Pharmacist of Choice

Pharmacist of Choice

Nick Generalovich

Founder

Vanguard Advanced Pharmacy Systems

Bradenton

A Revco executive for years, Nick Generalovich struck out on his own in 1987, much to the consternation of some who knew him.

"I was responsible for a big geographic area and employees in the thousands," he says. "It was a whole business environment that I was leaving. I was opening my business, and not a chain. I was going to be the pharmacist and my wife was going to be the cashier."

Several years after he took over a small pharmacy in Englewood, he bought a Bradenton pharmacy that would inspire his niche takeover.

The new pharmacy had three assisted-living accounts. Generalovich visited those customers and learned they needed more sophisticated packaging systems than most other customers. Generalovich began to package and label each dose by day, something adult living facilities (ALFs) had to do themselves in keeping with legal requirements. Assisted living facilities, Generalovich soon learned, were more than willing to pay a premium for the service, which included Vanguard's computerized record keeping.

With that, Generalovich's Vanguard Advanced Pharmacy Systems became the pharmacy of choice for many of Florida's assisted living facilities.

By 2002, the company was prime for growth.

Generalovich decided to move company headquarters to East Manatee Avenue in downtown Bradenton. Negotiations with the owners of a 90-year-old building turned sour, forcing Generalovich to sue to keep the original sales price. After prevailing, Generalovich spent nine months renovating the 1912 building. Just as the building neared completion, another situation emerged.

A competing pharmacy in Lakeland, with 105 clients in Florida, went out of business, forcing Generalovich to rethink his business strategy. Generalovich was used to taking on two to three new clients per month. He eventually decided to take 18 of the defunct competitor's clients in the space of about three weeks, forcing himself and staff to work 24-hour days. Generalovich knew he needed more staff - quickly.

Fortunately, Bausch & Lomb decided to close its Sarasota plant, pushing a number of their employees with 20 and more years' experience into the job market. It was an opportunity for Vanguard, which picked up five of the employees, each with more than 15 years' experience.

The strategy worked. Revenues were $11 million in 2003, compared to $5.6 million in 2001. Average annual growth is 40% during the same period.

Generalovich adheres to a Dale Carnegie style of leadership. In fact, two years ago, after he and other management completed a Carnegie management course, Generalovich invited the guru to interview his top management and offer feedback.

"I'm proud to say that he felt that most of what we were doing was textbook correct," Generalovich says. The only negatives were to be expected: "Some new employees felt I was distant, that they'd bring something to my attention and they felt it didn't get addressed because there were so many things going on. So we put in a middle manager to address those things, to bring them to my attention."

Now firmly ensconced in the renovated "Vanguard Building," Generalovich is contemplating future growth - including offers to take the company public.

"Those options are available," he says.

Another option is to continue to grow the private company, maximizing its impact in Florida before looking outside the state for opportunities. For now, that's Generalovich's choice.

Discussions of growth remind Generalovich of the most valuable advice he ever received. It came from the man who sold him his first pharmacy.

"He knew I had no experience owning my own business, and as we were signing off on the deal, he said, 'If I can give you one piece of advice, 'Don't be greedy.' I didn't fully understand that until my business began developing and there were opportunities to get greedy - to keep employee wages down, to cheat on the numbers."

Generalovich has yet to face serious competition.

"We don't see any significant competition springing up," he says. "I thought there would be more at this point."

Generalovich holds to an open-door management philosophy and aims to lead by example.

"I've done that every step of the way," he says. "When we had six employees, I was the one cleaning the bathrooms."

Away from work, he spends time with his wife, enjoying their now-empty nest. The two plan to build a new home together.

STATS

Employees: 2001: 31; 2002: 36; 2003: 75.

Revenues: 2001: $5.6 million; 2002: $8.6 million; 2003: $11 million.

Average annual growth: 40%