Nursing Entrepreneur: Definition, Ideas, How to start a Business etc
INTRODUCTION
The 21st century experience an increasing number of professional nurses who are seizing entrepreneurial opportunities wherein both nursing and non-nursing skills are leveraged in the world of business. While the ranks of nurse entrepreneurs continue to grow, there is also a movement toward nurse intrapreneurship, an entirely new concept to many of us.
BECOMING A NURSE ENTREPRENEUR
2.1. THE NURSE ENTREPRENEUR:
There has always been the likelihood of the existence of nurse entrepreneurs since nurses first began serving society. Imagine a nurse in 19th-century England who discreetly visited wealthy homes in exchange for cash; or perhaps a rural American nurse during the Dust Bowl who tended to the poor in exchange for eggs and milk. Whether skills are traded for goods, cash or credit card payments, a nurse who strikes out to independently offer services or products is, in essence, an entrepreneur.
In today’s contemporary nursing, Entrepreneurial Nurses serve as consultants, independent health providers, massage therapists, writers, coaches, filmmakers, bloggers, podcasters, speakers, product developers and a host of other intriguing career paths. Nurse Entrepreneurs serve individuals, organizations, small companies and many other entities. Some nurses engage in side businesses in addition to clinical practice, while others eschew nursing positions for their own ventures. There are as many entrepreneurial paths as there are nurse entrepreneurs.
So What Next?
2.2. THE NURSE INTRAPRENEUR:
Over the last few years, Intrapreneurship is a buzzword that has caught on in many business circles. In generally terms, an intrapreneur is an employee who takes ownership of their place within an organization, using individual creativity, initiative and a sense of authentic pride to make their mark within the workplace.
A nurse intrapreneur treats his or her job and workplace like their own business in terms of the energy, thoughtfulness and drive with which tasks and challenges are approached. Such nurses identify problems, assesses how to mitigate them and implement a plan to improve the situation (e.g. A case manager). If the problem is beyond the nurse’s scope, he or she brings a problem-solving plan to those who can approve its implementation.
2.3. CREATIVITY AND SAVVY:Nurse entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs share creativity as a hallmark of their work ethic and raison detre. These nurses are forward-thinkers who use their enthusiasm and initiative to leverage their skills and expertise in powerful ways, be it as an employee or independent CEOs.
Savvy intrapreneurial nurses position themselves as leaders in the workplace, creating space for professional advancement and greater accomplishment. Smart entrepreneurial nurses are seen in leadership positions within their field, moving their businesses forward with skill and intelligence. To become more of a forward-thinking nurse intrapeneural in your place of work or start your own entrepreneurial venture as a nurse, you can use your creativity and savvy to bring more passion to your career, whether through intrapreneurship or an entrepreneurial endeavor.
2.4. NARROWING IN ON ENTREPRENEURIAL NURSE:
Nurse Entrepreneurs use their nursing education and business background to start ventures within the healthcare industry, establishing, promoting and running their own companies.
Some develop medical devices, computerized systems, or home health products. As a Nurse Entrepreneur, you can still care for patients while enjoying the benefits of self-employment – like having more control over your career and determining your own schedule.
To set out on your own as a Nurse Entrepreneur, these key skills are crucial: creativity, business savvy, ability to find funding and identify a niche market, as well as a consistent customer base (very important for business to survive). Whatever area of nurse entrepreneurship you decide to venture into, the business should have the following characteristics:
Fast-paced
Multifaceted
Managerial
Research-oriented
Independent
2.5. THINGS YOU’LL DO:
Your business could provide patient care, nursing education, home health or consulting, Seek out business opportunities and funding, Use your experience in healthcare and business skills to build a relevant business
2.6. WHERE YOU CAN WORK?
Your own company
As an independent contractor
Hospitals
3. ESSENTIALS IN PROSPERING IN A NURSING BUSINESS:
The field of nursing unveils a lot of opportunities. It is not only confined to the render of health services to patients in a typical environment, that is, hospitals and nursing homes. Nursing now is a business venture. Since health is very essential to all people, health services are in demand. However, engaging in a nursing business like any sorts of business entails a lot of loopholes. A smooth sail with the loopholes is the utmost concern to become profitable. Here are pieces of advice to get you going with the flow.
You should plan ahead before putting up the business. Figure out the factors needed to kick-off the venture. Be mindful that every small detail is crucial to the business. These factors are funds or capital, your time for the business, properties and equipments, business name and logo, staff, and services.
First of all, you must consider your area of expertise. When you are starting your own business, it is important you operate the business within your confidence. An expertise on the nursing field is your backbone on running the business. Being a nursing professional is not sufficient for having a successful venture. An experienced is a most. Having good knowledge requires a symbiosis of theories, applications, and experience. So, its good to consider a partner who has this attributes.
Putting the business on higher grounds is a lot of tasks to do. There are multitudes of elements to consider in avoiding drawbacks. On top of it, quality health service, good strategies, and nursing knowledge are imperatives in a profitable nursing business.
As a business man/woman, stay hands on with it. You must be well adept with the health care needs of your patients. Synthesize different care techniques to come up with the quality health care service for your patients. In order to maintain the integrity of your nursing business, providing your staff different trainings are good strategies. On this way, their nursing skills will be refreshed and the quality health service will be enhanced from time to time.
Study the market first. The product you are offering that must have potential demand in the market. Here you also need to identify your target demographics. In addition, check the local licensing aspects carefully. Any business as such in the healthcare industry demands specific licensing and compliances.
Do not invest everything on the business. Since you are still an apprentice on this field, playing safe is a wise idea. You don’t know if your nursing business will prosper. Having an alternative source of livelihood must be available in order to support you if ever the venture becomes a failure.
Don’t be pessimistic. If you have a positive outlook, it is more likely that you are stimulating your employees to do their part. Self-esteem must be mobilized within you in order for others to be mobilized as well. If this happens, you are becoming a good leader. Teamwork is an element on achieving a lucrative nursing business.
The health care market is indeed in a great need of providers. This is a good advantage of the business. The demand is now present because of the shortage on the medical professions. Aside from that, being a nursing businessman/woman will reward you with flexibility. You are the boss of your own company, thus you have your own hours. You have the chance to look for more clients like on hospitals or nursing homes.
Furthermore, you must have an attitude of serving people. This is the primary aspect that you need to consider carefully. Do you feel happy when you help to survive others? Check it.
Finally, craft a business plan carefully. It is a most. Consider your investment capacity. Craft a detailed financial plan with expected ROI. Additionally, have a marketing plan. No business can survive without promotion. AND THIS LEADS US TO….
3.2. MARKETING TACTICS TO FOLLOW IN NURSING BUSINESS:
Nursing business marketing has no definite formula. The positive results of marketing activities rely on the efficient use of appropriate marketing techniques and tools. In the first place, to market means to plan ahead. It necessitates enough doses of creativity and time. Topping them is the money in sufficient amount to facilitate the overall marketing job. Marketing demands planning, creativity, time and money. It is not easy to market a business like nursing. Therefore, you have to play certain tactics like:
3.1. INCREASE VISIBILITY ON THE NURSING BUSINESS THROUGH MARKETING:
Your health expertise cannot be rendered if you are not apparent in the business of nursing. People in need of nursing care cannot access your service since you have not yet established a good repertoire. You cannot serve the people if they do not know about your services. You cannot reach physically to each needy human. Due to this, nursing business is also expected to follow a marketing plan. Your visibility on the nursing business calls out for a marketing plan to promote your services to potential clients. If you are a Nursepreneur i.e. Nurse Entrepreneur, you have to use certain marketing tools to reach the target market.
Nursing Business Identity – the primary thing to establish. Building an identity for the business requires you to register your business name along with a good design of logo. Compose also a good slogan that is a description of what your clients can expect from you.
Advertising on different forms of media is indeed expensive. However, you can still promote without The big cost. You cannot go for big budget advertisements but never miss a chance of promoting your business. Small things like business cards, stationeries with headers, leaflets, brochures etc. can prove as great advertising material if used appropriately.
Take advantage of the advertising capabilities of these mediums.
Press releases though conventional in nature are effective in drawing potential clients. Citing your website in the press release is a smart move. People can contact you immediately if they need a health care service. Since you have started to make use of the web, why not distribute newsletters through emails. You can also send them through the traditional snail mails. Remember, the contents of the newsletter give great credits. Thus, it should be written with quality by highly skilled professionals.
The power of online group discussions is remarkable. Get your business on their topics by joining with forums on the internet. At the same time, always provide links to your website after submitting posts on the discussions. You can also get affiliated with companies who offer complimentary health products and services. Doing so will give mutual advertising benefits to both sides.
Think where you can find your potential clients.
Be visible on medical events because for sure those who need health care service will surely be present. With this technique, you can personally speak to them and know their needs. Additionally, consider different characteristics of your target market like their age group when deciding for marketing messages. The messages you are using for the elderly people may not be appealing to the young ones of the gen-X.
Every type of business necessitates effective marketing techniques. The word-of-the mouth is no longer sufficed to the present market. To better improve your profits and keep you visible on the limelight of the healthcare industry, periodically assess the efficiency of your marketing plan. With your quality services and innovative ideas, your nursing business marketing plan must adapt the current prevailing technology without sacrificing creativity.
It is essential to follow a marketing plan that is contemporary and creative. Not only this, it is equally important to evaluate the effectiveness of this marketing plan on a regular basis. It helps improve the performance and flourishing the business.
As a nurse entrepreneur, you can make a customized marketing program for your business with the help of previously mentioned tactics. If you face any problem, you can take help of marketing professional specializing in this segment or you can search for useful tips on Internet.
Source Article: from Ezinearticles.com
4. SOME BUSINESS IDEAS FOR ASPIRING NURSING ENTREPRENEURS
.Blood Bank: Establishing a blood bank is a profitable and self-rewarding business too. However, the business demands substantial capital investment. Additionally, you must obtain different licenses and permissions from the Govt. authority.
. Career Advisor: This is a very wise profession. You can become a career advisor for the individuals who are looking for advice in the healthcare career opportunities. You can start and operate this business as part-time and home-based also. However, you must have adequate knowledge, skill, and experience in starting this business.
. Child Care Center or Creche: This is a booming business in the both developed and developing countries. As the number of working women is increasing, the demand for this type of services is also growing. Generally, a child care center or creche keep the babies and children for the certain duration of time. They provide the necessary care to the children in exchange of monthly or daily fees.
. Diagnostic Center: An individual having experience in laboratory science can initiate diagnostic center business with substantial capital investment. Diagnostic center with pathology is one of the most profitable businesses in medical and pharma industry. Having education background on microbiology is a plus but this is not mandatory.
. Dietitian / Diet Planner: Are you a certified dietitian? You can start a business from home as diet planner. And also have tie-ups with fitness centers or gym. Additionally, you can also operate the business from a commercial office of your own.
. Esthetician: Generally, an esthetician is a licensed skin specialist. Broadly, the services include clean skin through skin exfoliation, massage, aromatherapy, and facials. The demand for this type of services is increasing very fast. You can start the business at your home. Otherwise, you can have a tie-up with salon, spa or beauty clinics. (You know we have a craze for fair skin in our community. Let’s face our climate is neither skin friendly, so helping ladies achieve a fair and heathly skin in a professional (healthy) way is be a welcomed idea)
. Fertility Clinic: This is another booming business worldwide. Due to the environmental changes and changing lifestyle, people are suffering more and more from fertility problems. Therefore, starting a fertility clinic business is the best opportunity in the nursing and healthcare industry. Specialization in Embryology will be needed.
. Health Blogging: This is the best online nursing related business you can start from home. Just set up a blog and share your knowledge and experience to your readers for free. You can maintain a blog even as part-time also. You can earn handsome advertising revenue from your blog.
. Herbal Medicine Selling: Nowadays, the demand for herbal medicine is increasing rapidly. People are becoming more and more health conscious. And the awareness of harmful aspects of medicines is increasing. You can start the herbal medicine selling business by two ways. You can start from a retail brick and mortar location. Otherwise, you can start online selling. Melecine man comes to mind?
. In-house Nursing Service: Here your customers are the people who can’t leave their house and look for nursing service at their home. Generally, moms, senior persons and the accident survivors are the target demographics of this business. However, you can offer services as per your area of expertise and skill.
. Lactation Consultant: A lactation consultant is an allied health professional who specializes in the clinical management of breastfeeding. Lactation consultants commonly work in hospitals, physician or midwife practices, public health programs, and private practice. They are certified through the International Board of Lactation Consultant Examiners (IBLCE).
. Life Care Planner: In this specialized subset of case management, Nurse Life Care Planners create healthcare roadmaps. These nurses help patients who have suffered catastrophic injuries and illnesses, advocate for them, and plan out their care. Nurse Life Care Planners work with a patient’s family, insurance company, attorneys, and others to develop a life care plan, determining the future needs, services, and costs of care for the patient over their lifetime.
. Maternity Clinic: A maternity hospital, also lying-in hospital (archaic), is a hospital that specializes in caring for women while they are pregnant and during childbirth. Maternity hospitals also provide care for newborn infants and may act as centers for clinical training in midwifery and obstetrics. However, the business demands substantial startup capital investment.
. Medical Equipment Selling: This is another very lucrative business. This type of business includes a wide range of products. In addition, you can start this business by two ways. However, according to your investment capacity, you must determine the exact business model. You can start medical equipment selling from a retail location or you can start online selling.
. Nursing Agency: Some experienced nurses start their own nursing agencies. These types of entrepreneurs typically employ nurses and act as an employment agent or recruiter. According to the Small Business Brief, nurses are hot commodities in the modern market because the need for nurses is greater than the actual number of available working nurses. If you’ve been in the industry for a while and already have a network of established relationships with other nurses, this might be the small business for you. The basic premise for this type of small business is finding employers who need nurses and then matching available nurses with open positions. The entrepreneur simply makes a profit by taking a specific percentage of the nurse’s pay or by even charging a finder’s fee for direct hires.
. Holistic Nurse: Holistic nursing is based on the philosophy that the body, mind and spirit are connected. Nurses who are already well-versed in Eastern medicine and holistic practices, such as yoga and Reiki, may be interested in starting an independent holistic nursing practice. Holistic nurses are typically certified by the American Holistic Nursing Association, according to Small Business Ideas for Nurses. The actual practice usually involves an assessment of the patient’s overall wellness, including nutrition and overall mental and emotional mindsets. Holistic nurses often study acupuncture, massage therapy and reflexology as well. They treat the root of the patient’s illness as well as the actual physical symptoms.
. Legal Consultant: Registered nurses who want to ease into retirement or start a second career may want to consider a career in legal nursing consulting. This type of small business utilizes years of practice and pharmacology experience to aid with criminal and civil court cases. According to Independent Nurse Contractor, nurses who have years or experience in emergency rooms are often a good fit for this profession. This is often because they have assisted in the diagnosis process, and have witnessed the consequences of misused medications and overdosing.
Hospice Nurse: If you have a sympathetic nature and enjoy working in the home environment, consider starting a hospice nurse small business. This type of small business can be started with just yourself as an independent contractor, or can involve you hiring several nurses to work for you and your clients. Hospice nurses typically care for geriatric or chronic-disease patients in their own homes. They can also support recovering stroke or accident victims that need physical therapy and around-the-clock care.
. Medical Representative: Medical representatives are the key point of contact between pharmaceutical and medical companies and health care professionals, promoting product awareness, answering queries, providing advice and introducing new products. Revenue-wise the business is highly lucrative.
. Medical Store: Medical store business opportunity is perfect for those who are a chemist or has years of experience as a pharmacist. In this business, there are so many types of commercial options available apart from only medicine selling. One can start medical store business with extra value addition services like a doctor’s chamber, some test facilities like blood pressure, oxygen supply etc.
. Mobile Health Service: This is also a booming business nowadays. People with their busy schedules prefer to have some basic services at their doorsteps. If you can arrange the vehicle for mobility, you can consider starting this business from your home also. However, the business demands strategic planning and moderate capital investment.
. Nephrology Nurse: Nephrology Nursing aims to work in partnership with people who have the renal disease to optimize their health and that of their families and communities. Renal disease is a chronic illness often irreversible condition arising from many causes and frequently progresses to end-stage renal disease that requires dialysis or transplantation to sustain life. In our society we have very few dialysis centres and most patients have to travel long distance to get treatment. Opening a private dialysis unit in your locality and building connections with hospitals and individuals for continue management of patients after discharge is a good idea to look into.
. Nursing Training: If you are a certified and experienced nurse, this business is just perfect for you. Nursing training institute is a profitable and self-rewarding business as well. Note here, this does not necessary mean establishing a nursing school, it could be training for certification in specific areas of nursing care, such as wound management, family planning, endoscopy, colostomy care etc. However, the business demands specific affiliations and licensing.
. Nutrition Consultant: The Nutrition Consultant Training Program provides students with an in-depth knowledge of the foundations of whole food nutrition as it contributes to the prevention of illness and the promotion of optimal health. In the program, students study the fundamentals of nutrition: physiology, anatomy, macro and micronutrient selection, and the effects of foods on the body. As a nurse nutritionist, you can focus on peadiatric feeds or any other condition utilizing locally available food products to create special feeds for your target. This will make it readily available and affordable for the community.
. Telenursing Agency: The demand for the telenursing services in increasing nowadays. And as per the net profit earnings, this business is highly lucrative. Telephone triage is the practice of conducting a telephone interview to assess the urgency and severity of the patient’s symptoms.The outcome of telephone triage is the appropriate patient referral to the appropriate level of care within an appropriate period of time.
. Wellness Nurse: Wellness nurses are responsible for accommodating patients’ preferences, and for improving the health of patients as much as possible through diet, exercise, medication and physical therapy. Additionally, you can start this business from your home or from a commercial space.
. Wound Care Nurse: This type of nurses specialize in the proper management of wound care by treating and monitoring wounds that are the result of disease, injury, or medical treatments. Generally, the majority of the positions for this type of nurse are in nursing homes or hospitals.
Apart from this list of nursing business ideas, there are several opportunities you may find feasible. We hope, this list of nursing business ideas will help you in starting your own business in the healthcare industry.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, we leave you with this thoughtful tips….
Think NURSE ENTREPRENEURSHIP, think BIG, have a dream.
Turn the dream into execution.
Do a wheel of life. Sit down and draw a plan. Sit down and score yourself.
Check back at the areas where you are weaker and draw your life’s goal based on those areas of weaknesses.
Draw your skill sets based on your areas of weaknesses.
Live in your own. Don’t be a wanna-be. Don’t follow the crowd. Do YOU!. Find what is good for you and blow it.
Manage your time. Act now and not later. No procrastination so as to avoid regrets.
Whatever you set out to do, MEAN IT! Take the bull by the horn. It’s important to set realistic goals. SMART GOALS!
Break your goals down into small realistic goals. Put time frame to your goals. Do what works for you. Don’t do RAT RACE!
Always find a reason to brush up on your skills.
Move with the right crowd. Interact with the right set of people who can impact positively on your life and career.
Knowledge is power, times are changing, strive to get better and stay useful in this tech savvy times.
Self awareness is key. Know yourself potential, be self aware of who you are, know your real talent and realize them. Be self aware of how you come across to people. Know how people perceive you. Align it with how you want people to perceive you. Have the “I-CAN SPIRIT” and be the “UNIQUE YOU!!!
BUILD YOUR NETWORK!!!
BE NURSE ENTREPRENEURS!!!
BE NURSE ENTREPRENEURS!!!
We Wish You all PEACE OF MIND. In a busy, over thinking world, may you find time to relax and rest your mind. MAY PEACE BE WITH YOU. Do enjoy a lovely and great year in 2018.
Yours sincerely,
Nurse Lynn,
Your Psych Nurse Specialist (PNS)
Your Psych Nurse Specialist (PNS)
