Nursing Business Owner: How to Get Started In 15 Steps

Are you a Nurse who desires to start your own nursing business?

Goals of a CEO Mom wants to teach you how to start a nursing in business in 15 steps.

Being a Nurse is great don’t get me wrong but sometimes you want to use those leadership qualities for your own entrepreneurial desires. Many people are in fear of losing the stability they gain from being a nurse by starting a business.

With any new business, you do not want to quit your day job until you have established financial stability that you are comfortable with.

Now let’s be clear being in business is not for the faint at heart, but if you desire complete independence please understand that this will take time, money, sweat, and tear equity.

SIDE BUSINESSES

When I first realized that as a nurse, I possessed so many of the necessary characteristics to own and run a nursing business, I immediately stopped my side businesses (I wasn’t making much). I put down my Mary Kay bag and went into brainstorming mode.

Now for the Mary Kay, Melaleuca, and Tahitian Noni business builders out there, I salute you and your motivation to go far. However, building a Network Marketing business was not for me, none of those businesses were related to my passion or purpose in life.

I think I spent my entire 20’s trying to figure out 7-9 different businesses including the three I just mentioned. However, I still love and enjoy some of their products occasionally, but only as a customer.

Now before I move on if you are reading this and you are a business builder in any type of Network marketing company, and you enjoy it, are motivated by the structure and are in love with the product, I say keep on doing what works for you. I am not here to discourage you in any way. However, this post will focus specifically on how to start a nursing business.

YOU ARE MORE THAN JUST A NURSE

I don’t know about you folks but while in undergrad, starting a nurse related business never crossed my mind. So why now….would you ever want to start your own business when you have the luxury of working 40-80 hours a week, missing holidays with your family, working every other weekend, rotating night shifts, and being subjected to the occasional mandatory overtime.

Well, none of those schedules appeal to me any longer which is one reason I started my entrepreneurial journey in the first place. I don’t know about you all but I enjoy having options as a Nurse. I can now choose my schedule every day and decide if and when I want to work at the bedside.

That is the absolute beauty in our profession there are 100’s of career paths a nurse can take. So if you experience burnout and business is not your forte there are still many opportunities available to you.

That is what being a CEO Mom is all about, having a variety of financial and life options that meet your needs at any given time of your life. Personally, I like being able to walk in almost any area of nursing and start working with confidence.

Once you have this confidence, you may be ready to move on to areas of leadership and becoming a business owner definitely takes leadership.

SEARCHING FOR MORE

Once you get to a certain confidence level in your nursing career, many people desire to excel to the next level. Some people look into management, furthering their education, or even starting their own business.

This is how it all starts. It wasn’t until I was almost at the end of my Master’s program that something started to change in my mindset.

So by now, you may be wondering what types of business could you start as a Nurse? Well, so was I! One late night back in 2012, I remember thinking to myself, “what else can I do” so of course, I begin my search on Google and YouTube. Oh my goodness, you guys there are endless opportunities for Nurses running their own businesses! Who Knew! I have listed a few below.

Examples of 11 Nursing Businesses:

1. Home Health Care Company

2. Staffing Agency

3. Certified Nursing Assistant Training

4. CPR/BLS Training

5. Medical Assistant Training

6. Medication Administration Training

7. Nurse Consultant/Contractor

8. Legal Nurse Consultant

9. Online Nurse E-commerce store

10. NCLEX Review & Tutoring

11. DODD Agency Provider (Department of Developmental Disabilities)

Nursing Business Owner: Get started in 15 Steps

Ok, so now that we have an idea as to what types of businesses you can start as a nurse, let’s discuss how.

Let me say that it will be very beneficial to find yourself a mentor.

Read our article 5 REASONS YOU NEED A MENTOR for more tips.

So anyway, it is important to brainstorm what skills you already possess or have experience with, for example, many nurses are required to keep their CPR certification current for their job, so we will use that as an example. If you decide to start a “CPR Business” you should know there will be some investment upfront.

15 Steps to Start a CPR Business

STEP 1: Research CPR companies requirements for becoming an instructor such as Red Cross versus American Heart Association (I Prefer AHA)

STEP 2: Register & pay the fees to become a CPR Instructor in your area (~$500)

STEP 3: Take the class to become a CPR Instructor (Normally you will have to be affiliated with a larger CPR facility who will actually print your cards for you)

STEP 4: Observe or assist another instructor for 1-2 classes, to make sure you really want to do this and that you are competent.

STEP 5: Develop a business plan (I use LIVEPLANS.com)

STEP 6: Purchase CPR Equipment & become familiar with prior to teaching (Cost $300-$2000)

STEP 7: Come up with a unique name for your business and register it through the Secretary of State office (Cost $90-200)

STEP 8: Obtain EIN number through IRS website. (FREE)

STEP 9: Set up a business e-mail account (Gmail is ok)

STEP 10: Set up domain name & create your website thru WIX or GoDaddy (examples) so you can look professional and people can view your calendar & prices.

STEP 11: Set-up business bank account in the name of your business (Bring EIN Letter & business registration information to the bank)

STEP 12: Decide how you want people to PAY you (Set up a Business PayPal (free to set up) or another merchant account).

STEP 13: Get an online accounting site to keep track of your business expenses, customer payments such as QuickBooks or Intuit (usually will have a free trial)

STEP 14: Determine your Price structure (Should have been discussed in your business plan)

STEP 15: Advertise & Schedule your first CPR Class (prior to this I recommend, observing or assisting an instructor for 1-2 classes)

CONDUCT RESEARCH

Ok folks, so these steps are just to get you started, once you start working through them you will find that there are even more things to do along the way.

Remember, if you really want to be a Nurse Entrepreneur, you absolutely can. You can do it!

Believe me, I have experience in 4 of the 11 businesses I named above and it is a lot of work but very rewarding.

Also, please conduct your own research, make sure you meet the requirements for your city and state as an instructor or owner for the businesses I listed.

Each state has government agencies that are required to oversee the application process, so not every nurse is eligible to run each business.

For example, in some states like my home state of Ohio in order to become a Certified Nursing Assistant Program Coordinator, you must have worked as a nurse for a certain number of hours in a Long-term care facility.

DON’T SKIP THE BUSINESS PLAN

In addition, some of the costs of the items I referenced are just estimates on what I remember paying, items may be higher or even lower. Next, do not skip the business plan.

It is very important to know what you are getting yourself into and creating your business plan will force you to do the necessary due diligence and research for your business.

Don’t worry if you have no idea how to write a business plan, there are a lot of free templates online. I have used liveplans.com, I am pretty sure they have a free trial. I like them also because it walks you through every category by asking you questions through the whole process and at the end you will have a professional looking business plan that you can improve upon over time.

SO ARE YOU READY TO START A NURSING BUSINESS?

So what is your next step before you get started on your Nurse entrepreneurial journey?

Here at Goals of a CEO Mom, we believe that in order for you to succeed in achieving your plans, you have to set realistic goals for yourself.

Start by asking yourself some important questions:

• Establish why you want to start your own business?

• What don’t I like about my current job or employment?

• What are 5 pros & 5 cons to starting a Nursing business?

• What sacrifices will I have to make?

• What do I hope to achieve by starting my business?

• How much money do I have to invest in my business?

Once you answer these questions and follow the suggested steps you will either be fired up to start your own business or exhausted at the idea and convinced that you need to stay at your day job :-}

Whatever the outcome, CONGRATULATIONS on taking the first step toward your future!

Tina Payne

CEO Mom