Technology in Pharmacy Business with Scott Carpenter

Automate the Repetitive with Technology

February 2, 2023

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In this episode of the Pharmacy View Podcast, host Scott Carpenter, EVBC talks to John Thornett, Owner, Peak Strategies (WA) Pty Ltd, a Chartered Accountant, and a Pharmacy Expert. Listen to the episode to learn about how the qualified and professional team at Peak Strategies has been helping Pharmacy owners across Australia.

Having started off as a Chartered Accountant, John recounts the story of how Peak Strategies came into being and how its entire client base now consists of Community Pharmacies. When describing over 25 years of work with Community Pharmacies, John says, “When you love what you do, it fills your soul with so much joy.” Furthering why they enjoy working in the industry, they quote these reasons:

First on the list for John are the people in the industry who are wonderful and have so much to offer
Second reason is being able to specialize and have a niche. John understands what the pain points are for Pharmacy Owners because of having put in so much time to understand the industry and business as a whole. John adds that with the level of knowledge, they can provide more value to the clients and have increased abilities to help people. Pharmacy is a unique beast and having the level of knowledge that John and his team have is reassuring from the client’s perspective.

John then compares Community Pharmacies during and post Covid. When Covid hit, Community Pharmacy’s reputation really grew as they were open and accessible all the time. In Western Australia, the closing of borders meant more and more people went to their Community Pharmacies. While good money was made, it was exhausting. John then raises some pertinent concerns about Pharmacies in 2023:

Pharmacy View Podcast · Ep 66 John Thornett – Automate the Repetitive with Technology

While 2021/2022 was good for Pharmacy business across the board, things have changed in 2023 as we live in a different world now.
Family purses have been tightened because of inflation and higher interest rates. What does it mean for Pharmacies moving forward?
What will happen to the market for buying a Pharmacy? It won’t be the same as it was in 2022.
Pharmacy owners are exhausted and you can’t find a Pharmacist for the love of money.
What revenue opportunities were missed in the lack of resources?
Changes in margins owing to wages, stock-piling, and lease renewals.

Pointing out the aforementioned challenges and opportunities in the industry, John then goes on to talk about how busy Peak Strategies has been with the following:

A lot of work in the Validation space
Work with owners in the marketing space
Pharmacy Mastermind Program to help owners have a profitable and sustainable business
A lot of work in the Partner space for first-time owners looking to be Junior Partners
Podcasts
Content-driven website

To John, everything comes down to helping people. And they believe that technology can aid the process through the automation of repetitive tasks. This needs to be done so that people can focus on what people are good at—human interaction.

Topics Covered

How and why Peak Strategies works with Community Pharmacies
Changing perception of Community Pharmacy
Services offered by Peak Strategies
Challenges that Pharmacies will face in 2023
Need for the use of technology in business
Benefits of Automation

Key Quotes (Time Stamps)

“We just 100% look after community Pharmacies. That’s my entire client base—it’s community Pharmacies. And I have been doing this for over 25 years.” (1:33 – 1:42)

“You can be called an all-rounder sports star as an accountant and have small businesses and people from all different industries. But the fact that I can have any Pharmacy owner come to see me and I know what issues are going on in their industry; I know where their pain points are; I know where their trends are. I can look at their business and I know where they are doing good, bad, or different because I know what everyone else is doing.” (9:30 – 9:57)

“2021-2022, leading into 2023, we’ve got very conflicting things that are happening within the industry. Because you’ve gone from this world of COVID. And one of the things that were really highlighted was how critical Community Pharmacy is within the community health scape because they were always open, they were always accessible; that it doesn’t matter what was going on in the industry, you knew you could go to your Pharmacy and get your medication; that you could talk to and share with someone about the disease and the plague and everything. Community Pharmacy was open and their reputation really grew of—we are in the front line here but we stayed open.” (12:19 – 13:05)

“When you look at the data, 2021/2022, across the board, was really good for Pharmacy businesses. But we’re in a different world now.” (14:23 – 14:34)

“If the family purse has to be tightened because of inflation, because of higher interest rates, etc.—what does that mean for demand for Pharmacy? (15:39 – 15:46)

“The market to buy Pharmacy has been very-very active. It’s been a huge couple of years. And the premiums being paid have been quite substantial. And I sort of raise the question of—well, if you are in the market to buy, have you really taken into account what 2023 may potentially look like? Don’t assume 2022 is going to be the same because it is not.” (15:50 – 16:23)

“One of the other competing things going on here is of course is that you cannot find a Pharmacist for the love of money. There’s none around. And you’ve got owners who are properly exhausted at the moment.” (16: 44 – 16:54)

“The thing about is the lack of Pharmacists and how tight the resourcing is—is that how much money they are leaving on the table by not being able to service their patients to the fullest extent and not being able to really grasp all of the Pharmacy service opportunities, not being able to spend a bit more time with the patient because you’ve got 50 others who are in front of you and screaming at you?” (17:08 – 17:35)

“It comes down to that key point of—you just want to help people. And being in Pharmacy, there are businesses there that we want to help. Yes, we can do all that taxation and compliance but there’s more to a business than just that. And myself and my team, we just love to be able to help people. And particularly the new ones coming in—we want to give them a helping hand as well and guide them through these critical years in making some really huge decisions in their lives.” (24:35 – 25:07)

“If there is a repetitive action that your team is doing—how can you automate that and remove the human element? And if you are going to have a human element, let them do what humans do best and talk to people; and be at the front talking to people. And if you can do that, your Pharmacy is only ever going to win because you are giving people exactly what they want and that’s human interaction.” (34:20 – 34:47)