Should I recruit employees first or get contracts first?

suzanne4, RN · Mar 31, 2006

A hospital is not going to offer you a contract based on who they think that you can get to work for you, it works the other way around. You need to show them why they should offer a contract to your company vs. another one.

Best bet is to start slow with just yourself, you are the best marketing tool for your business.

HarryHK · Apr 1, 2006

Suzanne has given good advice. But I think more information about your plans and what you have done to date is needed. Are you a nurse? Do you have a lot of relationships with local hospitals now from having worked there or with others who have worked there? Do you have a lot of relationships with those you have worked with who having learned of your plans, expressed an interest in putting in some extra shifts with you, or even more? Are you incorporated, insured, have financing in place for your payroll? (The first two are easy, financing may be difficult).

That would be a good foundation to start an agency (probably how most have started). It would be very difficult to start from scratch, recruiting nurses and landing facility contracts. And unfortunately, from either way, very good PR is needed. That means putting on a front that you have more business capabilities than you do. All businesses do that, but until you gain a critical mass, your business will have a harder time living up to your public image.

Starting with just yourself will give the experience to build your business.

Kindhearted · Apr 2, 2006

I planned on just starting with myself but I wasn't sure if I could do that and work on my regular job also-thanks for the advice. I do have some connections in a couple of hospitals but I haven't brought my idea to them as of yet. I do have financing at least for 2 people me and maybe one of my friends-I didn't want to hire anyone from the outside yet but I wanted to know when the time comes would it be better to recruit employees first or clients. I am not a nurse just yet I graduate this month but I've worked for an agency before in another capacity and although I know I will enjoy nursing I've always wanted to own my business and I felt that this would probably be a better time than any. My plan is to work for other facilities via my company on the days that I am not working my regular job, but I don't want to burn myself out either. Thanks for the advice. I look forward to your reply.

suzanne4, RN · Apr 2, 2006

Without a fair amount of experience behind you, it is going to be impossible for you to market yourself. Most facilities want at least one year of experience as an RN before they will even give you shifts for yourself. How can you market yourself? Based on what nursing experience? Even the time that you spend in orientation on your other job is not considered work experience, that starts when you can be on your own and are counted as such. It is also much easier to market yourself when you have actual work experience in several different areas. You have to give the facility a reason why they should want to hire you over another agency.

I highly recommend that you get some experience under your belt first.

HarryHK · Apr 2, 2006

Starting with contacts is the way to go. And if you have the capital for a couple of employees, you're half way there. Develop a profile on the nurses you have and present them to the hospital. Your employee's profile is your marketing tool. If they like them and have a need, you can then negotiate rates and get a contract signed.

How are you doing on the other elements you need? Insurance (you will need both professional liability and general, possibly fidelity as well), business entity (you really should have some sort of corporate structure such as an LLC or C/S corp), facility contract development, workers comp, unemployment, payroll company, EIN, drug testing lab to name a few things to have before your first contact with a hospital. On the employee side, you will need to verify references and employment history, and have some basic quality assurance program to assess that you have supplied some sort of minimum OSHA fire and safety and HIPPA training, medication test, and so on. You will probably not have to prove this to the hospital, but mention it in your contract and prepare to back it up if audited by the hospital.

Much of the boilerplate stuff like fire and safety and skills lists can be scarfed up online at any number of agency websites. Or you can apply at an agency and get that stuff that way.

Do your self a favor though, don't try agency for yourself until you've got at least one year of experience. Unlikely anyone could place you with less anyway, including yourself! That gives you a lot of time to network and recruit more nurses. When you start doing agency yourself, you can expand your contacts to other hospitals. Make friends with HR or staffing. They are the ones who will make or break you as a local staffing agency.