In this episode of Beyond the Counter Pharmacy and Beyond, hosts Solomon Abuede and our guest Qammar Nazir dive deep into the realities of pharmacy ownership. With nearly two decades of experience, Qammar Nazir, Managing Director of Ascent Welfield Group, shares the lessons, challenges, and personal sacrifices behind growing from a locum pharmacist to the owner of over 50 pharmacies.

From the early days of saving and taking calculated risks, to navigating partnerships, managing cash flow, and building a supportive team, Qammar’s journey is a masterclass in resilience, strategic thinking, and passion-driven growth.

He opens up about:

• The importance of choosing purpose over profit

• Why partnerships should be based on merit, not friendship

• The critical need to agree on exit plans before entering a partnership

• Lessons learned from nearly 20 years in pharmacy ownership, including the personal cost of time, stress, and constant operational challenges

• How to scale successfully without losing control or compromising your values

Whether you’re a pharmacist, aspiring business owner, or simply curious about what it takes to grow and sustain a business in a challenging industry, this episode offers practical insights, cautionary advice, and inspiration to navigate your own journey.

🎧 Tune in to discover the strategies, mindset, and sacrifices behind nearly 20 years in pharmacy ownership.

What does it take to keep a pharmacy running for over a decade?

In this episode, we sit with our guest Temi, a Superintendent Pharmacist and pharmacy owner with over ten years of experience. He shares an honest look at what it takes to survive, grow, and thrive in pharmacy ownership from the first challenging years of starting from zero, worrying about paying suppliers, to building systems that allowed sustainable growth and expansion.

We discuss everything it really takes customer experience, stock management, leadership, teamwork, professionalism, financial strategy, reinvesting profits, and maintaining faith through tough seasons. Temi also shares lessons learned from his brother and mentors, showing how seeking counsel early could have saved time, money, and stress.

In this episode, you will learn:

• How Temi survived the toughest first 2 years of pharmacy ownership

• Why pharmacy isn’t a get-rich-quick scheme purpose matters more than profit

• The importance of leadership over just management

•How teamwork and professional systems help scale the business

• Reinvesting profits to grow and sustain multiple branches

• Lessons in resilience and relying on faith to push through challenges

• Seeking guidance and learning from those who’ve gone ahead

• How putting patients first drives both fulfillment and business success

• Key financial and strategic decisions that made a difference

🎙️ Listen now and discover the mindset, strategies, and lessons that kept a pharmacy thriving for 10 years.

In this episode, we explore one of the most critical and least discussed phases of pharmacy ownership the stage around five years in, where the realities of running a pharmacy begin to surface more clearly and the pressure of ownership often feels heavier rather than easier.

Joining us is Olamide Olakanmi, pharmacy contractor, owner, and superintendent pharmacist at Coal Pharmacy, who shares an honest and reflective account of his journey from working in community pharmacy to owning his first pharmacy, and eventually expanding to a second branch.

Our guest Olamide takes us through his early decisions, including launching his first pharmacy around 2020, initially experimenting with a distance-selling model as an entry point into ownership.

Although it offered a quicker and seemingly easier start, he reflects on why it limited long-term growth and how that realization led him to transition into a brick-and-mortar pharmacy a move that came with operational, financial, and personal challenges.

As the conversation unfolds, we discuss what it truly means to grow beyond the first pharmacy. Olamide shares how running COVID vaccination services forced him to step away from daily operations for the first time, and how seeing the business function effectively in his absence became a pivotal moment that gave him the confidence to expand into a second branch.

This conversation breaks down what pharmacy owners often don’t anticipate at this stage, including:

• Why pharmacy ownership doesn’t necessarily get easier with time and why the five-year mark can feel heavier than the early years.

• The shift from survival mode to building systems, processes, and a clear long-term vision.

• Learning when and how to step away from day-to-day operations without losing control of the business.

• The importance of investing in technology, audit trails, and structured stock ordering and knowing when over-investment becomes a risk.

• How leadership evolves with ownership, including the challenge of trusting people, delegating responsibility, and allowing room for mistakes.

• The financial realities of ownership, such as rising drug costs, cash-flow pressure, and the difference between being profitable and being financially stable.

• The personal sacrifices owners often make, including time, energy, and dipping into personal savings to support the business.

• Navigating external pressures such as NHS changes, drug pricing, staffing costs, and national insurance increases.

• The importance of mentorship, peer learning, and seeking advice from those who have walked the path before you.

• Why can pharmacy be more than a dispensary, and how can ownership become a platform for other opportunities when set up correctly.

Throughout the episode, Olamide reflects on how his leadership style has changed over time, the value of investing in people, and the importance of protecting personal health to avoid burnout. He also shares whether he believes pharmacy is still a good business today and the advice he would give his younger self as he reflects on his journey so far.

Whether you are in the early years of ownership, approaching the five-year turning point, or considering pharmacy ownership in the future, this episode offers practical insight, honest lessons, and real-world perspective on building a pharmacy that can grow, evolve, and stand the test of time because at this stage, there truly is a lot to learn.