Sweetgrass has been compounding from the very beginning. As soon as they first opened, compounding was a moneymaker. “I didn’t know how to make money on regular prescriptions. I focused on compounding and that’s really what drove my success for the first four years of my business.”
Sweetgrass is averaging about 1,200 to 1,300 compounds per month. For a while, compounding equated to 50 to 70 percent of their gross profit margin. It wasn’t until July of 2019 that it balanced out with the prescription side of the business.
They even have their own, full-time veterinary pharmacist, who’s the only board-certified veterinary pharmacist in the state. They do everything from sharks to gorillas to pet monkeys, and then of course, dogs and cats. “That is a large part of our business, which is super fun and always keeps us guessing. You never know what’s going to walk through that door next.”
The other thing that Cynthia enjoys about compounding is working with special needs children. No one else will make the medicine the way these patients need it, and Sweetgrass proudly makes it happen. “Whether they need to be dye-free, sugar-free or made into a suspension so it can go through a G-tube or a J-tube, we do whatever it takes to get done.”
“That’s one of my favorite parts about compounding. We see the change we can make in people’s lives by working with their doctor and adjusting their medications, just a little.”