What do successful nurse practitioners do? What is the key ingredient that sets apart these successful NP entrepreneurs from their peers? While many get into the business, not many can stick it out. The most important thing when it comes to being a successful NP entrepreneur is to focus on your own personal reason for doing the entrepreneurial endeavor. Your personal reason for starting is what will drive you through the tough days where you feel like giving up. That sense of drive is what sets apart successful NP entrepreneurs.

What is Your Reason for Starting?

Why are you starting this business? Why are you trying to grow your business? Why are you trying to scale? If you merely wander into something, chances are that you will not succeed at it because you do not know exactly why you are doing it. That is why it is essential to ask yourself these questions, not just before you embark on your entrepreneurial endeavor, but throughout your practice as well. Sometimes it is easy for you to lose sight of why you started, so reminding yourself is key to keeping yourself motivated throughout your practice.

Back to the question: what is your reason for starting? This can be very personal, and you may have to dig deep. It could be that you were already in the medical world and still have the desire to help your community get healthier one patient at a time on a smaller and more personal scale. Or, perhaps your answer could be financial. You want to make enough money to quit your day job and focus solely on your telemedicine practice helping out the medical community on your own terms. Or, maybe you have ventured into telemedicine so that you can have a better work life balance for the sake of your family. Whatever your reasons are, it is important to recognize them so that you can remind yourself of why you are doing this business when things get hard. What sets successful NP entrepreneurs apart is their drive, and this drive cannot exist without a strong motivation.

So, when you have discovered your answer, you need to make sure you remember it. Write it down on a post-it note and stick it up in your office, or on your fridge, or in your car. Have it everywhere as a constant reminder throughout your day. Remind yourself of why you are doing what you are doing until you have internalized it, and it has become second nature to you. Until it becomes what drives you on the days when you feel like giving up. A clear intention leads to good direction, so always set out on your day knowing what you want to get out of it.

Sitting Down with Yourself

Aligning your desires with your life goals is what will get you up in the morning when times get tough. Now that you have found out your desires for getting into your entrepreneurial practice, you need to ensure that your day-to-day habits line up with the goals you have for yourself. Set some time apart to self-reflect. Perhaps what you can do is create a “goals tree” on a piece of paper.

At the top of your piece of paper, write down your “why”. Why have you decided to become a NP entrepreneur? Below that, write out what you want out of your practice. For instance, if you decided to get into this line of work because you want to spend more time with your children, dissect why you want to do that. Perhaps you want to see your children grow up through their toddler years at the very least. Maybe you just want them to feel secure in knowing that their mother is at home with them throughout the day. Once you have these “sub-reasons” clarified, you can go on to expand on how you can achieve these goals. For instance, if you want to be able to spend quality time with your children during mealtimes, you can schedule your consultations during the afternoon to ensure that it does not clash with mealtimes. From there, you can create a daily timetable that breaks down your day into tasks that you perform for your home and children, and tasks that you perform as a NP.

While this is just a small exercise, taking some time off for some self-reflection can help you relax and clarify what you want not just out of this practice, but out of your life. It can give your days a sense of purpose and structure. The sense of clarity that such an exercise can produce will help give you the drive to do what you need and want to do. Writing all this down helps because it forces you to be mindful about your intentions and goals. Laying things out visually also helps you ground yourself.

Getting Started

Now that you have laid out your goals and how to achieve them, you can start thinking seriously about starting your personal telemedicine practice. If you are a NP looking for a collaborating physician, Collaborating Docs is the right place for you. Our aim is to match NPs with the collaborating physicians they need in each and every one of the 50 states. If we cannot get a match for you within 14 days, we guarantee a full refund. Book a Zoom call to request a free quote  from us today!