Write a Small Business Plan You Can Live WithWriting your small business plan as a Nurse Consultant, Educator, or Contractor is less complicated than you would imagine. Unless you are planning a large corporate venture, such as starting your own nursing agency, it does not have to be lengthy and dull. A simple business plan is sufficient. That doesn’t mean that the business plan is not important. In order to build and keep your business on track, you must make a plan and put it in writing. When starting a small business, follow these guidelines for writing a simple business plan. Vision Statement Your vision statement is the ideal you hope to uphold through your business. It is the initial statement of your small business plan. It may be that you want to:
Your vision statement should aim high and think big. So give some consideration to just what your vision is. What would a perfect nursing company do? Mission Statement Your mission statement is more of a nuts and bolts statement about how you will achieve your vision. It’s a brief, well-thought-out statement that describes your business...what you stand for and what you’re dedicated to doing. For example, “Nursing Career Hub will provide nurses with options and encouragement to find the nursing career of their dreams. We will push the envelope to show nurses that their opportunities are limitless” Think in broad but realistic terms. This is how you plan to accomplish your vision. Organization When starting a small business, you will need to choose an organizational structure. Your organization most likely will be a sole proprietorship or maybe even a partnership, if you work with someone else. If you have more than one person, you can list the duties of each person. A simple business plan would also list your primary resources for achieving your vision and mission statements. Consult your attorney for more complicated business structures, especially if your nursing business is high liability. Goals “No matter how carefully you plan your goals they will never be more than pipe dreams unless you pursue them with gusto.” — W. Clement Stone Daily action is the key to building a successful business. But it must be planned and deliberate action … not random or haphazard. Build a habit of daily action. Your business, as well as your life, can benefit from setting clear and specific goals. Try the following step-by-step approach to goal setting. The first step to achieving any goal is to define it. Where do you want to be in five years? Your small business plan should address each goal. Think about and write down your goals. Be as specific as you can. Include a sentence or two about why you are setting the goal — this will help you keep on track with the goal. Your small business plan will become cemented in your goals. Consider very carefully about the most important accomplishment you wish to make in your business over the next five years. What is your big picture dream for the company you are building? This could be financial, it could be expressed in terms of clients, it could be a reputation, or a certain amount of growth. For example, your business plan may include building your website traffic to 5,000 visitors per day. This will allow you to increase your income potential, giving you a lifestyle that includes the freedom to travel and pursue other activities. Next, you should think about the objectives you’ll need to achieve the goal. For a business goal like increasing your website traffic, your objectives might be to write an ezine with great content, attend two networking events each month, get involved in social networking on a weekly basis, and write two articles a month for submission to article sites. Break It Down
Once you’ve established the objectives that will bring you to your goal, you need to set annual, monthly, weekly and daily tasks to steadily, step-by-step, achieve your objectives. If your objective is to write an article every two weeks, break this into tasks spread out over several days, twice a month.
Continue completing small tasks each day, so that reaching your larger objective becomes a natural process. A good rule of thumb when planning these tasks is to think in terms of what you can achieve in 15 minutes to an hour. Achieving success through small steps is much easier than taking it on in big leaps. Review your business plan at the end of each week. Check on your monthly and annual progress to make sure you are staying on track with the larger overall goals. If you’re falling behind, reread your goal and the reasons behind it. Then rearrange your tasks to catch up by the end of the following week. By sticking to your small steps, you’ll see your success begin to grow. Any goal, no matter how big, can be broken down into smaller, achievable tasks.
Marketing No matter what your nursing business is, you will need to market yourself. You could have the best business idea in the world. But if no one knows about it, you won’t succeed. Any simple business plan must address this issue. You don’t need to have a huge marketing budget. In fact, it’s better to start small. Make sure your business is visible to potential clients…those who need or want your product or service. There are simple, inexpensive ways to market your business effectively and become the “expert” in your specialty. Address them in your business plan.
As you can see, the free to low cost marketing opportunities are limited only by your imagination and effort. Starting your own business can be challenging. Writing a well-thought-out small business plan will keep you focused and help you plan for the future. Good luck in your nursing business adventure. ************************************************* For more career tips, including starting a small busiess, subscribe to our monthly newsletter,
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