWTH - I could write a whole article about how much this journey shaped me... I am a more confident, bold, creative, and a better human, because I am doing what aligns with my values, goals and beliefs.

• Time for self-care - finally time for exercise and meditation.

• Learning the art of Negotiation - yes, as it turns out, I think this is one of the biggest skills in life - and it is so underrated!

My advice to YOU.

As I mentioned earlier, take my advice with a grain of salt because this is my journey, and this is my experience.

Some things I said may apply to you, and some... not so much!

This is a very difficult yet very rewarding journey, if you start it, you need to just pause from time to time and enjoy the little wins you're achieving.

If no one is patting you on the back, do that for yourself, because it is hard, and can feel so bloody lonely sometimes. But, there is an army of pharmacists on that same journey, so networking is so important for support. I'm thankful for growing an incredible network of pharmacists here on LinkedIn that I get support from.

And one last IMPORTANT thing:

Yeah, I know you hear it all the time, but honestly, this could totally PARALYZE you (from experience!). Just don't go there. Be happy for others' successes and cherish and focus on your own path. What you see online is people's wins but they never share the tears, challenges and roadblocks that got them there. All that time you spend dwelling on what others are achieving is time taken from YOU and what you are/could be building.

Learn to focus on the JOURNEY rather than just the outcome/success.

As the great Miley Cyrus says "It ain't about how fast you get there, nor about what's waiting on the other side...The joy is in the climb."

Ok, this is too long and I need to stop writing.

Hope you got a thing or two out of this.

-Katrina

P.S. DON'T MISS OUT ON MY COURSE TO MASTER DIGITAL WRITING TO GROW YOUR CAREER