Selling your pharmacy? Win the mental game first

When you put up your pharmacy for sale, you begin a journey rife with opportunities – but also fraught with risk. Getting the details right when it comes to corporate structure, tax planning, marketing your pharmacy, negotiating with potential buyers and a range of other factors can make all the difference between a successful sale transaction and a bitter disappointment. As transaction advisors, however, we have seen one mistake that trumps all others when a pharmacist-owner is selling their business: not preparing emotionally and psychologically for life after pharmacy ownership.

What, after all, is the ultimate goal when selling your business? You might say that it’s to realize the highest possible return on your financial investment, and sure, that’s part of it. But the most important goal, in our view, is this: to be happy.

You can get everything right when selling – a fair price, no legal or tax issues, fast and amicable negotiations – and still end up unhappy with the whole transaction.

If, that is, you don’t prepare to win the mental game.

Many pharmacist-owners sell their companies and then find something in their lives is missing. They might have dreamed of retirement for a long time as a nirvana of comfort and leisure, but the reality turns out to be something different, and disappointing. The truth is, retirement can be difficult, even if you have a tidy nest egg that will support you and your loved ones for the rest of your life.

The challenges of retirement aren’t just financial – they are also emotional. And like every other challenge, you can address them far more effectively if you first recognize them and then prepare for them.

Here are a few things to consider:

• Learning to let go.

More often than you might think, a former pharmacist-owner ends up feeling regret, embarrassment or even shame because they don’t like the way the new owner is running the business. Perhaps they have sold to a large corporate chain that seems to care only about profits and not the people in the community. Or maybe the new owner doesn’t seem to cater to longtime customers the way the former owner did. Or maybe the new owner repainted the pharmacy in a colour the old pharmacist-owner doesn’t like.

Whatever the grievance, it is easy for former owners to indulge in disapproval of the new ownership, especially if their old customers are grumbling, too. We have seen this disapproval reach such a level that the former pharmacist-owner ends up regretting selling the business in the first place.

How do you prevent that happening? For one thing, choose your buyer carefully. If you care deeply that the new ownership align with your established practices and community values, for instance, then take that into consideration when assessing an offer.

The other thing to remember is this: the person or organization that buys your pharmacy is also buying the right to screw it up. You can offer guidance or constructive criticism (if asked), but otherwise you must be prepared to keep your emotions (and your tongue) in check over how the new person is running the show – because it’s not yours anymore.

• Finding your identity.

Pharmacist-owners often identify with their businesses. They pour years into their pharmacies, along with their money and effort. And unlike some business owners, they spend day after day after day actually operating the business. So, it’s natural – and rewarding – to get your sense of identity from being a pharmacist-owner. When you sell, however, that’s gone. And if you have let your public-facing role as a pharmacist define who you are in your community, your family and your life, it can be hugely disorienting to leave it all behind. Our advice: Before you sell, think long and hard about who you are outside of the pharmacy. What are you good at? What interests you? What activities do you find joy in? If you don’t know or don’t have any answers to those questions, find them quickly, before you wake up one day as a “former pharmacist” – and not much else.

• Keeping it real.

One of our clients once quipped that after retirement, he planned to work on his golf game and do a lot of gardening – “but I guess I’ll have to find something else to do for the other 11 months here in Alberta!”

Kidding aside, many pharmacist-owners do have unrealistic expectations for their retirement. And some have never bothered to seriously think about what their expectations are. Part of the reason is that during their careers, they haven’t had the luxury – or time – to cultivate interests outside of work.

So, take the time now, before you sell. One day you will probably have the money and the time to do pretty much anything you want. Figure out what that really is.

• Staying engaged.

Pharmacist-owners are often deeply involved in their communities, especially in rural areas and small towns. When they sell, however, they are suddenly cut off from this important sense of connection. As well, when people get older, it’s easy to start feeling that the world at large is increasingly moving faster and further away from us. If they don’t stay engaged, people in retirement can experience loneliness, lack of purpose or even depression and other mental health issues.

So, before you exit the business, think about how you will stay engaged with your community. It might be through philanthropy and volunteer work, or getting involved with minor-league sports, or becoming a teacher or mentor, or maybe even running for local office. Staying engaged also means keeping your mind active – for instance, trying to keep up with the latest technology – and looking after your health. (Group exercise like yoga or spin class is a great way to stay socially connected, as well.)

Research has shown clearly that being social can help you live a longer, happier life. So, as part of your retirement planning, think deeply about how you will stay engaged with your community.

Our point is, doing everything right when you sell your pharmacy is no guarantee of a happy outcome. Selling your business is not only a financial event; it’s also a life event. So, preparing for the “soft” impacts of retirement – on your sense of identity, your emotions and your mental health – is every bit as important as being prepared financially.