Starting An Agency

Nurses Entrepreneurs

Published

You are reading page 8 of Starting An Agency

HealthChoice

5 Posts

I agree, Nurses should take more control. I am in the process of becoming and independent contracted nurse. Its going to be a lot of work but I think I will be happier with the results instead of waiting for someone else to sucure the contract for me. Thier interests lies in getting the contract for themselfs. They are making money on our skills and ther isn't any reason why we can't do this for ourselfs.

Most hospitals know nothing about the agency thier working with. I think it would be easier to deal with an individual person. We would have more control and so would the hospital. setting up the first few contracts would be difficult but there is always a learning curve, and besides the people who are getting our contracts aren't nurses in the first place and usually have no idea what it is we do.

HealthChoice

5 Posts

I agree, Nurses should take more control. I am in the process of becoming and independent contracted nurse. Its going to be a lot of work but I think I will be happier with the results instead of waiting for someone else to sucure the contract for me. Thier interests lies in getting the contract for themselfs. They are making money on our skills and ther isn't any reason why we can't do this for ourselfs.

Most hospitals know nothing about the agency thier working with. I think it would be easier to deal with an individual person. We would have more control and so would the hospital. setting up the first few contracts would be difficult but there is always a learning curve, and besides the people who are getting our contracts aren't nurses in the first place and usually have no idea what it is we do.

saralee777

20 Posts

Some of you are saying that it is expensive and need a lot of capital to start your own agency, but let me tell you what we did. I started my agency with $0.00 in the bank. That's right, zero! I was able to get my first contract with the local hospital (it's all about who you know!) If you've worked at a hospital before and got to know the staff and directors, then that's a big plus. I spent $100.00 on a package I received off the internet that came with a book and sample contracts to get me started. Once I got my contract, I pulled all the shifts in the beginning that way I got all the money I didn't have to pay any employees. By the way, I'm only an LPN and charged $32.00-$33.00 per hour. Just after two weeks, I hired about six more employees and they started pulling shifts. It also works out good because the hospital pays my invoice every two weeks, the same time they do their payroll. So, I pay my employees every two weeks when I get the check from the hospital. I realize not every hospital will do this, but if you can find one that will and get that contract, it really is not expensive to start. Also, you can purchase a program like Quickbooks for about $200.00 to process your payroll, it's really easy. Any questions, please feel free to email me. Hope this helps!

anymore info you have would be helpful. We are 2 travel RN's looking to start our own company. How do you go about finding hospitals etc? thanks, sara

saralee777

20 Posts

Both me and my husband are independent contractors. Technically speaking, all agencies are independent contractors. My husband is a construction contractor. I took his 14 years of experience and applied it to nursing and am now a nursing contractor. Like my husband, sometimes I am the only employee of the business. Like my husband, sometimes I hire a few employees when the need arises.

As a nursing contractor, I work out of my home; as do many independent contractors including my husband. I started off as the only employee and had very little expense. One month, I paid for my yellow page advertising; the next month I paid for insurance for the LLC so that I could hire employees when the need arose. Cost can be spread out as you earn money. My entire start-up expense is paid in full and within my first two months, I recouped the entire cost working no more than 12 days. We printed up our own advertising flyers right here on the computer as we needed them. We designed and printed my business cards right here on the computer. They both look very professional and cost us a fraction of having others do it (and if want to change something, I'm not stuck with hundreds of cards). I now have a contract with two facilities and am negotiating with another.

Of course you do have the option of borrowing tons of money, renting a fancy office, buying a new computer instead of making due, ordering 500 business cards all at one time, and hiring a professional marketing agent, etc. You can run your start-up costs up as high as you like.

As to the question of what to charge, we know that there is no one answer. In preparing to go independent, I simply started asking the DON's and staffing personal at various facilities "how bad is agency zyz ripping you off?" I was surprised at the information they were willing to divulge. The love to moan and complain about how bad the facility was being ripped off. The cheapest rate we have found is $65 for an RN for our area. Every facility we have talked to in the last year has made it a point to tell us about all the extras that agencies add above the basic rate for things like a nurse working as "charge", shift differential, housing costs and travel expenses. In our area, the agencies pass everything on to the facility. So there is room to negotiate and maneuver.

Check out the information on these threads also:

Independent Nurses providing medical care?

PRN vs Independent Contract

Independent Contracting and Protecting Your License

RN Independent Contractor

This information helps you out.

there are 2 of us who are rn's and we specialize in psych. we are looking at starting our own agency or going independent. any info or tips you could give us would be greatly appreciated. thanks, sara and caron

saralee777

20 Posts

I still find it amazing, that people who truly "do not know the business" are those who seek out contracts.

Nurses, can, and do, get their own contracts and benefit from cutting out the middle man in Agency Nursing.

I am a travel nurse and would love to do this. Can you advise me how to? thanks, sara

saralee777

20 Posts

I agree, Nurses should take more control. I am in the process of becoming and independent contracted nurse. Its going to be a lot of work but I think I will be happier with the results instead of waiting for someone else to sucure the contract for me. Thier interests lies in getting the contract for themselfs. They are making money on our skills and ther isn't any reason why we can't do this for ourselfs.

Most hospitals know nothing about the agency thier working with. I think it would be easier to deal with an individual person. We would have more control and so would the hospital. setting up the first few contracts would be difficult but there is always a learning curve, and besides the people who are getting our contracts aren't nurses in the first place and usually have no idea what it is we do.

can you please let me know how you are going about doing this? thanks, sara

inursing

1 Post

I just started my agency about a month ago and one of the hardest thing is financing the business because client facilities/hospitals would pay 30-60 days after the service has been provided and we have to pay our nurses. Competition sometimes offers to pay the day after. But what I did is to just be slow but sure, I am an RN and my husband too so we kept our full time jobs (to have a steady income to supprt the newly started business) and then pick-up shifts when our client call PRN, also I have my friends (RN's, LPN's & CNA's ) who supported us and left their part time jobs to work for us:lol2:, i love them.... and right now that we are starting , we really have to focus on the business first until it grows and become stable tso we need to make more sacrifices. We treat our workers as partners by giving incentives (though small ones - to provide more motivation for work) , can be gas cards, gift cards, movie tickets, etc... after certain hours completed and they are so happy about it. It means a lot to us as workers if we are given importance & appreciation and that is what we are trying to do.

MsBiz

9 Posts

I am working as an independent contract but I am not sure how to get started. Does anyone have any advice to point me in the right directions?

ICBSN

3 Posts

I am working as an independent contract but I am not sure how to get started. Does anyone have any advice to point me in the right directions?

Same here I would love to get started...does anyone have any advice?

:confused::confused:

yamiarn2

12 Posts

Specializes in ICU (all), neuro, child rehab.
Both me and my husband are independent contractors. Technically speaking, all agencies are independent contractors. My husband is a construction contractor. I took his 14 years of experience and applied it to nursing and am now a nursing contractor. Like my husband, sometimes I am the only employee of the business. Like my husband, sometimes I hire a few employees when the need arises.

As a nursing contractor, I work out of my home; as do many independent contractors including my husband. I started off as the only employee and had very little expense. One month, I paid for my yellow page advertising; the next month I paid for insurance for the LLC so that I could hire employees when the need arose. Cost can be spread out as you earn money. My entire start-up expense is paid in full and within my first two months, I recouped the entire cost working no more than 12 days. We printed up our own advertising flyers right here on the computer as we needed them. We designed and printed my business cards right here on the computer. They both look very professional and cost us a fraction of having others do it (and if want to change something, I'm not stuck with hundreds of cards). I now have a contract with two facilities and am negotiating with another.

Of course you do have the option of borrowing tons of money, renting a fancy office, buying a new computer instead of making due, ordering 500 business cards all at one time, and hiring a professional marketing agent, etc. You can run your start-up costs up as high as you like.

As to the question of what to charge, we know that there is no one answer. In preparing to go independent, I simply started asking the DON's and staffing personal at various facilities "how bad is agency zyz ripping you off?" I was surprised at the information they were willing to divulge. The love to moan and complain about how bad the facility was being ripped off. The cheapest rate we have found is $65 for an RN for our area. Every facility we have talked to in the last year has made it a point to tell us about all the extras that agencies add above the basic rate for things like a nurse working as "charge", shift differential, housing costs and travel expenses. In our area, the agencies pass everything on to the facility. So there is room to negotiate and maneuver.

Check out the information on these threads also:

Independent Nurses providing medical care?

PRN vs Independent Contract

Independent Contracting and Protecting Your License

RN Independent Contractor

This information helps you out.

TERRIFIC HELP - many,many thanks!:yeah:

yamiarn2

12 Posts

Specializes in ICU (all), neuro, child rehab.
You need liability insurance for your agency. You usually will be providing malpractice insurance for your nurses. What about benefits for them? Bill rates are normally never shared with other agencies. They can vary quite a bit. Rate charged will also depend on the quality of your nurses and their dependability. From a business standpoint you are looking at things wrong. Calculate what your costs are and what you will be paying your staff and remember to include mandatory education that may not be reimbursed by the hospital, etc. Do not forget accounting/auditor charges, computer program for billing, advertising, phone service, etc. You need to come up with a workable number that way, do not base your rates on what others are charging. This is how you will make the best deal for yourself. And I am telling you this 100% from experience. I owned my own agency before I moved to the other side of the world. And I can definitely say that the rates we got were higher than many other agencies because the nurses that worked for my agency were quite flexible and could work many different areas. All of us are ACLS and PALS certified. I also have NRP certification. We are all able and qualified to work critical care, including CVICU, PICU, etc, Emergency, and OR.

All of us have been members of heart teams, etc. Prices charged will depend on what you can offer from your nursing side. Are they willing to take call? Will they work at the last minute? Are they flexible as to what units they will work for the day, and perhaps more than one? I remember one hospital in Michigan where I worked ER on Monday, admitted a patient with chest pain, did his heart the next day in the OR, took care of him the following day in the ICU. I also remember another facility, where I worked 4 hours in PACU, four hours in Endoscopy, and four hours in OR. Experience means more money. You also need to start with hospitals where you have worked and they are familiar with you.

That is the absolute best way to get started.

Good luck to you..............................

p.s. Feel free to send me a PM if you have other specific questions

Incredibly helpful - thanks

yamiarn2

12 Posts

Specializes in ICU (all), neuro, child rehab.
Right now iam just trying to understand the business and how it runs. i know that I will need lots of money in order to pay the nurses but i also know that there are funding companies that that can help me do this. Can you please tell me something? I want to know after I have recruited some nurses willing to work for me and after I land some accounts in hospitals etc. When a client hospital is looking for a nurse for per diem work how much in advance do they call, usually when do they contact you . do they call you 24 hrs before they need a nurse? what happens if they call and you think you have someone to fill a position but then for some reason they cant make it what is usually done? I want to know a little bit about how the business is ran from the inside so that when I set up my business I can create my own unique selling point that will deal with these types of issues

Why not work for an agency for a year or two? You will learn the ropes that way. You need a thorough understanding of business practices, various regulations, networks, etc. Another option is to work at the facioity end as a nurse/ancillary staff recruiter if you have the education for the position.

I recommend you set an apointment with one or tw3o DONs, HR persoannel or the like - take them to lunch - and ask them lots of questions. Be upfront and honest about why you are asking them to lunch. Monolitic hospital staff are too busy but a small community hospital and SNF would probably be a candidate.

+ Add a Comment