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What It's About
Nurse Practitioner takes his medical act on the road, picking up six-figures along the way.
Business Model
Service
Skills Required
Medical Knowledge & Experience
Complexity
Medium
Profit Potential
High
Words of Wisdom
Not everyone could do this … but what could you do? If you find yourself missing something—some sort of professional void like Brad was experiencing—might there be a way you could use a side hustle to fill that void? Discontent can be a powerful fuel for making changes in your life.
Fun Fact
In the last two years, Brad has seen patients in a number of interesting places. The most unique? Brad says that’s easily the human residents of an area chicken coop. He says they were good people in a bad spot in life, and he was happy that he could help them out.
Notes from Chris
Episode 929
From a young age, Boise, Idaho-based Brad Bigford liked to help people with their problems. He also enjoyed challenges. After his dream of becoming a firefighter like his dad didn’t work out, he changed focus and became a registered nurse. Being an RN was great, but he wanted to have more autonomy and decision-making authority, so he increased his training to become a nurse practitioner. For those who don’t know, nurse practitioners are advanced-level medical professionals and can prescribe medication, diagnose illnesses, and provide primary treatment, much like physicians do. After graduation, Brad was hired by his local sheriff’s office. He found no shortage of challenges in this day job. As the sole medical provider responsible for the healthcare needs of roughly 1,000 inmates at his local county jail, Brad encounters all varieties of medical needs. From dealing with the symptoms of opiate or alcohol withdrawal to managing chronic diseases like diabetes to wound, infections, and mental illnesses, he sees it all. Still, he felt a void in his professional life. He says that unfortunately most of his jailhouse patients don’t leave him feeling like he’s doing a great job. Medical care can be used as a way for an inmate to get extra privileges, which changes the normal provider/client relationship. Though he still believed in the work, the sum of the parts left him feeling mentally drained. He began to supplement his income by working with a large medical company doing insurance physicals in people’s homes. But he found that boring and wanted something different. Each year his family and friends arrived at holiday gatherings with a list of ailments and medical questions. One year, Brad said that he was going to send them a bill for all their questions. He was half-joking … but the idea stuck. From his side hustle doing in-home physical exams, he knew that people loved the convenience of having someone come to them. Why couldn’t he do house calls for their other needs? So, after talking with the relevant licensing boards, he applied for the necessary licenses and waited. He also applied to accept the major insurance carriers. Overall, starting up took about six months, much of it a waiting game. Six months later, with all of the clearances in, Table Rock Mobile Medicine was born. Brad’s service, at its core, is about making house calls. The majority of his clients are women, many with young children, and his visits mean that they don’t have to drive to the clinic when their kids are sick. They also never have to worry about sitting around in a waiting room. In the early months, business was slow, with a few happy customers each week. It was bringing in about $1,000 per month but then around fall of 2017, school resumed and suddenly business boomed as kids began to get sick. He started seeing his business repeatedly tagged in local Facebook posts, and soon his calendar was full. To this day, more than 90% of Brad’s clients find him via word of mouth, and most schedule their own visits on the website without speaking to him until he arrives. Brad says that house calls aren’t the most efficient business model—which is why they are virtually nonexistent in many areas. While he can’t see the 40+ daily patients that many providers in a brick and mortar location would, his house calls set Brad apart and allow him to compete and thrive. After two years, Brad’s part-time house call hustle earns more than six figures annually. In short, the mobile health care hustle has not only produced a great second income—it's also brought him to another population of patients that offsets the work he does at the jail. Looking ahead, Brad is considering sharing his experiences and offering some type of consulting or tools to help other nurse practitioners set up a similar business in their area. He says that this could be a good fit for anyone else in his field looking for something different.MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:
- Table Rock Mobile Medicine: Learn more about this on-the-go medical side hustle over on Brad's website!
- Los Angeles Designer Runs Mobile Yoga Studio: An on-location, by appointment yoga studio helps a UX designer earn an additional $40,000 a year working only a few hours each week
- Car Crash Leads To Pain Relief Side Hustle: After an MBA student is in a car crash that leaves her with chronic back pain, she sets about creating a change that would help thousands of other people.
- The 10-Minute Workout Gym: A Nashville insurance executive who hates exercising opens a gym modeled on working out for only 10 minutes at a time
Quote of the Day
"Stick with your vision of what you want your practice to be because everyone else will have an opinion or idea on what they think you should be doing. Obviously, listen to others advice, but stick to your ideals and goals."
—Brad Bigford #SideHustleSchool
