Reputation

Monday, 9th November 2015 10:09 - by Moosh

This is more a general post about the concept (as I see it) of ‘reputation’. I speak from my experience from when I was a locum pharmacist turning up in a new area of the country and plying my trade. Obviously at the start, I had no reputation because people were not aware of how I did things.

Admittedly, the job of a pharmacist should be quite generic so you would think that one pharmacist is the same as any other, but you would be very wrong in assuming that, for the simple reason that everyone is different. My ‘fundamentals’ are primarily based on efficiency in the workspace – so in the pharmacy setting, especially in a busy dispensary with a high prescription turnover, the key to the ultimate goal of efficiency was to streamline operations effectively. You might wonder that I may be labouring the point, but again, you would be wrong. It’s surprising just how many pharmacies I worked at where there were a few problems with the systems which made them inherently inefficient but because no-one actually made any effort to sort the issues out, the issues remained, and therefore did the inefficiency. A lot of the time these were not major problems, but simple things – like under/overstocking or out-of-date items still on shelves, for example. Since then, standard operating procedures in pharmacies have tightened up so there shouldn’t be similar issues now. Perhaps sorting these out were above and beyond my role as a locum pharmacist, but in order for me to have plied my trade in the way I was comfortable with, the issues were resolved and once resolved, then it was a case of just being a pharmacist.

After a few years of being a locum, did I have a reputation? Well, I am aware that I was rarely without work and generally only needed to work 9 months a year and have 3 months off (which tended to be the whole of winter because who really wants to go to work when it’s cold outside!?), so clearly I was doing something right in order to get repeat business. Considering that my work was generated not via agencies but through word of mouth between pharmacies/pharmacists/store managers (through no forced effort from myself), suggests to me that my fundamentals were being noticed and people took notice and acted on it. By the end of my career I felt as though I had achieved what I set out to achieve (which was to create recurring business without actively networking or changing my personality to suit the role), so it was at that point at which I quit and moved on. What is poignant about all this is that I seriously lack people skills. I am a loner, an introvert, socially inept and for many years growing up, I was always getting the ‘must speak up more in class’ in my school reports followed by the ‘if you don’t speak up then no-one is going to notice you’ lecture from my father, and to be honest, I got noticed and I didn’t change my modus operandi because my fundamentals are what got me to this point in life and they will carry me through to tomorrow and beyond. I suppose the classy response from me at this point would be a knowing look with a slightly upturned smile, which would translate nicely to the unclassy ‘in your face’ quip.

So now here I am as a blogger on London South-East. Do I have a reputation as an investor? That’s really not for me to say. Following on from the above, a reputation can only be given to me once people have taken the time and opportunity to listen to what I say and maybe try stuff out for themselves considering anything I have mentioned. I am not interested in having a vast hoard of investors following me because I don’t like big groups (as you are aware by now!). I don’t bother with bulletin boards any more because I’m not big on saying stuff because I hate the sound of my own (written/spoken) voice (pretty much since when I first heard what it sounded like when it got played back to me at school during foreign languages lessons). If people are drawn to what I do, then great! If people aren’t, then great! I’m not bothered either way actually. I’m not to everyone’s taste but at the heart of what I do, my fundamentals, I aim to provide a more comprehensive understanding of a variety of aspects of investing – both fundamental and technical. There are many inefficiencies which I can see in the way that investors approach the stock market and one by one I am working my way through these, with a few companies included in the (generally one-way) conversations. My motto when I was a locum was to provide a service which people never knew they were missing, and I aim to provide a similar thing here in my blog. I hope I am achieving this, especially since sharing details of my in-house IM and DC9 indicator systems with you. Any fundamentals-only news(flash) posts will be posted with a nod to the IM/DC9 systems, even if I don’t explicitly include these charts or mention them in the posts – there is an element of trust required here on your part.

So that ends a bit of soul bearing. Now, the planet won’t run itself! Let’s go!!

The Writer's views are their own, not a representation of London South East's. No advice is inferred or given. If you require financial advice, please seek an Independent Financial Adviser.