FROM THE EDITOR
14 Steps to Setting Up and Managing a Profitable Business
by Vickie L. Milazzo, RN, MSN, JD
Today, more and more nurses are going into business for themselves. Many seek a change of pace, a new challenge, or more variety and excitement in their lives. Others would just like to earn some extra income. Whether your goal is to generate spare cash or to forge a whole new career, you'll want to take steps to assure your new venture is profitable. The 14 steps outlined below will help you create your own formula for success and prosperity.
Develop a Business Plan
Experts say that as soon as we put our visions, objectives and strategies on paper, we triple both our commitment to these goals and the probability of achieving them. Certainly, having a plan won't guarantee success, but failing to plan almost always guarantees failure.
If you are seeking venture capital or a business loan, you may have to write a formal business plan. If you don't need outside financing, keep your plan as simple as possible and focus more on the marketing component. A solid marketing plan is critical to achieving success in any business.
Your plan should be a living, vital document that you refer to over and over. Industries and markets change, you and your clients will change, and your plan must change to keep up.
More important than the plan itself is acting on the plan. Commit to taking 1 action step each day to implement your business plan.
Find the Professional Resources to Start and Maintain Your Business
When I began my business, I was very conservative, but I soon learned that spending money is essential for any successful business start-up. It just makes sense to focus your skills on building your practice while letting other professionals handle things for you such as bookkeeping. As you increase your business you should allocate funds to tap the talents of the pros who can help you. The following resources can make the difference between wasting money and spending it wisely to build a healthy business:
Attorney — develops contracts and advises on legal matters
CPA — offers bookkeeping and tax advice
Bookkeeper — keeps records for tax returns and prepares financial statements
Payroll specialist — handles payroll from beginning to end
Information technologist — addresses equipment and technology issues
Bank officer — oversees all routine bank matters and facilitates loan applications
Professional typist/secretary — handles typing, filling and clerical duties
Courier/delivery service — handles deliveries to and from clients and resources
Copy service — handles copying as well as binding, folding, etc.
Other business owners — mentor you through virtually any problem you encounter — there are no original problems
These resource people do much more than outlined here. I could never have started and maintained my company without them.
Also be sure to take advantage of resources and advice available through the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE), chamber of commerce, networking groups, and professional associations in the field of your new business.
Decide on a Business Name
You can operate your business under your own name or choose a name you feel passionate about. Avoid a cutesy or humorous name that might offend potential clients or make you and your business look amateurish.
Establish the Structure of Your Company and File Appropriate Paperwork
There are 4 primary structures to choose from:
Sole Proprietorship is simple, inexpensive, and easy to set up. You and your company are legally inseparable.
Corporation, either general or subchapter S, is easy to set up, but slightly more expensive. Each type of corporation has specific tax and legal implications.
Partnership, an unincorporated business with multiple owners, generally makes the partners liable for each other's actions.
Limited Liability Corporation protects the owners' personal assets. Profits are taxed only once on the tax returns of the owners.
Create a Promotional Package
You can develop a promotional package with the help of a graphic designer and copywriter. Your package should include an introductory letter, business card, brochure about your company and services, and testimonials or letters of recommendation. If you are on a tight budget, you can develop these materials inexpensively using your home computer. Be sure your promotional package matches the professional image you wish to convey.
Purchase Appropriate Insurance
You may need liability, disability, medical, and life insurance. An insurance agent can advise you on appropriate coverage for your needs.
Invest in One Effective Business Ensemble
Look successful from the start by wearing appropriate business attire for every professional appointment. Focus on top quality rather than on high fashion. Choose a style and color that make you look your best and establish you as a professional to be reckoned with. Navy blue, black and purple are excellent business colors.
Set up Your Office and Purchase Equipment and Supplies
Decide if you want to work from home or lease office space. The drawback of leasing is that it commits you to an ongoing expense, no matter how well your start-up does. Unless your clients come to you, you can easily and inexpensively work from your home. Essential office equipment includes a desk, chair, computer, printer, fax, and Internet access.
Set up and Maintain Bookkeeping and Tax Records
Choose an accounting system to simplify your record keeping and tax preparation. QuickBooks is a popular software program for small businesses.
Open Separate Commercial Checking and Savings Accounts
Keeping your business funds separate from your personal money will make bookkeeping and tax preparation smoother. In addition, this simple act will make you feel like a real business owner.
Obtain a Post Office Box or Business Mailbox Address
If you work from your home, consider renting a separate mailbox to receive all business mail and maintain your privacy.
Set up a Separate Phone Line with Voice Mail
If you work from home, install a separate phone line and voice mail for your business calls. There is nothing less professional than a 4-year-old answering a business call. To save money you can put your fax machine on the same line.
Set up an Information Storage and Retrieval System
The more organized your office is, the more productive you will be. If you can't find something within 3 minutes, your office would benefit from better organization. Both manual and computer files should be at your fingertips instantly, including:
Contacts
Prospects
Resource people
Projects
Active and inactive accounting records
Develop Forms and Strategies to Make Managing Your Business Easier
Don't reinvent the wheel. Create forms you can use over and over. Forms like the following will make your business more cost-efficient:
Resource assignment form
Project assignment form
Billing log
Fax form
Step by step, you can create a long and exciting journey as a business owner. Incorporate each of the above steps into your overall business plan. Then take action every day to implement your plan. And by the way, be sure to plan for enjoying your adventure and sharing your success with those you care about.
Great success to you,
Vickie L. Milazzo, RN, MSN, JD
P.S. See below for books and websites to help you succeed in your new career.
Additional Resources
Covello, Joseph A., and Hazelgren, Brian J. The Complete Book of Business Plans: Simple Steps to Writing a Powerful Business Plan (Small Business Sourcebooks). Sourcebooks Trade, 1994.
Harroch, Richard, and Engel, Jerome S. Small Business Kit For Dummies®. Hungry Minds, Inc., 1998.
Hiam, Alexander. Marketing For Dummies®. Hungry Minds, Inc., 1997.
Kirk, Marguerite. 10 Commandments of Small-Business Success. Bookhome, 1999.
Tiffany, Paul, and Peterson, Steven D. Business Plans For Dummies®. Hungry Minds, Inc., 1997.
Tyson, Eric, and Schell, Jim. Small Business For Dummies®. Hungry Minds, Inc., 1998.
Website Resources
AllBusiness.com http://www.allbusiness.com
Covers business, financing, law, technology, and other issues for entrepreneurs and growing businesses.
BEST PRACTICES IN TECHNOLOGY
Does Your Email Support Your Marketing Efforts?
by Thomas M. Ziemba, BS, JD
One of the most revolutionary forms of communication in the Information Age is email. Originally, email was the domain of computer geeks working for universities, the government and certain large companies. The "@" sign used in all email addresses was selected from all the possible keyboard symbols because the system designer thought we would be "at" our computers when we received our mail! Today we receive our email @ our phone, @ our Palm Pilot, @ our pager or @ an Internet appliance. Email has become so prevalent that it's harder to find someone who doesn't have an email address than to find someone who has.
Email has even developed its own language. Abbreviations, such as LOL (laughing out loud), IMHO (in my humble opinion) and RU (are you), and "emoticons," such as the smilie :) winkie ;) and clown <|80) , help "telegraph" the meaning of the message. Your children (and maybe you) use miSPlaceD capitals, numbers instead of letters, and phonetic spelling instead of n0rmAl sp33ch on a daily basis. This has become acceptable in personal communication — but what happens when this style becomes habit and spills over into our professional communication?
Keep a Professional Face on Your Email
Certainly we seek to exhibit a "professional face" in professional situations. A certain amount of formality in professional communication helps to create the proper first impression.
When we speak with clients and prospects, we use a more formal or businesslike tone, less slang and fewer incomplete sentences than when we speak with friends, co-workers and peers.
When we write — whether it's a sales letter, brochure or comprehensive report to an important attorney-client — we think out what we want to say, draft our message with care, then edit, proofread and format to ensure that we correctly communicate our thoughts and intentions.
Email seems to have different standards. Perhaps because dashing off an email message is so easy, email has become far more informal than most professional writing or even professional speech. Like our most casual conversations, email is often created and sent with little preplanning, almost no editing (in many cases no spell-checking), and certainly almost no regard for the rules of grammar.
Every day, the Institute receives a large amount of email from nurses inquiring about legal nurse consulting. I am often horrified by the misspellings and poor grammar in these messages.
This sloppiness is not confined to the email we receive. A quick review of any legal nurse consulting listserv or bulletin board reveals that few users put as much thought into what they post on these public forums as most of us put into what we wear each day. Many postings are replete with misspellings, misuse of words, shorthand, incomplete thoughts and poor sentence structure.
Not every nurse is guilty of sending sloppy email, but enough are to make you question the professionalism of the users and possibly of the entire profession. Nurses are highly educated, but the email we receive and the postings on nursing listservs and bulletin boards often don't give that impression.
These nurses, like most email users, forget (or don't care) that others may judge them by the quality of their communications. Remember, an informal speech pattern that might be acceptable with your friends would not be acceptable with your boss, when interviewing for a job or when communicating with professional peers. The same principle applies to email.
Email as if Your Hottest Prospects Were Reading — They Might Be!
You may be surprised to discover that legal nurse consultants are not the only ones who read bulletin boards devoted to the profession. Attorneys looking for potential expert witnesses or seeking to screen legal nurse consultant candidates often review newsgroups, bulletin boards and listservs to judge the abilities of those candidates. Would your communications pass muster?
Something else many LNCs fail to realize: As a group, attorneys — your primary market — pride themselves on their communication. The ability to communicate — to clients, to juries, to courts and judges, and to each other — often determines the success or failure of an attorney. Ask yourself how you would respond to a query from an attorney that looked like much of our email. How would you respond to a doctor whose written communication (not his handwriting) was on a 9th-grade level? Would you question his professionalism and his professional abilities?
Each of us needs to regard email as a form of professional communication — at least when we use the electronic medium for professional purposes. Here are a few basics to help your email make the same professional impression as your "dress for success" wardrobe:
At the very least, activate the spell-checking mechanism in your email software. If your email client doesn't have a spell-check function, draft your email using your word processor (Word or WordPerfect) and use its spell-check function.
Always remember that ewe should knot re-lie on spell Czech a loan. Proofread every message carefully to catch the grammar mistakes spell-check misses.
Follow the basic rules of grammar in constructing sentences and paragraphs. If grammar isn't your strong suit, take a course in business writing or invest in some good grammar reference books to guide you.
If you care to think of email as speech, at least think of it as a speech you're giving to an audience and put some thought into it. For my own important email, I write in WordPerfect, spell check the message, print out a hard copy to proof, then copy and paste it into my email. Certainly I don't do this with every email, but I wouldn't dream of sending a professional message without following this pattern.
We must start thinking of email as professional communication. This attitude must extend to bulletin board and listserv postings. Informal speech has become socially accepted. But professional attitudes, especially in the legal and related professions, have not changed toward written communication. Email, although electronic, is still a form of written communication, and it deserves the same formality and attention to detail as any other written communication. Set a high standard for yourself, and you'll stand above the crowd. That distinction just may be the edge you need to succeed in the legal nurse consulting profession.
Thomas M. Ziemba is the general counsel and information systems manager for Medical-Legal Consulting Institute, Inc.
