Is Your Pharmacy a Lion or Hummingbird?

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Abstract

uthor’s chicken scratch comparison of a large and small pharmacy.</figcaption></figure><p id="575a">The lion is the king of the jungle, ferocious and fear-mongering. It gets plenty of opportunity but costs plenty to sustain. The hummingbird is elegant and agile. It accomplishes gigantic feats with small energy input.</p><p id="a258">The lion pharmacy colleague has no time to use his money. After building his bank account and investment portfolio over years, he now wonders if there is a threshold of cash that saturates happiness. After having a certain amount, the benefit may just stop increasing. This may be due to being consumed by the energy required to feed the lion. If he worked non-stop and was forced to think about work twice as much as the hummingbird, what would his true income actually be?</p><p id="86c6">When we compared the number of hours consumed by work with what he put into his wallet, his salary averaged out to $22 per hour. After posing the same question to my hummingbird colleague, who’s pharmacy makes much less revenue with less moving parts and less people to manage, it was estimated he made an average of$ 72 per hour.</p><figure id="2101"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/0*VoKoVOaUtCDE1q9a"><figcaption>Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@icmerz?utm_source=medium&utm_medium=referral">Ian Merzwinski</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com?utm_source=medium&utm_medium=referral">Unsplash</a></figcaption></

Options

figure><p id="cafa">The hummingbird’s income allowed him to hit that cash threshold the lion refers to but still be fully invested in his hobbies since he has more free time and less mental burden to carry.</p><p id="8a4a">It seems it is true in pharmacy as in life, that money is not everything. Of course, the lion gets to wear the title King of the Jungle, but is the ego boost worth it?</p><blockquote id="2a00"><p><i>Lion or hummingbird: which is your pharmacy?</i></p></blockquote><blockquote id="3746"><p><i>If you are purchasing a pharmacy, do you want it to be a lion or hummingbird?</i></p></blockquote><p id="ea12">For solutions to what’s not taught in pharmacy school, visit <a href="http://www.layeredleadership.ca">layeredleadership.ca</a> and subscribe to Jason’s weekly newsletter: Rested, Fueled & Ready</p><div id="2b0b" class="link-block"> <a href="https://medium.com/subscribe/@jason_chenard"> <div> <div> <h2>Get an email whenever Jason Chenard publishes.</h2> <div><h3>Get an email whenever Jason Chenard publishes. By signing up, you will create a Medium account if you don't already…</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/0*ziwlELuUZZ_Dy9qi)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div></article></body>

How much do pharmacists make per hour?

I have two pharmacy colleagues. They are both owners but of very different operations. The first owner operates a large pharmacy with a large staff that has an IV hood, an extensive regional delivery map, an online store, a home healthcare division and two remote dispensing locations. Like the lion of the jungle, they rule their trading area. However, it takes plenty of energy to sustain them. The owner is constantly working and admits that while he loves his luxury car, he will never find a steady state until he retires.

The second owner operates a much smaller pharmacy with a tiny, efficient staff who knows their patient base extremely well. Like the efficient hummingbird, they generate much less in sales with a streamlined workflow over fewer hours of operation.

The question is: which owner makes more money?

Author’s chicken scratch comparison of a large and small pharmacy.

The lion is the king of the jungle, ferocious and fear-mongering. It gets plenty of opportunity but costs plenty to sustain. The hummingbird is elegant and agile. It accomplishes gigantic feats with small energy input.

The lion pharmacy colleague has no time to use his money. After building his bank account and investment portfolio over years, he now wonders if there is a threshold of cash that saturates happiness. After having a certain amount, the benefit may just stop increasing. This may be due to being consumed by the energy required to feed the lion. If he worked non-stop and was forced to think about work twice as much as the hummingbird, what would his true income actually be?

When we compared the number of hours consumed by work with what he put into his wallet, his salary averaged out to $22 per hour. After posing the same question to my hummingbird colleague, who’s pharmacy makes much less revenue with less moving parts and less people to manage, it was estimated he made an average of $72 per hour.

The hummingbird’s income allowed him to hit that cash threshold the lion refers to but still be fully invested in his hobbies since he has more free time and less mental burden to carry.

It seems it is true in pharmacy as in life, that money is not everything. Of course, the lion gets to wear the title King of the Jungle, but is the ego boost worth it?

Lion or hummingbird: which is your pharmacy?

If you are purchasing a pharmacy, do you want it to be a lion or hummingbird?

For solutions to what’s not taught in pharmacy school, visit layeredleadership.ca and subscribe to Jason’s weekly newsletter: Rested, Fueled & Ready