Working Alone Is a Job. A Team Is a Business.

The majority of nurses who venture out on their own end up with a better job instead of a business.

They still exchange their time for money. The maximum hours are whatever they can manage themselves, and the difference from being employed is autonomy, not scale. This is a totally legitimate result, and lots of people want precisely that.

It's not building anything, though, and the difference is important to recognise before you decide.

What makes it a business

People. Support workers providing the daily supports, you on the clinical layer, with oversight and capacity not limited by your own diary.

The structure mimics the layered teams that are described on the referral side of this library. Common supports provided by workers. Gated supports delivered by workers with specific training. Judgement of the type that you have in clinical practice. The difference is that you are putting it together, instead of slotting into it.

Where it usually falls over

Recruitment. Almost always recruitment.

It is difficult to find employees. Verifying them is administrative work. Onboarding them takes time, and when you're also delivering care, that's time you haven't got. Keeping them is something that no one teaches nurses, and it simply means being a good employer.

Most independent practitioners give it a shot once, end up spending more time on the computer than on patient care, and quietly go back to working alone.

What we do about it

We assist you in recruiting. The workers are on the platform, screening and verification go through us, and you select which client each worker works with.

You are responsible for the clinical judgement and who you choose. Not creating job ads, not hunting for references, not developing an onboarding process.

What you still have to do

Determine who is best suited for each client, a decision no one can make for you. Brief them properly. Keep the clinical control and escalation line. Be the sort of person good workers want to keep working for, that bit is not outsourceable.

The honest limit

A business of this kind grows to its natural size. It is not an agency, and it is not trying to be one. What it is, is a practice that continues even when you take a week off, and can take on a client that you personally can't fit.

That is the difference that makes a difference for most nurses.

How this plays out in practice

Imagine a nurse who is fully booked, turning away a fifth enquiry every few weeks. That being the case, working alone is the ceiling forever.

With 2 support workers providing her daily supports, the same 4 clients take a fraction of her direct hours, and the 5th enquiry is a yes.

She didn't change any part of her clinical practice. The structure around it did.

Next steps

Decide on independence or size. Both are valid, and from there they lead to different conclusions.

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