06/25/2026
Being an entrepreneur isn't enough when someone else controls the economics of your business.
Independent pharmacy owners are already entrepreneurs.
We manage inventory, payroll, compliance, staffing, patient care, marketing, and everything else that comes with running a business.
But one of the hardest realities I've had to navigate is building a business when I have limited control over two of the most important variables: what I pay for inventory and what I get reimbursed for dispensing it.
In most industries, entrepreneurs can adjust pricing, negotiate margins, or pass increased costs along to the market.
Independent pharmacies often don't have those options.
We purchase medications at market prices.
We dispense them to patients who need them.
Then we find out what we're going to be paid after multiple layers of middlemen have taken their share.
The challenge isn't just running a pharmacy.
The challenge is building a sustainable business with what's left.
For years, I approached this challenge the same way many independent pharmacy owners do: work harder, operate leaner, improve workflows, and continue delivering exceptional care.
But eventually I started asking different questions.
What if survival wasn't about finding more efficiencies inside the traditional model?
What if it was about creating new opportunities outside of it?
Why have we accepted a system where the providers responsible for patient care have so little influence over the economics of the transaction?
Why are pharmacy owners expected to absorb rising acquisition costs, shrinking reimbursement, clawbacks, and administrative burdens while everyone else in the supply chain gets paid first?
And why do we keep telling pharmacy owners to "adapt" without giving them the tools or opportunities to do so?
Those questions led me to build Retailmymeds.
Not as a replacement for pharmacy.
Not as an exit strategy.
But as a way to create room to pivot.
A way to improve margins, diversify revenue opportunities, and give independent pharmacies more control over their future.
Because the reality is that many pharmacy owners aren't struggling because they're bad operators.
They're struggling because they're trying to build sustainable businesses within a system that often works against them.
I still believe independent pharmacies are one of the most important healthcare access points in America.
I also believe the future belongs to pharmacy owners who are willing to challenge long-held assumptions about how value is created and where revenue comes from.
The question isn't whether independent pharmacy needs to evolve.
The question is whether we'll evolve on our own terms.
For my fellow pharmacy owners and healthcare entrepreneurs:
What are your pivot strategies?
How are you creating new opportunities and building resilience in an increasingly challenging environment?
