For Ramlah, freedom of time and financial independence is crucial in her life, which pushed her to venture into her own pharmacy business.
After graduating in 2001, she did her housemanship and worked in the Hospital Tengku Ampuan Afzan (HTAA) for three years. During her time there, she found that the on-calls and working schedules were not suitable for her.
“I wanted freedom of time as well as financial independence. So, I resigned and worked with a private retail pharmacy for the first two years before opening my own pharmacy.”
After gaining some experience, she took up a Majlis Amanah Rakyat (MARA) loan and opened her own pharmacy.
Ramlah established her first pharmacy in 2006, initially known as Impian Pharma Enterprise, before changing it to Farmasi Al Falah in 2014. She then opened another branch named Farmasi Zufa in March 2019. Both pharmacies are in Pahang, which is close to her home and family.
She said the clientele for both pharmacies differed. While both had a majority of Malay customers, Farmasi Zufa, located in Bandar Indera Mahkota 5, Kuantan, catered to a working and more educated clientele.
Meanwhile, Farmasi Al Falah is located in Jalan Sg Lembing, Kuantan, near a Felda settlement. That caters to working women and elderly or geriatric patients.
At the moment, she has no plans to expand or branch out her business but instead is focused on improving and stabilising both pharmacies management and monitoring systems.
After joining the Duopharma Biotech Halal Pharmapreneur Programme, Ramlah is now revamping her vision and business model to adapt to current times.
“Before this, my business model was 100 per cent offline. This year, after attending the workshop, I have hired social media staff.”
She noted the hiring process was a challenge as they required someone skilled at managing social media and knowledgeable in wellness and health.
“The first person I hired was not able to cope, and I had to find a replacement. As of now, our social media presence is in the development stage.”
According to her, the workshop has also helped her to differentiate her business in the marketplace.
Ramlah is currently learning
about nutritional medicine. She has attended a programme called “Pengurusan Emosi” to provide a better service to customers in terms of dispensing medication. At the same time, she is better able to give advice on emotional health. — The Health
