Nurse Practitioners Turned Entrepreneurs: Practical Strategies to Starting Your Business

While most of us did not attend nursing school to become business men/women, many of us find ourselves in these roles as the rules and regulations change. More specifically, with Nurse Practitioners (NPs) being granted more authority, many look towards entrepreneurship when they begin to open their own practices.

Today NPs find themselves looking for office space, coming up with business names, and hiring accountants or lawyers to help them sort through the policies and procedures of owning a practice. This NY Times article highlights how NPs in rural areas find themselves in the shoes of solopreneurs and the kind of support they will need to navigate this new career path.

As a nurse of ten years turned business owner for four, I’ve endured my own challenges along the way. However, in the face of obstacles, lessons are learned. Here are five things NPs need to consider when going into business for themselves:

1. Find Your Niche. First things first… as nurses, we often try to be everything to everybody. When you start your own practice this broad behavior will leave you overworked, stressed out and unsuccessful. In order to thrive as an entrepreneur you need to get very clear on your target market. When you narrow down your ideal client to a very specific patient population, you are able to effectively help many more people. Sounds counter-intuitive, I know. Yet trust me- from experience, it works!

2. Get Active on the Social Scene. Social media is here to stay. As is the world of blogging, podcasting, videos and healthcare networking forums. A great way to grow your practice is to set yourself up on a social media platform. Now I know this sounds time-consuming and overwhelming. My favorite social media tip? Get on ONE platform and do it well. There’s no sense in spreading yourself thin all over the internet. Figure out where your ideal client hangs out and show up as an authority figure. Share great information; answer questions; be seen as the expert.

3. Keep in Touch with Consistency. With everything else you have to do as a nurse entrepreneur, this one can get lost in the shuffle. Yet it may just be one of the most important strategies to building a successful practice. In order to get back to people in a timely fashion, you need a plan. There are email list services you can use (Mailchimp, Constant Contact, Infusion Soft) and loads of online calendars to take advantage of. If you’re not into organization, this is a great place to delegate some of the work. Yet before you go into business, you have to address this piece. Overlooking a consistent keep-in-touch plan can make you come across as flaky and unprofessional.

4. Market Your Services. So we went to nursing school to learn how to help others with their healthcare concerns. There wasn’t anything in our training about marketing and sales (at least that I know of). We want to turn these ‘big bad wolves’ into our BFFs. Because guess what? Without a unique brand, appropriate price points and the savvy know-how to spread your message- your income streams will suffer. And without cash- there is no practice. In terms of marketing and sales (since again, these aren’t topics we studied to receive our degrees) I recommend hiring some help. Or at the very least, take an online course or grabbing a ‘how-to’ book that can help you navigate these foreign waters.

5. Balance Your Business. While I’d love to tackle the self-care piece in this article, that’s not what this tip is about. There’s a difference between working ‘in’ versus ‘on’ your practice. As nurses, we think a lot about the ‘in’: follow-up appointments, calling families back, or medication management. What you need to do, so you can enjoy a successful and lucrative business, is set aside the time to work ‘on’ your practice. By doing the things mentioned above, you give attention, effort, energy, and time to your work as an entrepreneur. When you create your calendar for the week, be sure to set aside some time to work ‘on’ the growth aspects of your professional practice.

About the Author: As a speaker, workshop facilitator, and Reiki Master, Elizabeth partners with hospitals, organizations, associations, and nursing groups to help transform the field of nursing from the inside out. As the author of bestselling ‘ Nursing from Within‘, Elizabeth guides nurses and nursing students to a change in perspective, helping them make the inner shift needed to better maneuver the sometimes challenging realities of being a caregiver. You can find out more about Elizabeth and access her three-part video series ‘ I’m a Nurse, but I’m Not Sure I LOVE Nursing Anymore! Can You Help Me?’ on her website.