Small Business | Business Plan in Nursing

What is Business Plan?

Business plan is a comprehensive document written to describe how business ideas translates down to earth into course of action

A business plan is a written description of yor business’s future, a document that tells what you to do and how you plan to do it. If you jot down a paragraph on the back of an envelope describing your business strategy, you’ve written a plan, or at least the germ of a plan. Business plans are inherently strategic. You start here, today, with certain resources and abilities. You want to get to a there, a point in the future at which time your business will have a different set of resources and abilities as well as greater profitability and increased assets. Your plan shows how you will get from here to there. There are some generally accepted conventions about what a full-blown business plan should include and how it should be presented. A plan should cover all the important matters that will contribute to making your business a success. These include the following :

Your basic business concept
Your strategy and the specific actions you plan to take to implement it
Your products and services and their competitive advantages
The markets you’ll persue
The background of your management and key employees
Your financing needs

Why are you developing a business plan ?

Quite possibly, you are developing a business plan because someone else wants you to do so. Perhaps the bank is requiring a business plan before granting you a loan. An investor or venture capitalist needs one to decide whether to finance your business.

Creating a business plan only as a response to an external request makes the process like a burden instead of an opportunity.

What is The Function of Business Plan ?

Business plan is perhaps the best tool you can have to help you reach your own long-term goals. Whether your business is large or small, a startup or long established, developing a business plan enables you to:

Make the crucial business decisions that focus your activities and maximize your resources
Understand the financial aspects of your business, including cash flow and break-even requirements
Gather crucial industry and marketing information
Anticipate and avoid obstacles your business is likelyto encounter
Set specific goals and measurements to assess progress over time
Expand in new and increasingly profitabledirections
Be more persuasive to funding sources

A good business plan helps you realize your dreams.

How to Write a Business Plan?

Element #1: What you’ve got Simply start by listing what you’ve got.

What I mean here is everything you can offer to your customers. Things like: products, services, content, etc. Be somewhat detail oriented when going through this step. If you’re listing a new product of yours, make sure to mention its main features and characteristics. Depending on the nature of your business, you may just have a single item to offer, which is fine. We’re not going for quantity here.

Element #2: Who are you going to sell it to?

Aka your target audience. Only don’t make it lame. Lame is where you try to define your average customer like this, for example: “it’s a woman in her 30s, mother of two, and working a 9-5 job as an accountant.” I mean, how can anyone come up with that? What research tools do they have? Surely not anything a small business owner can afford. Besides, not every business has an audience that is so specific. For instance, if you’re selling socks and live in Austin then your target customer base is “people with feet living in Texas.” If that’s true then don’t try to make it narrower just for the sake of it. Go with a general description that’s nothing more than a starting point – your starting audience. If it turns out that your main audience is actually someone entirely different then nothing bad will happen, but you need to be ready and accept such a situation.

Element #3: Why would they buy?

What makes your product better or just as good as your competitors’? Or what’s some other reason someone would want to work with you? Just be honest and not overly promotional. This is about facts.Also, keep in mind that you don’t necessarily have to be better than your competition to be a successful business owner. Is Pepsi better than Cola? I mean, scientifically better? No. It’s the same thing.

Element #4: How are you going to reach them?

As in, reaching your target customer base. Do you have anything fancy in plan? Or just standard marketing methods (which are completely fine, by the way)? Actually, the exact methods are not important here. No matter what you’re going to end up doing, you need to have a plan for the initial couple of weeks. Treat it as your getting started approach. Pick a handful of methods that have the most potential in your opinion and start executing them. Then, if something doesn’t work, you can adjust your business plan to reflect the new situation.

Done

There’s no element #5. All you need in 90% of possible situations are the four elements above: you need to know what you’ve got, who you’re going to sell it to, why would they buy, and how you’re going to reach them. Of course, your mileage may vary … so feel free to disagree with me if your experience is different.

Getting Control of Your Business

The business plan process also helps you, as the person most responsible for the growth of your company, gain more control over both thr short-term and long-term progress of your business.

While developing your business plan, you’ll increase your understanding of the many forces that have an impact on your company’s success, which in turn will give you a stronger sense of control. A business plan provides mechanisms to enchance your management in these areas:

Marketing : By developing a marketing plan based on a well defined target market and eveluation of your industry and competition
Operations : By evaluating and establishing the procedures, labor deployment, and work flow necessary to run your business from day to day.
Finances : By realistically projecting cash flow, income and expense, break-even points, and by creating channels of information to keep you fully informed of your financial picture.
Long-Term Development : By setting specific goals and objectives; identify milestones; devising an exit plan, if appropriate; and determining how your company will be positioned to respond to both internal and external changes.

Business Plan Video Guide

How to Start a Nursing Home Business

A nursing home provides a comfortable space to take care of the elderly and the sick

Nursing homes provide care for those who are either elderly or have disabilities that need special attention. The nursing industry is growing due to the large number of baby boomers who are retiring. Starting your own nursing home business allows you to benefit financially from the growing number of retirees that may need nursing care. Careful planning and the proper credentials are necessary to ensure you have a legally and successful business.

Intructions

Contact your local county’s zoning division to determine what licensing or zoning laws are required for you to operate a nursing home. The area, street, and other factors may determine where you can legally operate your nursing home. Plan accordingly on the establishment of nursing home by knowing ahead of time what the zoning requirements are.
Ensure you have the necessary qualifications and licenses for your nursing home. For example, you will need a nursing home administrator license, which is offered from your state’s health licensing board. Also all of your employees (registered nurses, certified nurses assistant, and doctors) must have the required credentials and licenses in order to legally operate in your nursing home.
Create a business loan for your nursing home in case you need to obtain a loan from the bank to either pay employees or purchase a nursing home property. Banks will need to know how you expect to be successful in your business and may require a business plan for approval. Contact a local professional business owner or business retiree at various organizations that may help you create a business plan (see resources).
Legally structure your business. In order for you to pay the proper taxes to the state and federal government you may need to be legally structured as either an incorporation or LLC. Your attorney or certified public accountant can draft the articles of incorporation for you or you can do so yourself by visiting your secretary states website.
Obtain an EIN from the IRS. An EIN (employer identification number) is required to establish a business credit, hire employees, and opening a business checking account to pay your employees. Go to the IRS’ website to apply or contact an IRS agent over the phone to receive your EIN. There is no cost for an EIN.
Ensure your nursing home will have all of the necessary amenities two comfortably support your patients. Consider hiring a housekeeping service to keep the rooms clean. Air conditioning and heating is necessary to ensure the residents are comfortable. Laundry facilities must be available to keep the linens clean for your residents.
Join professional associations that connects you with other nursing professionals. Joining nursing associations will allow you to get ideas on how to make your nursing home successful and to stay abreast on any changes in the industry. For example, the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging offer both conferences and other methods to communicate with professionals in your area (see resources).

How to Write a Nursing Business Plan

Nurse entrepreneurs are well-respected in the business world

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.

Instructions

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 trainings 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.
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.

Bibliography

Abrams, Rhonda M. 2003. The Successful Business Plan: Secrets & Strategies. The Planning Shop Business & Economics

Bangs, David H. 2005. Business Plans Made Easy, 3/e. Entrepreneur Press Business & Economics

Finch, Brian. 2006. How to Write a Business Plan. Kogan Page Publisher

Pinson, Linda. 2001. Anatomy of a Business Plan: A Step-by-step Guide to Building a Business and Securing Your Company’s Future. Dearborn Trade Publishing

Barrow, Colin. 2005. The Business Plan Workbook. Kogan Page Publishers

DeThomas, Art. 2008. Writing a Convincing Business Plan. Barron’s Educational Series

Pocket Mentor. 2007. Creating a Business Plan: Expert Solutions to Everyday Challenges. Harvard Business School Press

http://lerablog.org/business/how-to-write-a-business-plan-heres-a-method-that-doesnt-actually-suck/

http://www.ehow.com/how_6104571_start-nursing-home-business.html

http://www.ehow.com/how_6100673_write-nursing-business-plan.html