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Pharmacist and owner Dan Singh prepares a special-order medicine at his shop, Dan's Wellness Pharmacy. |
BY PAMELA GOULD
Dan Singh has defied the odds and succeeded in making a living his first year as an independent pharmacist.
The entrepreneur is so encouraged that he's now exploring where to expand in the Fredericksburg region.
Fellow independent pharmacist Stephen May, owner of Goolrick's Pharmacy in downtown Fredericksburg, attributes his colleague's success to research and their shared approach. Both men focus on customer service and provide two other things uncommon in the field: delivery and individual compounding, or filling prescriptions for customized drugs.
May has run Goolrick's, a Fredericksburg landmark since 1867, for nearly two decades but said trade journals are rife with startups that fail their first year.
He credited his friend with a good game plan.
"Dan was smart," May said. "He counseled with a lot of people before he went in up there."
Singh, who was born in New Jersey to parents who emigrated from India, has been in the pharmacy business about 14 years. He worked for an independent before becoming district manager for a major chain.
In March 2007 he struck out on his own, establishing Dan's Wellness Pharmacy beside North Stafford's main and heavily traveled corridor of Garrisonville Road.
Unlike chain drug stores, Singh's pharmacy doesn't try to be a general-purpose store. He focuses strictly on health-care products geared toward making people well and keeping them well.
In addition to prescription drugs, the store offers herbal remedies, natural supplements, traditional over-the-counter medicines, first-aid products, medical supplies including walkers and braces for ankles, knees and wrists, and a small selection of gluten-free and wheat-free foods.
People who stop in appreciate the personal service he provides, but the biggest challenge has been educating the community.
"I think a lot of people still do not know I'm here," Singh said last week.
"I think some people also don't think I'm a full-service pharmacy, or that I take all insurance plans--but I do and I am."
Jennifer Colliver of Aquia Harbour came into Dan's Wellness Pharmacy last week after spending the previous night caring for a sick daughter.
With a Florida trip in the offing, she wanted to ward off the symptoms she'd begun to feel herself.
She asked Singh his suggestions for natural and herbal remedies to help her immune system, and went with his suggestion.
"I'll see if it works," she said.
What sold Colliver on Singh's service was his help when her 16-month-old son, Rex, was ill.
"The big thing he did for me was he got a prescription for my son that no one else could get," she said.
Her doctor told her the medicine was available over the counter, but she spent a few days calling chain pharmacies without success.
When she called Singh, he not only found the medicine, he also determined that it required a prescription, contacted the doctor for her and then filled the prescription.
"That was huge," Colliver said. "I need a good place that will tell me the right things."
A DIFFERENT APPROACH
Brian J. Baker, executive director of the Rappahannock Region Small Business Development Center, hasn't studied the pharmacy industry specifically but said Singh, like anyone running his own business, would have a "tactical advantage" over a major chain because of his ability to customize care.
"In this day, when it's increasingly difficult to get personalized service in health care, as much as you can do to personalize it, it would be to your advantage," he said.
Singh's target is folks in Stafford County, but he has gotten customers from surrounding counties. He said doctors from Woodbridge to King George have sent business his way for the individualized compounding he can provide.
And if it's inconvenient for folks to visit his store, he can ship the medicine to them.
Still, most of Singh's current customers live in North Stafford--as he does--and about 90 percent come for the traditional pre-made prescriptions.
"Those people come to the pharmacy that can serve them the best and, hopefully, I can be that pharmacy," Singh said.
Pamela Gould: 540/735-1972
Email: pgould@freelancestar.com
