A friend asked me if I’d seen “Shark Tank.” I shared that I’ve dived and snorkeled in open waters with sharks in Fiji, the Galapagos and Maldives, but never in a shark tank. She laughed and said, “I’m talking about the television show in which entrepreneurs pitch their business plan to a group of multi-millionaire entrepreneurs (and a billionaire or two) in hopes of getting investment money to launch or grow a business.”
The show sounded just as interesting as swimming with real sharks and after checking it out I came away with some insights that entrepreneurial-thinking Certified Legal Nurse Consultants can use in your CLNC® businesses.
- It’s your money and you work really hard for it – and you have to keep doing so to keep money coming in. Don’t expect to be able to slack off once you’re a successful nurse entrepreneur.
- Don’t live in a bubble – it will burst if you don’t keep up with your marketing. I have a saying “after the marketing, the marketing.” When you’re the busiest in your CLNC business you still need to market.
- Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. That attorney-client may retire, fold up or join another firm. There’s 1,703,029 attorneys to market your entrepreneurial ideas to, and when you do market, be sure that you are equipped to provide quality service to all of your new clients – or they’ll become ex-clients pretty rapidly.
- Just because your CLNC business is small doesn’t mean you won’t be successful. Success is defined by you and no one else. I just wanted to make a little more than my nursing salary so I wouldn’t have to work overtime in an RN hospital job to pay my mortgage. Another CLNC consultant might just want extra time off with family or to fund college plans for her daughter.
- Passion will only take you so far – it will get you out of bed in the morning and keep you up late at night, but you’ll still need to be smart in business and make intelligent decisions.
- Without cash you don’t have a business, you have a charity service. Keep up with invoicing and collection. All nurse entrepreneurs agree – cash is king.
- There has to be something unique about you – find your unique selling position (USP) that makes you stand out from the crowd. Then – work it!
- Determine what or who your market is. There are a lot of different types of attorneys and you can’t market effectively until you know your market and market yourself in the right market.
- Don’t underprice yourself as a nurse entrepreneur and don’t deal from desperation. You’re a nurse and you can do anything. Trust me on this one – if you can save lives you can successfully consult with attorneys.
Shark Tank is a good reminder that you’re a nurse entrepreneur first and a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant second.
I’m Just Swimmin’
P.S. If you’re a regular Shark Tank viewer comment and share tips you’ve gotten from the show.
