💊First Business Visit: The Medicine Shoppe
Our Jefferson County CEO students experienced their first official business visit today at The Medicine Shoppe, owned by our CEO Board Chair, Eric Black.
The Medicine Shoppe is a great place to begin our business visits each year. Not only does Eric understand the CEO experience and what we want our students to gain from these visits, but his business provides a great example of how an independent business can compete by focusing on something that is difficult to replicate: relationships, trust, and exceptional customer service.
Students learned that being an independent pharmacy allows The Medicine Shoppe to create personal connections with customers and provide individualized services, from custom compounding and packaging to taking the time to make sure customers understand how to properly use their medications.
Eric also shared plenty of lessons that extend far beyond the pharmacy business:
🔹 Build trust. Relationships with customers matter.
🔹 Stay consistent. Provide the same level of service on day 1 as you do on day 30.
🔹 Value people’s time and work hard.
🔹 Know what you do well. Don’t try to do everything. Focus on your goals and your strengths.
🔹 Not everyone will be your customer, and that’s okay.
🔹 Make it personal. Go beyond a simple “Have a good day” and take the time to genuinely connect with people.
One of the most important lessons was also one of the simplest: attitude matters. In a small business, a bad attitude can be poison, while a willingness to serve people well can become one of your greatest competitive advantages.
This first visit also gave our students an opportunity to begin learning how to be a CEO student on a business visit: arrive prepared, listen intentionally, take notes, ask good questions, and look beyond what a business does to understand why and how it works.
Thank you, Eric, for opening the doors of The Medicine Shoppe and helping us kick off another year of learning from the incredible business leaders right here in Jefferson County! 👏