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8 Tips for Aspiring Healthcare Entrepreneurs

You may dream about being your own boss, but are you really ready to take the plunge into healthcare entrepreneurship? Besides having a winning idea or service to offer, you must be self-motivated, persistent and energetic, say successful healthcare entrepreneurs.

Faye Berger Mitchell, a nutritionist in private practice since 1988 in Chevy Chase, Maryland, and Thom Golden, a former emergency room nurse who founded Doctor Baby Proofer in 1986 in Dallas, offer eight tips to aspiring entrepreneurs:

Do What You Know

It’s easier to launch a business that builds off your existing knowledge, experience and professional contacts than to enter an entirely new field as an entrepreneur. Golden hatched his idea to open a baby-proofing business while working with pediatric trauma cases in the ER, where he recognized injuries that could have been prevented in a child-safe home.

Believe in What You’re Doing

If you’re going to invest your time and money in building a business, you must have confidence in your abilities and boundless enthusiasm about your venture. Berger Mitchell survived a few tough months right after quitting her job as a patient food services manager because of her enthusiasm about self-employment. “For the first time in my life I was able to take rejection and still keep going,” says Berger Mitchell. “It was because I loved what I was doing.” She now teaches a course for dietitians and nutritionists called “Be Your Own Boss: The Basics of Starting a Private Practice.”