Inside: All businesses need good partners. But not all partners are good for business. Find out how to avoid forming a poor partnership with these top tips for choosing business partners.
You can’t do everything on your own. Your independent community pharmacy needs the support of other organizations and area businesses in your community.
Effective business partnerships provide the chance to add to your patient base, boost sales, and make your community an overall healthier place.
Maintaining good business partnerships takes effort, good communication, and trust. However, like any relationship, business partnerships can be challenging.
We’ve identified the common mistakes independent community pharmacies make when forming business partnerships, and ways you can work to prevent making those mistakes.
Mistake 1: A partnership that doesn’t provide value
The ultimate purpose of a business partnership is to benefit all those involved.
If a business partner doesn’t provide value to you, or vice versa, there isn’t much sense in working together.
For example, if most of the patients who visit your pharmacy are older, partnering with a local pediatrician’s office may not be the most beneficial.
Solution: Choose partners wisely
Considering what you hope to accomplish from a partnership can help you determine the best organization to collaborate with.
For example, if the purpose of a partnership is to get more patients coming to your pharmacy, examine the demographics of your patient base. If you have a high number of senior patients, consider joining forces with an Accountable Care Organization (ACO), which provides care for Medicare patients.
ACOs are comprised of health systems, hospitals, and physician groups. But they increasingly contract with complementary providers, like independent pharmacies.
Partnering with an ACO can help increase business by allowing you to provide services such as medication therapy management (MTM) and medication reconciliation to more patients.
Additionally, both your pharmacy and the ACO will benefit from more comprehensive coordinated care for patients.
Mistake 2: Poor communication with your business partners
A lack of communication can derail any relationship. But for pharmacy business partners, communication is especially essential to ensure both businesses are on the same page.
For example, if your pharmacy is set to provide free health screenings for members of a local gym, poor communication in event logistics between your pharmacy and the gym could derail the occasion.
Solution: Actively work to improve interactions
The secret to nurturing cohesive relationships is through great communication. Actively listening to the wants and needs of your business partner and making time to meet is invaluable for an effective partnership.
Take time out of your busy schedule to sit down and meet in person to improve interactions. Meeting in-person versus impersonal methods of communication, such as email or text message, will allow each partner to better understand the other and avoid discrepancies in communication.
Mistake 3: Having too few business partners
If your pharmacy strictly partners with health are providers, your business could be missing out on a potentially profitable market.
RELATED: How to Add Value to Your Independent Pharmacy by Forming Unusual Community Partnerships
Solution: Collaborate with unique partners
Great partnerships can occur from the most unlikely sources.
For example, farmer’s markets, banks, and local nonprofit organizations could prove to be unlikely—yet profitable—partnership opportunities for your pharmacy.
Expand your network by volunteering with local organizations and participating in community events. Or, if you don’t have time in your schedule, designate an employee as the point of contact for meeting and connecting with potential business partners.
Mistake 4: Favoring one business partner over another
Focusing all your attention on one select business partner can work against you, instead of in your favor.
For example, if the local fitness center you partner with goes out of business, your pharmacy will be more affected by the loss than had you initially worked to partner with multiple organizations.
Solution: Play to each partner’s strengths
Every organization you partner with has its own individual strengths that can benefit your pharmacy. So, partner with multiple organizations with different strengths.
Partnering with a local farmer’s market could potentially help you gain more health-conscious patients, for example. While collaborating with a local gym can help you reach more fitness-focused patients.
Discover four community partnerships that matter.
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