It is said that there are two types of business owners in this world:

1. The detailed-oriented ones.
2. The crazy ones.

When you start a business, there are dozens of various tasks that need to be completed during the initial few months. These include forming the legal structure, developing your service line, building your website, developing your marketing strategy, and so forth and so forth. The list is extensive. Various entrepreneurs tackle on the tasks necessary to start or scale a business differently. It ultimately comes down to your personality type and how risk averse you are. The detailed-oriented entrepreneurs take little risk whereas the crazy ones are willing to take on more risk.

The detail-oriented entrepreneurs are the ones that ensure every single task and to do list is completed before they ever begin. They analyze, but they do not become paralyzed often. Instead, they focus on every detail and ensure it is done even though it takes more time.  

These individuals are driven by perfection. They are a type A personality and absolutely insist everything is done correctly and by the book.

The advantage of being a detail-oriented entrepreneur is that everything is typically taken care of before problems present themselves. They have a procedure in place for every foreseeable issue. Another advantage is that the entire business is 100% set up and ready to go before it ever opens. Every single process is accounted for and has been tested multiple times to ensure it operates flawlessly.

The main disadvantage of being a detail-oriented entrepreneur though, is that it takes an enormous amount of time to get anything done. Everything must be accounted for. Detail-oriented entrepreneurs can fall into analysis paralysis and focus on busy work instead of just focusing on the work that needs to be complete to begin business and get revenue coming in. They can get trapped into playing business. They also tend to become stressed out more easily compared to the crazy entrepreneurs.

On the other side of the coin are the crazy entrepreneurs. The crazy entrepreneurs just get enough done to start seeing customers/patients. They don’t create a business plan or a giant list of “to do” items. They form the legal structure, get a few things together, start marketing, get people through the door, generate revenue and just figure it out along the way.

These individuals are driven by profit. They don’t care if everything is done correctly and by the book, they do just enough to get the business started.

The advantage of being a crazy entrepreneur is that you can get a business up and running in a matter of weeks. They do everything legally, but the processes within the business are yet to be completed. They simply “wing” it. Another advantage is that revenue begins to come in rather swiftly. An additional advantage is that they are able to scale and start businesses very quickly, resulting in building a large empire in a short amount of time.

The main disadvantage of being a crazy entrepreneur is that you can end up getting in trouble within your business. They do not necessarily get into legal trouble, but they might not have a process completed within their business when a problem presents itself, like a patient wanting a refund and they have no policy in place to address this. Instead, they just “wing” it. They can find themselves scrambling to figure certain problems out whereas the detail-oriented entrepreneur has already thought about that during the planning phase.

Can you guess what type I am?

Definitely the crazy one…

I have a friend who is more of the detail-oriented one…

Guess who is more successful? I would say we are on equal footing.

So that begs the question, does it really matter which type of entrepreneur you are?

I would say yes and no. It ultimately comes down to what type of business or practice you want to start. Remember, a simple cash accepting niche side practice is a simple endeavor to start. An insurance accepting practice is another beast though. I do not believe the crazy entrepreneur has the mindset to open an insurance accepting practice, but the detail-oriented one does!

I think the detail-oriented entrepreneur would be much better at owning a larger insurance accepting practice with multiple employees. These types of practices require policies and procedures in the event there is a human resources issue, an insurance audit, and other issues that fall into regulatory categories.

The crazy entrepreneur does better with simpler businesses though. They do not have the patience to jump through all the regulatory hoops. They would prefer to do the bare minimum and get started. They enjoy barebones type practices with little employees and regulation.

These are not blanket statements though. I know entrepreneurs that fall into both categories that have cash and insurance accepting practices. It ultimately comes down to what you want.

Is that a highly complex business that requires an attention to detail? Or is it the simple business that can be done utilizing a few scraps of paper and a pen? If it is the former, then you need to ensure you are a detail oriented individual, if it is the latter, then you need to ensure you understand the simplicity and not get bogged down by details and get analysis paralysis.

Each one of you reading this needs to determine what type of nurse practitioner entrepreneur you are so you can identify the strengths and weaknesses that come along with it. Once you do this, you can plan in your mind what needs to be done to get that side practice running or how to scale what you already have!