I read an article online today that was highlighting the problems America is having with pharmacies all over the country. Corporate conglomerates have replaced thousands of small, independently owned pharmacies over the last twenty years and as with all things corporately controlled, the need for increased profitability year over year has led to an untenable situation for the pharmacists who have to do the real work. I see this every day in my work. Our pharmacy department has a line of customers waiting virtually all day every day for vaccines and prescriptions. The turnover of staff has been drastic the last three years and we continue to struggle with the workload brought on by the pandemic and the shrinking availability of pharmacies in general.
This whole article struck a nerve with me because it reminds me so much of a theory I have about the lack of small businesses in the 21st century. The pandemic crushed small business to an extent never seen before in America and we may never recover from it. Traditionally, small business has been an American strength like none other. Thousands of people came here just to try their luck chasing the American dream and that was often a small family enterprise. Bakers, tailors, skilled tradesmen and many more worked extremely hard to build their businesses and support their families. They had an overwhelming desire to make their customers happy by providing good service and knowing their customers needs. This was much easier to do in a small business because the owner was in front of his customers almost every minute of the day and he heard their feedback in real time.
As one of those small business owners, I was totally focused on everything I was seeing and hearing from my clients and I knew exactly what they wanted. I developed a very keen sense of empathy for people’s needs over time and in turn that created profitability because the customers were driving my thought process about every aspect of the business not some corporate board who never had any contact with the clients. That was the one thing I avoided at all costs, wasting time sitting around a table having meaningless conversations with the smartest guys in the room, according to them. Decision making in a vacuum is a recipe for disaster in every business I can think of and it happens all the time now.
When you listen to customers in real time you get all of the feedback and during the pandemic it was raw, honest and emotional. I actually started hiding toilet paper during the pandemic so that the customers who couldn’t get there at 6 AM would still have some at 9 AM when they could get there. I had a nurse start crying when I told her I saved her some. Her shift didn’t end till 7 so she was extremely upset that we sold out every day. I will never forget the look she gave me when I stuffed those 12 rolls in a paper bag and sent her on her way. That’s empathy in case you don’t recognize it. Oh and she came back in and filled her cart after she hid the toilet paper in the trunk of her car. I think we made money on her that day. What a coincidence.
The overall point I’m trying to make is that profitability doesn’t have to be a zero-sum game. We can all get what we want if we listen to each other, have empathy for the needs of others, and work together to make it happen. I don’t believe anyone has to lose just so someone else can be declared the winner. That approach is why we still have wars and poverty and hatred and the lust for power driving our decision-makers to think in the most unempathetic ways possible. We’re all in this together, trust me.
What I would like to see is Corporate America rediscover it’s roots. All companies started out small once upon a time. They built their empires by serving customer’s needs and giving customers a reason to come back for more and most of those interactions were face to face and over the counter. It’s really hard to listen to a nurse pleading for toilet paper at 9 AM and not want to do something about it. I did what I could in that moment and it was pretty simple really. I didn’t need to have a meeting with upper management to decide what was the right thing to do. I just used common sense and solved the problem. I seriously doubt any MBA could have done it better.
Life isn’t that complicated, we just choose to make it that way by overthinking and underdelivering everything. Profits come from happy customers who feel valued and I think every board of directors would be wise to put the customer first and then watch the quarterly earnings take off. That’s the common interest we should put above all else to make America better than ever.
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