I get emails and questions all the time from nurses who are fed up with their current situation and would like to start a business. Many times they are stuck at the idea of what to do, but sometimes they do have a business idea and need a little coaxing to get started.

One important thing to remember is that even if you have a business idea, it may or may not be profitable. Figuring out what type of business to start is just the tip of the iceberg when starting a business.

Is there money to be made in your particular business idea? The honest answer is I don’t know. You could start a business and it could all be for nothing and you never make a profit.

Every nurse who wants to start their own business feels the same in the beginning. You’re excited, confused and scared. You really don’t know how to get the business venture off the ground and then self-doubt starts to creep in and leaves you paralyzed with fear.

• What if I don’t get any customers?
• What if people don’t like my product or service?
• What if I don’t make any money?

When I started my business I was excited and filled with hope. These feelings started to quickly led to feeling down.

I didn’t sell my first book the first day it was published. No one read my blog posts for months. No one reached out to me to partner for nearly a year.

Those first few months were brutal. I had to learn to be patient. I had to learn to let people know I existed. I had to learn how to do everything for my business; marketing, blogging, social media, figuring out my services and products, etc.

So while I can’t gaze into a crystal ball and tell you what’s going to happen with your business, I can help you determine if your business is profitable before you even start.

Google.
I know this sounds ridiculously easy…and it is. Google your business idea to see if someone else is doing something similar. If you find someone doing the same thing, you might be on to something. This means someone has already found a market for your business idea. Don’t give up just because your idea wasn’t original. Maybe you could find a way to add a twist your business that others aren’t doing.

Make a poll.
One easy way to validate a business idea is to poll your target audience to see if a service or product is needed. If you are a member of a group on social media, you could easily set-up a poll related to your business. You can ask about a specific product or service you may offer, the price they will be willing to pay and whether or not it’s something that would actually be useful. Use the information you gather to amend, validate, or abandon your business idea.

Set up a Facebook ad.
Facebook ads are relatively inexpensive in the grand scheme of things. Make an ad and set an add budget of $35-$50 to see if your idea gets traction on social media. Don’t worry if you don’t have a product or service to sell just yet, we’ll talk about this in the next step.

Make a landing page.
Link the ad you just made to a landing page of a website so interested people can sign up with their email and you can let them know of your launch date. Did you get a ton of leads by making the landing page? If so, then you have a great business idea that just may bring in a healthy profit!

Share your idea.
Share your idea with friends an family to get feedback on it. Would they be interested in your product? Do they see a market for it? Did they bring up an aspect you maybe didn’t think about?

Don’t worry about someone stealing your business idea, because many people don’t act on things they think will be difficult (and starting a business is not easy!). Use the feedback you get from others to tweak your business idea if needed.

After doing research and looking at all your data, you will have way more perspective if you want to move forward with your business idea, and if so, which direction to take it in.

If you still need help finding your profitable business idea, you’re in luck! I’ll be offering a free course, Finding Your Profitable Business Idea in the coming weeks. Stay tuned for more information!

What have you done to validate your business idea? Have you tried any of the ideas above? If so, let us know how it went in the comments below!

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