Ep. 23 | Starting Your Own Business as a Nurse:Taking Ownership Over Your Nursing Career Through Entrepreneurship

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In this episode, I speak with Catie Harris of NursePreneurs on why there are more and more nurses who are starting their own business.

She explains how your nursing experience prepares you well in being an entrepreneur. Catie also talks about the important things to consider before starting your business.

Guest Spotlight: Catie Harris

Catie Harris is a NursePreneur Mentor who has empowered thousands of nurses in business to monetize their knowledge and skills while inspiring them to change the way healthcare is perceived and delivered. She strives to undo the perception that nursing care is limited to the hospital setting. Through her intensive nurse business coaching program, Catie shows nurses around the world how their hard-earned knowledge and skills can transcend the hospital system into a profitable business.

Website:  https://nursepreneurs.com/

Social Media:

• Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/groups/nursebusiness

• Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/nurse_preneur/

• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/CatieHarris/videos

• Pinterest - https://www.pinterest.ph/nursepreneurs/

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This episode was recorded via Squadcast and edited via Descript.

Transcript

NOTE: This podcast was transcribed by an AI tool. Please forgive any typos or errors. [00:00:00] Myles Parilla: Welcome to the insightful nurse leader. This podcast is focused on assisting nurse leaders become effective managers and change facilitators. Hello, and welcome to the 23rd episode of the Insightful Nurse Leader. Joining us today is a Nursepreneur mentor who has empowered thousands of nurses in business to monetize their knowledge and skills while inspiring them to change the way healthcare is perceived and delivered. Through her intensive nurse business coaching program, she shows nurses around the world how their hard earned knowledge and skills can transcend the hospital system into a profitable business. Catie Harris. Welcome Catie Harris: Thanks so much. Myles Parilla: Well, glad to have you here. So Catie, you're in the, business world and helping nurses start their own business. So tell us why would a nurse start a business, especially now where, the travel nursing gig is very much lucrative and very much needed about anywhere in the country. Catie Harris: Yeah. Well, I, I like to make, [00:01:00] um, the distinction between entrepreneurialism and wealth building. So, you know, nurses that are looking to generate as much money as they possibly can in the short term. Definitely go travel nursing. Enjoy your time. Well, you know, there's a lot of ways to generate wealth. Entrepreneurialism is an investment and it's not something that you see the fruits of that investment, some time, you know, it might be a couple years into it. So the, the types of nurses that go into entrepreneurialism are the ones that have this like fire burning inside them. They see problems that they actually want to solve and they want to be a part of something bigger and they wanna be part of the solution. And they're no shortage of problems at this point in the healthcare system. And, you know, I think a lot of the nurses are coming to us more and more because, they are bringing up the problems, but either they're being shut down or the hospital systems, healthcare systems don't want to change or they don't want [00:02:00] to hear the problems, or that they're not able to do anything about them. And it's left the nurses, I feel like it's left the nursing profession in a large way, almost without a purpose. So, you know, in the hospital system we're like, check in boxes, and we're doing this and we're running through people through the conveyor belt of healthcare. but you don't really feel like you're making an impact or solving any problems. You're just kind of perpetuating problems. Myles Parilla: Yeah. And, you know, I wanna point that out. What you mentioned is very much quite relevant. I mean, you see, I mean, you're, you're on LinkedIn and a lot of our listeners are on LinkedIn and you see multiple different posts. from different avenues or nursing about like, not feeling heard, wanted to be more valued, and all those other hosts of reasons of, not feeling valued. And with this, and, and I'm glad that we're talking about this, talk about, you know, solving problems, right? Nurses are passionate about solving a problem. What kinds of businesses can nurses start relating to the problem that you're [00:03:00] referring to at their work? Catie Harris: Yeah, I mean it's definitely something that I asked myself when I first was looking around for business. Like, what can I do? You know, I see all these problems and one of the problems that I had come across, early on was I worked neurosurgery and, one of the big problems that we had was with stroke patients. A lot of the stroke patients are too good to go to rehab yet too sick to go homes. And there's no in between. It's like you either go to rehab or you go home. And as you know, a lot of the stroke patients are older, elderly patients, and they might be seventies, eighties, the caregiver might be 80, right. And when they're in the hospital, you have that constant lobster ring the the bell, and you know, somebody will come in and if I. feel a twinge. I can tell somebody about it and they can tell me, you know, it's nothing, don't worry about it, whatever. But as soon as you go home, those twinges and headaches and stuff get amplified and you have nobody to talk to, right? So the recourse there is you call the office and the office gets back to you in, in two days, and then get [00:04:00] the resident on the phone and the resident has 50 patients that he, that he or she's trying to deal with. So their answer is always, we'll go to the ed. So then the stroke patient that we just sent home goes to the ED with a headache. It's amplified by the whole process of going to the ED and then they end up in our unit because the ED doesn't know what to do with them. And you know, we diagnose 'em with a headache, give them some Advil and send them home. and all of this could have been completely avoided. If you know somebody just jumped on the phone with them. So my first, uh, real business, which was a precursor to concierge nursing, was, well, what if, you know, I give you, what if I created a business and, you know, gave these stroke patients that were going home a service where they could call a nurse practitioner myself. And really was modeled after. Medicare had a program called Transitional Care Medicine TCM, and they were actually billing, they were providing a, they had a billing code for it and everything, so they'd pay like 250 bucks. I'm like, well, 250 bucks, I'll do it. Right. and, you know, I would be [00:05:00] that resource person for 30 days and, you know, check in on them when they'd go home and let them know that they can have somebody to call and, Stuff to alleviate the stress of going home. so that was, you know, really the first model. It, it got shut down because one, I was pretty naive in the beginning and, you know, the hospital's like, well, this is a conflict of interest, you can't do it. And I was like, oh, well , now it's obvious that would be a conflict of interest. But at the time I didn't realize it. And then two, my chairman decided that he wanted to steal the idea and make it his own. So Myles Parilla: Oh wow. Oh wow. Catie Harris: double whammy, Myles Parilla: Well, you know what, good for you for, for being innovative and you know, with that person trying to steal your business is actually a validation that you're solving a problem. Catie Harris: So thank you. Myles Parilla: Oh yeah. Yeah. I mean, it just shows that it works. Right? So, let's, let's bring it back a bit to, within the hospital system, right? We have shared governance councils, unit-based councils, you know, the magnet hospitals, pathways to excellence and all that. [00:06:00] What's missing there that nurses can't seem to make meaningful impact, that now they're thinking about, I'm going out of the system and start my own business to actually do the work that I could have done when I was in the hospital to begin with. Catie Harris: Right. And to be honest, it's one of the things that I think hospital management has just, you know, completely missed. It's a huge missed opportunity because the nurses do have these ideas and they bring them up in these committees, but whoever these committees report to, one is either disinterested in moving the agenda along, or they are completely unempowered, right? So you can bring up all the ideas that you want, but if it's not, you know, meeting the agenda for that, Hospital system, rightly or wrongly, whatever. It, it's not gonna go anywhere, but you're still kind of left with, and then you get that feeling of, well, you know, I keep bringing up all these ideas and, and nothing ever changes. Nothing ever happens. And you know, obviously the bigger the institution, the slower things are gonna move. But it, [00:07:00] it is really, really frustrating. And I mean, I dealt with that for like 20 years and after 20 years you're just like, all right, well this is really not gonna go anywhere, Myles Parilla: Yeah, I totally agree. You know, you, you're talking more towards, in the lines of nurse burnout, right? And, and that term has been so used and abused the past couple years or so, and I even, you know, interviewed a, a guest in the podcast at saying that, you know, burnout, we need a different word from burnout. Cause I feel like it's overrated and all that. It's actually worse than that. .So from your perspective, what is nursing burnout from your perspective? Catie Harris: Right. Yeah. I mean, I, I, I would agree too with that word. And it kind of makes us sound like, don't know, victims or of some sort. I don't know. Like I, for me was experienced in, I think a lot of people have, similar experiences, but burnout's different for everybody. But I was just, Angry and miserable all the time. I'd walk into the hospital and just be hateful. You know, people would be like, Hey, Katie Hour. And I'm like, what do you want? You know, just really nasty. And I'm like, this is not me. [00:08:00] Like who is this person and why does this person exist? Because I was just a miserable human being. And that was like like I had been working so hard for so long. much nothing. You know, I, I have zero legacy in the hospital, you know, after 20 years in the hospital, I have absolutely nothing to show for it. and there's a, a certain level of feeling like you're digging a hole and then filling it back up just to dig the hole and fill it back up. and that to me is the burnout. The burnout is, Pointlessness that what I was doing was almost pointless, because it was the same fire, different person every day and the problem never got solved. So it's exhausting to do the same thing every day and never see any progress whatsoever. so I think that is a lot of the essence of, of burnout. And not only that, but you are working your butt off and things aren't getting better. They're actually getting worse. So it's kind of like, well, what, why am I putting all this effort and time and energy into something that's not working? Myles Parilla: Mm-hmm. . Why do you think that is? [00:09:00] Is it a system thing? Is it a leadership thing? Catie Harris: Yeah. No, I, I, I think it's both. I think the system's there, and it doesn't want to break down. I think the system sees nurses as, Financial liabilities, right. Since we're the expense of the nurse is tied to the bed, you know, we're always seen as a commodity that can be increased, decreased. Replaced. A nurse. Is a nurse, is a nurse. And you know, if we need more, we'll just go to get more. We'll hire them off of wherever, not realizing that the only reason somebody comes to the hospital in the first place is for nursing care. Right. . so I, I think that we have been as a whole, not respected. So our opinion, isn't respected. And when we come with problems, it doesn't get quite the attention. you know, like with my, my surgeon goes in with a problem. It's like everybody drops what they're doing, the nurse goes with the problem, but of the same magnitude. It's just kind of like a, she's, she's just like this. She's always has problem. She's always bringing stuff up, you know. Myles Parilla: Mm-hmm. . [00:10:00] Mm-hmm. , you know, that, that's really, um, funny cuz you know, you have, uh, organizations that promote H R O or High Reliability Organization principles. if I can remember, the number one thing that they always, uh, tell us is speak up for safety Catie Harris: Hmm. Myles Parilla: And, if you're not listened to, , to your point, you know, what, what really, what's the purpose of speaking up? So, um, thank you for that insight and appreciate you for that, honest feedback. So fast forward, right? We're on this point at the cusp of, okay, I am not making any headway. I'm not making any difference at work. I want to jump into business, right? How do I do that? Catie Harris: Yeah, it's a, it's a big jump. But you know, I think part of it is deciding that the problem is worth solving. And investing in yourself as the person to provide the solution. So it is a, it's a, to me going into business is proclaiming yourself the leader. And I think a lot of people have a hard time with that because we all wanna be an appointed leader. Like, you know, I sat around the [00:11:00] hospital for 20 years waiting for somebody to come tap me on the shoulder and say, you're gonna be the leader now. And that was a dumb waste of time for myself. You know, you appoint yourself the leader and say, you know what? I have a solution to this problem. And you know, one of the first things that they need to do is take ownership of that and then start building out, you know, well, what exactly is the problem? Because a lot of times we a problem that's not well defined or not easily solved. Right. And sometimes we need to take a piece of it before we can take on the whole thing. And I had that a lot with, my, doctoral students. They'll come and they'll say, oh, I'm gonna, you know, like change healthcare. And I'm like okay. But we're gonna start with , this tiny little, little sliver here and we're gonna knock this out first. And it's amazing how that tiny, tiny little sliver becomes a whole body, a career's worth of work, in this little tiny sliver of this bigger problem. And business is very much the same way. cuz one of the things that I've noticed too [00:12:00] with nurses is that we have. we have the ability to do anything we want in healthcare, right? Like, I can work in neurosurgery today, I could go work in L & D and then I could do home care, ED whatever, or, and I've actually done a lot of those things, but in. having our foot in kind of everything, we haven't really narrowed down into that slice, that specialization, that could really service that some nurses have and you know, their, that knowledge that they have of a very specific area in medicine, in healthcare is extremely valuable. And even though the people that do have their foot and everything, they have more of a systemic view or, broader view of that can be, turned into a business model. Myles Parilla: Good, good. earlier you mentioned about identifying the problem you're trying to solve. Right. Defining that clearly. And, and that reminds me a lot about, you know, my training on A3 thinking. Right. The lean methodology that, that scientific way in addressing your problem, which really, you know, explains more about before you jump [00:13:00] into solving a problem, truly defining what are you trying to solve, right? What is the scope of that, and what is your ideal state where you're at now, and what is the gap in doing your PDSA cycle with that regard. Do you see any prerequisites for any nurse whether, training or financial acumen or, you know, any sort of training before jumping into starting a business? Catie Harris: There's honestly, there's not a whole lot of training that you can do that will be worthwhile, in the beginning, right? There's certainly lots of things that you can do. I mean, I had done my MBA and the mba, it prepares you to work in corporate. You know, management doesn't help you to start up a business. it's a very, very different skill set. And to be honest, like nurses, what nurses learn. In nursing school and in the units is actually great preparation for starting a business. And I remember having this epiphany one time when I was at one of my [00:14:00] masterminds where I was meeting with other entrepreneurs and stuff, and you know, the things that they were telling us, you know, how to operate on a shoestring budget, how to be resourceful, how to, you know, delegate things, how to think critically, how to listen to people that's like, Marketing 1 0 1, like, how do you listen to somebody? I'm like, well, you know, we learned all this like that's part of the nursing curriculum. So honestly, like, and I think I even wrote a blog post about this one time that, you know, the best, entrepreneur training would be to go to nursing school. What we don't really learn in nursing school that we do need are those leadership, skills and really the belief that, we are the ones to see it through. Myles Parilla: I totally agree. I totally agree completely. You know, I've spent about. About seven years in nurse leadership, and I could not agree more. And nursing is actually a very good, stepping stone for entrepreneurship. Like even from a leadership standpoint, right? You're trying to get buy-in, you're trying to listen to your team, you're trying to do a survey, you're trying to create [00:15:00] change. and largely, I think that's why. from my perspective, I see a lot of leaders stumble with with change initiatives because they just want to make things happen without actually listening to their customers. And, and that's, for me, that's the whole premise about transformational leadership, right? Like your, your team are your customers, I mean, yeah, they report to you, but you know, obviously you wanna be able to understand what motivates your team. So thank you. That's, that's very insightful. Why Why do you think nurses make good entrepreneurs? Catie Harris: yeah, I, again, I think that nurses really focus in, they hone in on the problem and they want to solve that problem. And some nurses have been holding onto, you know, they've been trying to push a certain agenda that they have to improve, you know, their, their patient's lives, their client's lives and getting nowhere with it. But it's still like burning inside them. I gotta do this, I gotta do this, I gotta do this. And you know, that persistence [00:16:00] is, you know, and the passion for. The, the patience I, I think is the real driver. I also think that, and I, I say this in a, a good light, I think there is that certain need for all of us to have the respect and the legacy of our careers to walk away and say like, look what I've done. And I don't think there's anything wrong with, you know, saying that. I, I think that's something we should be proud of you know, look what, look what we've done as nurses. Myles Parilla: agree. I totally agree. And you know. Now, there's a lot of different innovation in healthcare, right? There's, it's bringing up a lot of opportunities for nurses. Like you have remote nursing, you have, I interviewed Lexi J is one of our a podcast guest who talks about, you know, transitioning to corporate nursing and how it could be more lucrative from a compensation standpoint. And there's more flexibility in that regard. And it, it's bringing about a lot of different avenues of how one can practice nursing outside the bedside, which in [00:17:00] turn also makes you wonder like, whoa, what's gonna happen? bedside nursing, like, are we gonna have any enough nurses left? But you know, with the current limitations in the hospital setting, there's going to be innovation. Speaking of which, what do you think are, the relevant innovations right now impacting nurses as a profession? Catie Harris: Oh my gosh. There's , there's lots, I mean, there's a whole AI category, right? Uh, you know, I, I've, I've spoken to, to people in that field where they are using AI to greet patients or clients and have conversations with them and really kind of warm them up, which is kind of an interesting concept especially if you've ever been to the outpatient world where you go. Somebody's like, where's your insurance card? What's your name? What's your birthdate? What does what, you know, it's very transactional, very kind of like, just give me the information I need and then go away. Whereas like AI's that they're artificial intelligence that they're creating to act as a A [00:18:00] receptionist is pretty amazing and it's very fluid conversation. Like, hello, Mr. You know, Smith was so nice to hear from you. How were your holidays? You know, before jumping into, gimme your insurance card and go away and actually they have done this with a specific system. I can't remember what it is, but Brad Ferriss was telling me the story, and he's a nurse in this area, but he's like, yeah, the patients think that the AI is real because it's so real. And the, the conversation's so fluid that they'll come into the office and say, you know, is Kate here? And they're like, Kate's a robot. Kate is not here. So I mean, but there's, there's that whole concept of like, you. It's somewhat threatening and somewhat exciting. You know, I don't think robots could ever take over nursing. but you know, they could certainly help and facilitate our jobs and, and make it easier for us to get stuff done maybe they could check the boxes for us or something as we're caring for the patients. Myles Parilla: True. E efficiency optimization. From an entrepreneurship standpoint though, do [00:19:00] you see that, opening more doors for entrepreneurship opportunities or is it a threat to business? As a nurse. I mean I think any kind of disruptive innovation is both exciting and threatening. But it's not a reason not to move forward with it I mean, If I were in the position where I was kind of like the end of my nursing career and I was about to be replaced by a robot, yeah, that would be, that would be horrible. But for future generations, you know, there might be something innovative or good or whatever comes out of it. So I definitely think innovation is both threatening and exciting at the same time. You know, any disruption comes with, you know, massive change. Agreed. And, and there's a lot of that happening right Catie Harris: Yeah. Myles Parilla: So why do you think nurses are great salespeople in, in marketing Catie Harris: the nurses already know how to do it and whether they realize it or not, because they come in and they think it's this big, you know, kind of like cloud and they don't understand it and to be honest, it's really about educating and relationships. To me, that's what, you [00:20:00] know, it can really break marketing down too. And we're already good at both of those things. So, you know, when you're educating somebody you're still persuading them to a point of view, right? Like, if I were gonna try and persuade you that veganism would help your, you know lifestyle and stuff, like I could give you all and tell you what it is. and it's, it's a persuasion technique if you will, but that's what they do in marketing. It's like, okay, well here's the problem. I'm gonna describe the problem and then, you know, I'll give you the solution. And once you have, once somebody believes that you understand their problem, which nurses do, they will trust that you have a solution. If you say you have a solution, people will, you know, largely believe that you can solve the problem that you just articulated. So, and nurses at the forefront, they understand the problem very deeply, and doing copy writing with these nurses and, and, you know, listening to their stories is extremely powerful. And you do believe, even though they don't have, some of them don't have the solution yet. I'm like, yeah, well, you know, I, I'd love for you to help us, and, okay. But we have to be [00:21:00] careful because if you've described the problem like this, people want you to solve it. Myles Parilla: Right. Catie Harris: But yeah, I mean that's really what it's about, is truly understanding problem, listening to the people, how they describe it, understanding what they've been through, what have they tried, what has their experience been like, and then, you know, coming up with a solution that's different from what it is that they've already done that hasn't worked. Myles Parilla: Agreed, which is really something that's hard for most hospitals to do. , quite frankly. Catie Harris: Yeah. Myles Parilla: Walk us through your process. Let's say I have identified a problem that I'd like to solve. I want to jump into business. I wanna work with you and your company. Walk us through steps of starting the business, doing the marketing, and actually starting my own LLC in that regard. Catie Harris: Yeah. The first three things that we do kind of together, even we, we've laid 'em out but it's something that kind of happens at once, which is problem, audience, competition, and it's okay, what is the problem? And you know, who is [00:22:00] affected by this problem? So really understanding the audience, getting their perspective on the problem as well. And then looking to see what is out there in terms of competition. So, you know, you're not gonna open a 7-Eleven next to a 7-Eleven to solve a problem. Right? Like, it doesn't make any sense. So, what is it that, you know, keeping with that analogy, what is it that particular 7-Eleven doesn't offer? You know, maybe they don't offer, Kale smoothies or something. So you add a smoothie bar to your 7-Eleven to be different or to address a problem that your audience has. So those three things are really, really important to understand, and they're the hardest, and it's like the longest that you spend in one particular area of business, and it's frustrating because when you're not clear on the problem, audience and what solutions are out there. The tendency is to look at other people's business and say, oh, this person, you know, they're doing really well, so I'm just gonna copy what they're doing and then, you know, make it mine. But they don't understand that the audience changes from [00:23:00] place to place to personality to personality, right? So it has to be, it all has to be you and your unique skillset that you bring to the table. That portion of it can take a long time and it feels like you're making zero progress, right? I mean, I've been working with a, a couple women that for the last couple of months working on this problem, audience, competition. And, you know, that's, I can see their frustration, in, you know, I'm not getting anywhere with this, but the truth is, they actually have made huge strides, in what it is that they've been able to do in clarifying their message. And once they understand those three elements, to me the easy part, like let's put the business together, we'll put the LLC and we'll get a business credit card and we'll set up some, you know, financial systems and stuff. And then we move into pricing, packaging, and positioning. also another big area. So you know, what's in my package, what am I actually offering because, the one nurse is offering, um, what was it? She said, uh, achieve your business goals. [00:24:00] I'm like, yeah, no, that's . That sounds nice, but it doesn't mean anything to anybody. So, and what is it that, you mean? What is the package that we're offering here? And then we can talk about how much. It costs. And then, you know, who are you to deliver this? Like what are your credentials? You know, it's a, a lot to be a nurse, but you also have to show that you have been able you to help yourself or other people and position yourself as the solution solver. And then you can get into marketing. But not until you really understand those elements and that can that can take time. Um, and it, it is, it can be a slow process, but really hashing out outcomes that are tangible that are, you know, that people actually want. Which is another thing too, because a lot of times we, especially in healthcare, we like to tell people what they need to do. And that's not very good marketing at all. Myles Parilla: Right, right. So what is a typical timeframe [00:25:00] from concept to launching your business? Catie Harris: It, it all depends on how clear the person is. So, you know, we have business models, uh, you know, for IV hydration meds, ball concierge nurse, we can sit those business up in like 30 to 60 days. No problem. It could be generating income, bringing clients in, however, like this one nurse who wants to you know. Help you achieve your business goals. We can't move on that until we get something more solid, and that's something that we just, We've just done in this past week is help her to solidify that answer. So she actually helps businesses with funding opportunities find the right funding opportunities and bring in money for their business. So, you know, that's how she helps them achieve their goals. But now that she's clear, The road opens up, it's so much easier. It's so much easier once we know what it is that we're selling. And the the irony is, is that she didn't want to sell that piece of it because, she was afraid to, [00:26:00] say things like, you know, there's all kinds of marketing, like become a millionaire in three steps or, you know, that kind of stuff. And she felt like she was being really kind of like salesy and, and whatever, and. Myles Parilla: Hmm. Catie Harris: You know, so getting them over that hump as well is, it's sometimes it's just a matter of getting them comfortable with the power they have to help people. Myles Parilla: Got it. What about, the capital investment first? Like first round of the capital investment? Cuz obviously starting a new business is, obviously for like a personal business, it's largely difficult to find funding, especially if you're new with your business, like you don't have a, uh, DUNS number and business credit history and all that. How, how do you help your clients, get financing with capital and you know, getting that cash flow going? Catie Harris: Most, I would say 99% of the businesses that we would work with are gonna be self-financed because I mean, honestly very few if anybody is going to invest money in your business, if you [00:27:00] haven't invested anything in it either. So, it's important to really know what it is that you want to do, get the right training to do what it is that you need to do. You know, it might be, if you have a vague idea, you need to start with a coach and hone in on that idea. So that's investment number one. And then once you have the idea maybe you need to, I don't know, put a course together. So you hire somebody to help you put your course together or you do it yourself, whatever. So there's gonna be various milestones there but the first segment of your business really is gonna be self-financed, and once you have some sort of proof of concept, then you can certainly go look for funding. But you know, I just, I mean, I wouldn't invest in somebody that hasn't even spent any money, so it's hard for them to get funding from other people. Myles Parilla: Agreed. And then would you recommend to have a business plan laid out before even launching? Catie Harris: Yeah, I mean, the business plan is helpful. And we certainly do it [00:28:00] for Ivy Hydration and Med Spa, which we actually write their business plans for them but they're much more straightforward when the person isn't clear again on that problem, audience, competition. It's very, very hard to write a business plan at that stage. So for those people, we would hold off until we actually have packages and pricing. Then we can start to put together some sort of business plan. But I mean, you need to know, you have to be clear what it is that you want to do before you can write a business plan. IV hydration is a clear business model. It still has some, you know, some unique features to it that we need to tweak for everybody, but it's um, pretty straightforward. And coaching is, is pretty straightforward. But again, until we really understand the packages and the prices and what the real tangible outcome is, it's almost impossible to write a business. Myles Parilla: Mm-hmm. , thank you for sharing that. What's been the most successful that you've helped with, you know, majority of your clients? Sounds like, you've [00:29:00] helped a lot of clients start an IV hydration. Is that the most successful startups? Catie Harris: Well, I would say it's the most popular , you know, it comes down to, we all tend to do a little fantasy math in our head. And if you think about it, and you're sitting in the ED at three o'clock and you got a screaming patient or something and you're trying to stick an IV in and you know, you're like, I can do IVs all day. And then you look at an IV hydration clinic and they're charging $200 an iv. and then you start saying, well, if I did 10 IVs a day and $200 a pop, and then $2,000 a day for 30 days is 60, I can make $60,000. You know, and it's something that you can wrap your mind around but you know, at the same time, like that certainly doesn't take into account, you know, the lawyer fees and all that capital investment that you have to put up, to get the whole thing off the ground in the first place. But those are very popular and they also are very profitable very easily. I mean, two to three a day. You don't have to have 10, two to three. And it's, that's a six figure business. Um, meds spa, the same [00:30:00] thing. It just requires a lot more positioning and branding, Myles Parilla: Right. And I think with MedSpa, you kind of need to have a medical director. Catie Harris: Same with IV hydration. Yeah we, we help with all that. Myles Parilla: Do you think there are barriers as far as the regulatory parts of the business from a medical standpoint? Catie Harris: For MedSpa, definitely, IV dehydration has been on kind of like, it's been like the wild West, but they're coming for sure. Um, and that's something that we're, you know, in talks with lawyers and other associations and stuff just to try and stay ahead of it. But it, it's certainly coming. And we wanna be prepared for that. Myles Parilla: Got it. Sounds like there is a, it's a promising future for, for anyone wanted to start that route. Catie Harris: Yeah, it's a promising future though. I would say, you know, no matter what business you go into, there's always gonna be risk. You can never eliminate risk. There's always the chance that you'll go into it. And, I don't know, two years down the road maybe Congress says nobody can have an IV hydration. I don't know. You know, it's, or you know, they change the rules [00:31:00] overnight. It just, stuff changes constantly. So you have to be able to evolve. And we had one nurse that wanted, absolute certainty and I'm like, well look, you just don't to belong in business if you need absolute certainty, cuz it's never gonna happen. And even lawyers, it's really frustrating because you can go to five different lawyers and get five different answers because the law is, it's not like black and white. It always all depends. So it's kind of like, not can we do this, but how can we do this with the least amount of risk? And you have to be comfortable with that. Myles Parilla: Mm-hmm. . And what is the investment for working with you and your firm in venturing into a business? Catie Harris: That is all over the map as well. So, you know, when I first started, Nursepreneurs, I think I spent $15,000. Probably don't even know what, I can't even, I have nothing to show for it, because I didn't know what I was doing and I was just buying things. Like, I'm like, oh, I needed Facebook ads course. So I would buy a Facebook ads course, but I didn't even know what I was doing. So, why would you [00:32:00] do Facebook ads if you don't even have a business? Or buy a website, you know, and spend a thousand or $2,000 on a website but again, I didn't have anything to put on the website. I'm like, where's, you know, where's all the copy? Where's all the pictures? It's like, no, you have to do that. So yeah, I spent a lot of money frivolously that way, just really not kind of understanding what it was that I needed to spend the money on first. So I easily spent easily 50,000 before I found traction with what I'm doing. Myles Parilla: Mm-hmm. . So you've made a lot of mistakes, learned from those mistakes, and now you're in a better spot to, to be able to mentor others. Catie Harris: Exactly, exactly. I probably could have, I mean if I had hired kind of a top-notch coach, you know, at the at the, in the beginning, you know, I wanted to spend like $97 on a course here, a hundred dollars there, maybe splurging in a $500 course. But you know, the, honestly, like if I had taken that 15,000 and, you know, purchased a three month, one-on-one coaching program with somebody like it would've been money [00:33:00] much better spent. Myles Parilla: Right. I actually totally agree. I've, I've made a lot of mistakes in, in my business journey as well. But you know, it's, it's never lost. Right. You always have that learning. So, Catie, what is the difference between working with you, you know, what can they expect with working with you compared to other coaches out there who are wanting to achieve this similar thing? Catie Harris: Yeah. You know, I always tell the nurses that, you look for somebody who has done what it is that you want to do, right? Because there's a lot of great coaches out there. There's, you know, a lot of people that can help you to go where you want. But the thing is, is that one you wanna know that they can take you there, right? What proof do they have that they've been able to do this, whether it's for themselves or for others, and, you know, make sure that like that person, right? Like it's an interview when you talk to a coach to find out, you know, do I like this person? Do I like what they're saying? Am I going to listen to them? Do they have, like, do do I respect [00:34:00] their, positioning and their authority? And am I gonna listen to what it is that they say? So you don't wanna work with somebody and then constantly second guess them. It just makes a really bad situation but yeah, I mean, ultimately I think it comes down to finding somebody that's done what it is that you want to. Myles Parilla: Awesome. Well, thank you so much for uh, this very insightful conversation. How can our listeners reach you or connect with you? Catie Harris: Oh yeah, they can reach us at nursepreneurs.com and we're at nursepreneurs most, social media handles. Can certainly DM us there. Follow us there. Sign up for any of our, our lead magnets. I actually read all of my emails still a lot, but you know, I, I do respond to them, so if you want to email us as well, that'd be wonderful. And it's at catie@nursepreuneurs.com. Myles Parilla: There you go. So for our listeners out there, make sure you reach out to Catie. Well, thank you so much and have a great day. Catie Harris: Thanks. Myles Parilla: Thank you for listening to view the complete show notes and all the links mentioned in today's [00:35:00] episode. Visit mylesparillaconsulting.com/podcast and before you go, make sure you follow or subscribe to this podcast so you can receive the latest episodes as soon as they're released. And if you're enjoying this show, please leave a rating and review in Apple Podcast. Thank you again for joining me. This is your host, Myles Parilla, and you're listening to the Insightful Nurse Leader. I'll see you next time.