How to Write a Nursing Business Plan

Providing care, comfort, and health education is a way to improve the quality of life for families and give them relief when faced with an illness or personal question. Nurses with an entrepreneurial spirit have a range of profitable options when starting a health business. Taking time to write the nursing business plan proves a vital first step to capture the business model and know how many months are needed to reach profitability.

Identify personal and professional reasons for starting a nursing business whether it's a desire to set a schedule around family needs or use the knowledge of a graduate degree in a for-profit setting. List related experiences: caring for elderly relatives; counseling parents on their child's health needs; or sitting through training at local hospitals. Evaluate the profit potential of your idea and then ask contacts in the health field if others have the same need.

Decide if the most effective business model is to form an independent company, join a home health franchise operation or start a division within a larger health care corporation. Compose the mission statement as the first step. Write it as “directed and focused as possible," states the Small Business Administration, so if potential business partners or investors read it then they will have a clear picture of the business purpose.

Edit the first draft of the mission statement to make sure the wording distinguishes how the health service will benefit the target clients like “helping senior citizens remain comfortable in their homes and offering peace of mind to extended family”.

Describe how the company will function and what level of personnel are needed: Nurse Practitioners, Registered Nurses, or Licensed Vocational Nurses. Write distinguishing characteristics such as an “the only all male nursing business" or offering personnel with varying skill levels to match the variety of patient needs.

Create a budget for supplies and necessary equipment. Include information like purchasing quality medical equipment at below market prices to show a commitment to quality and profitability. State whether strategic relationships with medical device companies, pharmaceutical companies or established medical clinics will be utilized. Look for care home business plan examples online to help with your drafting.

Read the state board of registered nursing requirements to stay up-to-date with the “ongoing communication of competency standards to consumers, registered nurses, advanced practice nurses . . . and other regulators” as stated by the California Board of Registered Nursing. Verify that health practitioners in the company will stay current with licensing requirements by taking the proper continuing education units.

Use a spreadsheet or software program to estimate the length of time to reach profitability. Account for the cost of state licenses, malpractice insurance and the costs of continuing education. Estimate travel costs, if any, and project when in the first three years or five years how much money will be needed for new equipment or supplies. Estimate the client revenue. Run a report to see when the client revenue will be greater than the expenses.

Write the Executive Summary last to state the most pertinent information about why the business exists, qualifications for providing health care, and the need in the marketplace like addressing the “rapid growth [that] is expected in hospital outpatient facilities, such as those providing same-day surgery, rehabilitation, and chemotherapy”, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook.

Tip

The business plan must also include how income and expenses will be tracked.

Warning

Do not inflate the income potential and accidentally reduce the number of possible expenses.