Buying a pharmacy in South Florida
South Florida has 102 established pharmacies by our count: companies in business at least 15 years that still file with the state every year and aren't part of a larger group. Of those, 65% have been in business 20 years or more. Most will never be listed for sale, and many of their owners have never been asked.
What it takes to own one
Pharmacies in South Florida come in every size. Here's what owning one could look like at three levels, from a solid company to one of the leaders, with a small business loan covering most of the price.
- Earns about
- $122,000 a year
- Price about
- $378,000
- Your cash
- $53,000
- Could pay you
- up to $54,000 a year
- Earns about
- $238,000 a year
- Price about
- $739,000
- Your cash
- $104,000
- Could pay you
- up to $105,000 a year
- Earns about
- $630,000 a year
- Price about
- $2 million
- Your cash
- $273,000
- Could pay you
- up to $278,000 a year
Earnings are owner earnings: profit plus what the owner pays themselves, before loan payments and taxes. They and the prices are our estimates from public records, not the owners' figures, and we value companies like these at about 3.1 times a year's owner earnings. Your cash covers the down payment and closing costs, and what the business could pay you is what's left after the loan payments and the cushion lenders require. The more cash you bring, the further up you can go.
Age, size and location
Revenue is our estimate from public records, grouped into wide ranges.
| In business | Companies |
|---|---|
| Under 20 years | 36 |
| 20 to 29 years | 38 |
| 30 to 39 years | 14 |
| 40 years or more | 14 |
| Estimated yearly revenue | Companies |
|---|---|
| Under $1M | 31 |
| $1M to $2M | 12 |
| $2M to $4M | 5 |
| $4M to $8M | 1 |
| County | Companies |
|---|---|
| Miami-Dade | 55 |
| Broward | 28 |
| Palm Beach | 19 |
| Town | Companies |
|---|---|
| Miami | 29 |
| Hialeah | 16 |
| Pembroke Pines | 5 |
What the best pharmacies have in common
- Patients who refill on schedule, with prescriptions coming from many prescribers rather than one clinic down the hall.
- Income beyond plain retail prescriptions: compounding, facility accounts, vaccinations, medication synchronization (lining up a patient's refills on one day).
- Careful buying. What the store pays for generic drugs has a large effect on its margin.
- A pharmacist who will stay on as prescription department manager, and technicians who know the patients by name.
- A pharmacy system that shows what each plan pays, claim by claim, so you can see which claims lose money.
- A clean audit history with the plans, and inventory that matches the books.
- A drive-through window, easy parking and a location near the doctors' offices that send it patients.
What to check before you buy
- Payer mix. Ask for a year or more of claims by plan. If a few plans carry most of the volume, a cut in one contract hits hard.
- Contracts after a sale. Florida Medicaid wants notice from the seller and your enrollment application at least 60 days before closing, and it can hold you liable for overpayments it has already identified (section 409.907(6)). Each drug plan network has its own process for a change of ownership. Ask early how long each takes, because a gap sends patients elsewhere.
- Audits and clawbacks. Plans audit prescriptions and can take back payment for paperwork errors. Look for pending recoveries and fees charged after claims were paid.
- Inventory. Count it at closing, leave out stock that has expired or will soon, and make sure the controlled substance records match the count.
- The pharmacist question. If the owner is the main pharmacist, budget for hiring a replacement.
- Competition. Mail order and nearby chains pull away maintenance prescriptions (regular refills for ongoing conditions); facility and compounding work is harder for them to take.
Questions to ask the owner
- Which plans make up most of your prescriptions, and are any of them paying below cost on common generics?
- Are you the prescription department manager today, and who would run the counter after you step back?
- What audits have you had from plans or the board in the last few years, and how did they turn out?
- How do you buy your drugs: one main wholesaler, other sources, a buying group? And how often do you compare generic prices?
- Do you serve any assisted living facilities or group homes, and is that work under contract?
- Which services beyond retail prescriptions are growing, and which would you add if you were staying?
- How much of the front-of-store stock is current and still sells?
To learn what these companies do, which licenses they need and how ownership works, read our full guide to buying a pharmacy in Florida.
Owning a company in South Florida
The local economy
South Florida covers Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach and Monroe counties: Miami, Hialeah, Doral, Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood, Pompano Beach, West Palm Beach, Boca Raton, Jupiter, and the Florida Keys down to Key West. It's the state's largest metro area and its most international. PortMiami, Port Everglades and Miami International Airport tie the region to Latin America and the Caribbean, which supports a deep base of wholesalers, freight forwarders and logistics firms, many of them near the airport. Tourism and cruises, finance and wealth management, health care, real estate and construction carry much of the rest. Palm Beach County adds wealthy seasonal residents and, out west near Lake Okeechobee, sugarcane and vegetable farms. In the Keys, nearly everything turns on visitors, fishing and boating.
Companies that serve homes, condo buildings and other businesses do well here: the building trades, property services, insurance agencies, medical and dental practices, and professional firms.
What's different about owning a company here
Costs run high: commercial rent, wages and, above all, property and windstorm insurance. Price the insurance before you make an offer, not after. Miami-Dade and Broward make up the Florida Building Code's High-Velocity Hurricane Zone, with stricter rules for roofs, windows and structures. That raises building costs, and it also gives steady work to the contractors who know those rules well.
Much of the workforce and many customers speak Spanish as well as English, and a company that works well in both languages has an edge. The winter season matters more in Palm Beach County and the Keys than in Miami. In the Keys, the cost of housing makes hiring and keeping staff one of the hardest parts of running a company. Ask any seller there how they find workers and where those workers live.