MD interested in mobile IV hydration side hustle

[fatlittlepig]

White.Beard.Doc wrote:

Side hustles can be great…. or not.

If you have an idea and you want to go with it, you should go with it.  Nothing ventured, nothing gained.  High risk, potentially high reward.  But the first word is high risk.  Running a start-up business requires very broad range thinking.  You have to get the business model right, marketing, execution, costs, legal risks, capital risk, time risk.

So, have you written a business plan?  How will you market your service? What will it cost to start?  Who will be notified when a patient calls?  How will they be notified?  What will the response time be?  How will the medical professional respond?  By phone, through an app?  Who will build your app?  How much will it cost?  Will the treatment be provided by an RN?  An LPN?  What are the professional licensing and regulatory issues related to who can provide home care in your state?  How will the responding nurse be paid?  1099?  W-2?  Is this classification legal under the IRS guidelines based on the structure of your business?  Who will do payroll?  Bookkeeping?  Accounting?  Who will do risk management and compliance?  What type of malpractice coverage is needed?  How much will it cost?  What capital investment will be needed to get to profitability?  What if the costs exceed the revenue?  How much are you willing to put into this to build it to profitability?  How much are you willing to risk and invest before you know if it is a viable, profitable business model or not?  Do you have any experience running a business?  Do you have the time to make this work?

In short, some of us are risk takers and are cut out with the skills it takes to do the 100 things needed to start a business, some of us are not.  Which camp are you in?

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LOL, I think I’ll just pass and work another admitting shift.

 

[Kamban]

The key words are mobile and fixed minimum costs.

By the time you add the costs of bag, Zofran and other medications, IV lines, Cath-Flo, tapes, travel costs, purchase and set up costs, investors expected returns, any legal and accounting and possibly additional malpractice overhead, you might need $300 per infusion to make this worthwhile and 10+ infusions per day.

The problem is the drunks who need this IV rehydrations might be homeless alcoholics who might not be able to come up with even a fiver. The ones who can afford to pony up the $300 cash will see this as an useless gimmick.

[ZZZ]

OP

Sorry you're burned out.

If you can't see this mobile hydration thing as a boondoggle from a mile away, I'd suggest that something other than entrepreneurship will be your best avenue for alternate income.

[fatlittlepig]

Any side hustle that involves any type of medical care delivery (or in this case pseudo medical care delivery) is inherently flawed due to medicolegal implications.

[DCdoc]

I’m sorry you’re burned out. That’s a very real issue. But this isn’t the solution.

[Zaphod]

Kamban wrote:

The key words are mobile and fixed minimum costs.

By the time you add the costs of bag, Zofran and other medications, IV lines, Cath-Flo, tapes, travel costs, purchase and set up costs, investors expected returns, any legal and accounting and possibly additional malpractice overhead, you might need $300 per infusion to make this worthwhile and 10+ infusions per day.

The problem is the drunks who need this IV rehydrations might be homeless alcoholics who might not be able to come up with even a fiver. The ones who can afford to pony up the $300 cash will see this as an useless gimmick.

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You'd think so but stuff like this is all the rage in LA and Vegas. The most margin is the fluids, so you can have that as a base. It may be nothing po stuff cant fix, but its certainly faster and you are back to baseline faster. Professional teams and such do this as well.

There are whole fields based on absolutely nothing, I dont think this is that out there. Plus the results will speak for themselves and people will talk about it.

[Lordosis]

hombre3000 wrote:

There’s no tenderness, like before, in my fingertips.

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Does IV hydration with Vit C cure greyscale?  Otherwise better get out the cleaver before you turn into a stoneman.

Pardon that jape I could not resist.

In all seriousness this is an internet forum of strangers who tend to be doctors interested in financial independence.  Even the lowliest doctor salary is conducive to FI if you live within your means.  Doing something like you describe has way more risk then you likely know.  First off it could cost more then you think.  You could have issues getting enough business.  Or enough business of people willing to pay.  IT will likely take way more time for less money then you think.  Then you get into the "Pseudomedicine" nature of this venture.  If I was the CMO of your hospital and one of my CC docs was running this I would give it a lot of scrutiny.  Legally who knows what will come at you.  Will the government crack down on this cash pay stuff?  Will someone sue you and what ground do you have to stand on?

If you do not like your job then start looking for a better one.  Or modify the one you have.  You are likely reaching for home runs because you elevated your lifestyle in a way that your regular job cannot get you ahead.  I do not know this just a guess.   Deescalate your life and find a happy balance.

[q-school]

FunkDoc83 wrote:

Is this another name for the hangover bus?  I mean what better cure for a hangover than a bag of fluid, a shot of toradol, and some Zofran!

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we have hangover buses in our town.  for 100$ american, you can also have a note excusing you from class.

money for marijuana, money for beer, money for note, no money to pay for rent or needed medications.



 

[G]

OP, you did mention you were "all ears"....

As others have pointed out, this will be difficult to make real money for the effort and could jeopardize your ability to make money via a beige job in the ICU (or medicine in general if you lose your license).

That said, some folks here are being ridiculous in their negativity. Who cares if IV hydration isn't needed, why would that stop people? They pay money for bottled water for crying out loud. Who is to say that Hombre3000 Mobile IV isn't the next Evian/Dasani with a fleet of vans across the nation, delivering iv saline within 30 minutes.

Although I'd take the short side of the bet, the market will be the one that determines.

[Panscan]

Because we don't endorse things that aren't needed, bc poking someone's arm is not wholly benign.. Do no harm is allopathic medicine. We don't do things just to do things.

Bottled water isn't breaking skin or causing a venotomy.

[jacoavlu]

G wrote:

That said, some folks here are being ridiculous in their negativity.

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yeah lately this place has seemed more snarky, meaner, more tendency to pile on, I don't get it

[Lordosis]

Panscan wrote:

Who is to say that Hombre3000 Mobile IV isn’t the next Evian/Dasani with a fleet of vans across the nation, delivering iv saline within 30 minutes.

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https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/06/23/what-the-dasani-tap-water-scandal-can-teach-invest.aspx

Just do not try to use tap water like Dasani did.  You might get caught

[IntensiveCareBear]

Have you kept your personal costs as low as reasonably possible? That lifestyle/spend problem for the vast majority of MDs (and high income employees in general)... not "need more money." Status is an illusion. Somebody will always have a newer Lambo or a hotter gf or a shinier boat than you. It's a dead end road. Status is an illusion. If you have confidence in yourself and reasonable hobbies, you don't chase or support high maintenance partners (try to pick ones who have income of their own), it doesn't take as much $ as you think to have what you want. It took me 5 or 10 years to realize that, but when I put the brakes on my lifestyle, got a higher paying job with less hours (so less stress and frustration and exhaustion causing dumb buying/eating/rewarding/partying purchases), my retirement accounts suddenly began to skyrocket.

As was mentioned, the side hustle stuff is very seldom as much income per hour as the primary day job for physicians. I think that learning about investing (REstate, stocks, etc) is very beneficial to learn, so reading can be a "side hustle." The bona fide side hustles where you are the engine (you must write/market print or online content, you must see patients at UCare, you must travel to give lectures, you must hire/train/fire people to run your store or restaurant, etc) is seldom productive enough to eclipse doc income levels. If it's your passion (eg WCI blogging), then go for it... maybe it will be equal or greater to your physician income level someday, but overnight success usually takes years. It will absolutely cut your income in the early years... the cutting massively into your free time part won't be a problem if it's your passion, though. Nothing is a waste of time if you enjoy it.

As for the business idea of IV stuff your buddies might pitch you, those are not your passion. It's very clear by the words in your OP that you are simply looking at it as a stream of money to help pad retirement. Maybe offer to be a consultant... on a per hour basis? If they are legit guys, maybe buy 'shares' if you want to help their business get going and get you interested. To actually be at the van starting IVs or at a promo booth at a bar passing out cards is just not worth your time, though. Those endeavors are generally going to be frustration if you go into them for the money. Personally, my sales/service side job is cool and social gets me some exercise but makes not even half the $/hr which my hospital gig does... and I've been at it for years. There is no such thing as true passive income (not even bonds or CDs) and there are no GRQ or shortcuts, but most investing optimization can be done remotely and on your own schedule... that's the beauty of building those skills.

Three things will determine wealth creation and retirement age:

1) Income generation

2) Savings rate (%)

3) Rate of return

Assuming they were the traditional MD who finished residency circa early 30s, no physician with a reasonable standard of living will have to work past 65... even past 60 (or even 50 or 55 if they don't have a family) if they don't want to. If they choose to buy nice cars or houses or other depreciating "assets," esp on credit, they might work until 80 and still be in debt. It's up to you. Income generation can be maxed by knowing your specialty market, savings % can done by discipline, and investing knowledge can bump your RoR. GL

[G]

"Because we don’t endorse things that aren’t needed"

Panscan,
1) you missed my point
2) seriously?

[ddswifey]

@hombre3000--- sorry If i'm telling you things you already are aware of but there are med-spa businesses in my area that offer this service.    Unlike your idea, its not mobile but is in a well populated area with high foot traffic.     Its a business called Restore and is popping up franchises all over.    I said all that to say, I rarely see people in there getting IVs.   Honestly even though this business is new, I don't see it lasting more than 2 years.   Nurses give the IVs in this place.    Sorry I'm not giving all the Medical negative as I don't know about that, just purely an idea that I do not see the "need for this service" warranting your hard earned money (or time)  in investing.     I literally overheard the business owner of this place say   "We probably won't make any profit but we just wanted to be in that location (1 block off campus of a major university, where I would assume you'd get the "hungover" crowd).     Just offering the name of this place for you to look up and get an idea of all the IVs they offer---its not marketed as a "hangover bus" but as "wellness."      I personally would not go this route if I were you....owning small business is extremely time consuming.