Squishy Pharmacy
Yesterday I was watching YouTube videos with my daughter of someone giving makeovers to squishy toys. Her name is Moriah Elizabeth and she is one hell of an entrepreneur.
Moriah takes these beat up toys with chunks out of them, faded colours and rips, and she converts them into fresh new pieces to be enjoyed. She doesn't just restore them, she reinvents them. And people love watching her do it. She has 3.5 million subscribers!
This is a great example of being able to take a fairly generic product that's available to anyone and add value to it to turn it into something special that makes money. Not because she sells the finished product. Because of the experience she's created around it.
Through these videos in which she shares her makeover process she inspires others to pursue their own creative projects. Or at least she makes them think that it's something they could do. She has published two books to help. Oh, and she sells the products she uses on her website. She sells merchandise too. Moriah Elizabeth is a savvy young business woman.
What's in it for her once she's sick of squishies? I'm guessing that she'll have developed some pretty transferable skills in video production. Not to mention the experience she'll have gained in setting up and running a small business. I'm not worried for the future monetary position of Moriah Elizabeth.
The lesson in this for me is not to find a niche YouTube opportunity that exploits the interests of children. It's about taking something generic and transforming it into something special by adding value to it. Because that is the very essence of quality community pharmacy.
Anyone can take a prescription medicine, put a label on it and provide some basic information to a patient. But that's like an off the shelf squishy, it's not special. It's as generic and forgettable as it comes. It doesn't earn you customer loyalty. Or customers that tell their friends how good the service is. No, that only comes from providing them with an experience that makes them feel special. Where the Pharmacist takes the opportunity to connect with and provide people with a service that responds to their needs. That's the quality stuff. That's the stuff that people will keep coming back for.