Confucius once wrote that "a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step", and Rotimi and Sheryl Martins' journey to success started in 1995 when they opened the doors of their own business — Caesar's Pharmacy in Somerset. Today that success includes Caesar's Health Store, in Dockyard, which is this month celebrating its 10th anniversary.

"When I was 15 I started working at Somerset Pharmacy and helped out when I could in the dispensary," recalls the self proclaimed Somerset girl Mrs. Martins. "Their two pharmacists were instrumental in encouraging me, including Edna Allen. I soon realised I liked this type of work and could do it, so I went to college to become a pharmacist."

When she returned, she worked at numerous pharmacies, eventually returning to Somerset Pharmacy. But the dream to open her own business was always there, encouraged from a young age by her family, most of whom owned businesses.

"The Caesars have always owned businesses and because the name is synonymous with business in Somerset, we decided to keep my maiden name for the Pharmacy, "she says with a broad smile, adding that her husband agreed on the condition that no one called him "Mr. Caesar".

"We know all our customers by name and most of our staff are from Somerset," Mrs. Martins boasts. "In fact, our pharmacy technician, Veronica Robinson, was my neighbour and her grandmother used to look after me as a baby. And my assistant buyer, Maralyn Wales, used to be my neighbour when we were growing up, so we have known each other our whole lives."

The manager at Caesar's Health Store in Dockyard, Gracelyn Guishard, is Sheryl's cousin, while her sister Lynn Ball, is her accountant and husband, Rotimi takes an active role in running the pharmacy.

When the Martins couple opened Caesar's Health Store in Dockyard ten years ago, they were confident the area would grow and develop — as it has in recent years.

"There isn't really enough business here for a full-time pharmacy, but we take every day as it comes," she explains. "We're holding our own and we do well in the summer months. You have to go with the flow and be prepared to change to make it work. That's business. Competition is there, but we believe in service and we'll continue to evolve as we need in order to survive."

During the summer months she'll employ additional staff, but manager, Mrs. Guishard and cashier Les Grout have been with the store since it opened a decade ago.

"In the summer months it's very tourist-orientated and even that has evolved over the years," Mrs. Martins explains. "We initially stocked health and beauty products and some tourist items. But when the local souvenir store closed, we developed that part of the business more.

"We hope the public will realise what a pleasant shopping experience Dockyard is. There is plenty of parking and so much to see and do in Dockyard. Every store is unique and it's a wonderful family environment with so much to see and do. You can even catch the ferry from town and spend the day."

Mrs. Martins says sometimes clients will come to the store from as far away as St. George's — mostly because of their unique collection of gifts.

"We travel to a gift trade show in Las Vegas every year and try and pick items we think the public will like," she says.

Caesar's Pharmacy is also very involved in the community, schools, churches and especially with seniors in the surrounding community.

In fact this is something Mrs. Martins would like to expand on: "Next year we'll be doing deliveries to the seniors. When we first opened, I used to go on a Tuesday to set up their medication for the week. We had to stop doing that when it got too busy. I want to go back to doing that."

They plan to focus on patient consulting and patient education. "We're not taking the place of their doctor, but acting as liaison between them."

Mrs. Martins hopes this one-on-one consulting will improve the overall health of her clients. "I found out early on that you get more information from patients as a pharmacist, because they're not as intimidated. They're comfortable and they know and trust us to always give them the best advice about their medication."

A wonderful feature of Caesar's Health Store is a blood pressure monitor — the first in Bermuda 10 years ago when it was introduced at Caesar's Pharmacy — and in the future Mrs. Martins plans to expand the store to include "old fashioned Bermuda remedies" and homeopathic remedies.

In fact in the New Year, Caesar's Health Store will undergo a major facelift: "We plan to paint it, move the shelving around and make it more enticing. We'll be upgrading as the business has pretty much stayed the same since we opened it ten years ago."

In concluding Mrs. Martins says none of it would have been possible without the support of the Somerset community, "or without trusting that God would make it possible".

"Even before we officially opened our doors, the Somerset community has been superb," she laughs. "They were coming in and helping me stock the shelves.

"The day before we opened Mr. Clifford Russell came in and handed me his empty prescription bottle. I told him 'we're not open yet Mr. Russell,' but he said 'when you're open, you fill my prescription'. Talk about having faith, but that's what Somerset is all about, sticking together. I am so eternally thankful to them for having been there for us."

Mrs. Martins also credits the Bermuda Small Business Development Corporation (BSBDC) with helping Caesar's Pharmacy get off the ground, explaining that they were "instrumental" in the planning stages of the business.

Mrs. Martins beams with pride when speaking about her staff: "No one has better staff than us. They go out of their way to do what has to be done and we want to be here for the community as long as we can."

Caesar's Health Store in Dockyard is open from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. Monday to Sunday during the winter months.