Nursing is a great profession because of the many different types of opportunities nursing has to offer. Nursing specialties include nurse practitioner, nurse anesthetist, perfusionist, and my personal favorite: nurse entrepreneur.
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. To set out on your own as a Nurse Entrepreneur, some key skills to have include: creativity, business savvy, and the ability to find funding, identify a niche market, and identify a consistent customer base.
Fear not because starting your journey as a nurse entrepreneur doesn’t mean you need to leave everything behind. In fact, it’s okay to take baby steps while you’re still building your future business empire. I was a critical care nurse when I started my business in 1992. I worked 12-hour shifts, which gave me more time to work on building my business. I used my nursing income and benefits to live on, while I kept putting profit back into the company in the early stages.
Some recommend steps to start:
- Identify your target market. Try not to be everything to everyone. Find a niche to focus on and work to dominate that niche.
- Check out the competition. Learn what and how they do things, find their weakness and strengths. Find ways to make your business even better.
- Do it now! Don’t procrastinate; get moving on your idea and plan.
11 Examples of Nursing Businesses
- Home Health Care Company
- Staffing Agency
- Certified Nursing Assistant Training
- CPR/BLS Training
- Medical Assistant Training
- Medication Administration Training
- Nurse Consultant/Contractor
- Legal Nurse Consultant
- Online Nurse E-commerce store
- NCLEX Review & Tutoring
- DODD Agency Provider (Department of Developmental Disabilities)
I have owned my business, Pocket Nurse, for 26 years, and it has been the one of the most rewarding chapters in my life. The Nurses Week theme of Inspire, Innovate, and Influence is perfect for nurse entrepreneurs. Selling medical supplies for education and simulation has been a great business for this nurse, because it combines the knowledge of medical supplies and the use of simulation to educate future healthcare workers. To learn more about simulation and setting out to design a simulation program check out this reference, Simulation Champions.
Anthony Battaglia, MS, BSN, RN, is owner and President of Pocket Nurse. He is on Twitter, @PocketNurseCEO, and is always open to customer suggestions at ideas@pocketnurse.com.
