Finding Funds for Your Midwife Business

Finding Funds for Your Midwife Business

Do you have the best idea for a midwifery practice? What is stopping you from starting it? Is the money a barrier to stepping away from the hospital practice to spread your wings to be an independent care provider? There are so many wonderful ways to find the money to start your dream midwifery practice. When a need and value is present, money will find you! Create a stunning business plan to present your vision and mission. Be able to easily community your thoughts and strategic plan to the community. 

Traditional thinking for business start up funding is Small Business Association (SBA) backed business loan. Banks and financial institutions perceive start up businesses as risky since approximately 90% fail first five years of opening their door. With a government backed security to a bank, loans are given out more freely with a business plan and ability to do lots of paperwork. Midwives can choose many routes to create their business dream.

Private money lending, stock holders if you choose to start a corporation, or equity partners in the business are great options for unique business start ups like midwifery clinic, birth centers, and home birth practice. 

Midwifery practices can be started as non-profits using donations, grants, and other government programs. There is so many wonderful resources for community based health care clinics. Check your local state funding programs. 

Talk with your warm market (friends and family) about your passion and dreams. Relationships have huge value when starting something new that may have more “perceived risk” involved. Know your projected income and expense needs, start up costs, overhead administration costs while running first year, and emergency accounts to have in place before talking with any potential fund option. Plan and be confident in your research and proof of success. The more confident you are in the practice success, the potential partners in the midwife business start up will grow their confidence in you and this dream!

Be conservative in your potential profits, budget enough in beginning for great marketing tactics, and have enough initial capital funds to run successfully and smoothly from beginning. I see too many times beginner entreprenuers start small and pinch corners due to costs. Scarcity mindset easily transforms your mission and care being provided to the families. Create a business plan of abundance with full staff for all the needs of the midwife business to run successfully. 

Even running a small home birth practice needs birth assistant, administration staff to answer phones, process patient accounts, restock supplies, organize paperwork, and keep an eye on flow of office while midwife can focus on what she does best: CARE FOR WOMEN! Large practices in a high demand area start out sometimes growing too fast and don’t have the upfront funds to handle the work load. 

Make sure your funds and business plan compensate for delayed reimbursement if processing insurance plans. Most insurance plans won’t pay for months after delivery and that is some time (approx ten months of care before seeing any direct revenue come in). 

Don’t let your midwifery dreams die due to limited belief of access to funding. Midwifery businesses have many options for funding when creativity is in place. Talk openly about your plans and dreams, people with like minds will start seeking you out and wanting to know what money you need. Important causes always find the capital funding.