Time vs. Money – The Balancing Act for Nurse Entrepreneurs

As we approach the New Year 2026, in this final episode of EmpowerHer Entrepreneur Season 2, we dive into the delicate balance between time and money, two of your most valuable business resources. Learn how to identify the “time traps” keeping you from growing, apply the powerful Time ROI framework, and discover when it’s finally time to invest in help. Whether you’re running solo or growing your clinic, this episode will help you make every minute and every dollar count as you step into the new year.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:35

Hi everybody! In this episode of Empower Her Entrepreneur, we're going to dive into the delicate balance between time and money. So two of your most valuable business resources, time and money. So we're going to learn how to identify some time traps keeping you guys from growing and apply the powerful time ROI return on investment framework and discover when it's finally time to invest in help. Whether you're running solo or growing your clinic, this episode will help you make every minute and every dollar count. I'd like to welcome uh welcome everybody back. Um, this is definitely the podcast that helps foot care nurses turn their passion for care into a thriving business. I'm your host, Janice Boudreaux, and today we're tackling one of the biggest balancing acts in entrepreneurship and business, time versus money. Let's talk about the two resources that define your business, your time and your money, and how to stop trading one for the other, because you know that's what we all do. If you have ever felt like there just isn't enough hours in the day, raise your hand. Well, don't if you're driving. Or that your earning your earnings are just like not reflecting the effort you're putting in. You look at your bank account and you're like, ugh, well, stay tuned because this episode might just change exactly how you're running the business. Let's first talk about the time, the time trap. Let's start with something most of us have been guilty of. And that's the time trap. And here's how it happens. So, as foot care clinicians, you know, we spent years working in environments where time literally equals money. We're paid hourly or per visit or per shift. So when we start our own business, that mindset comes with us. We think if I'm not working directly with clients, I'm not being productive. But that's a trap. Let's talk about opportunity cost, the hidden cost of what you're not doing because you're busy doing something else. Imagine this, guys, you're spending two hours, you're sitting there, you're entering your invoices into your laptop. Sure, it feels very productive, but what if you could have seen two clients during that same time? Clients who each pay$80 per visit. That's$160 of potential revenue loss just to save a bit of admin time. Now, multiply that by a year, everybody. That's thousands of dollars of income lost to busy work, I'll call it. That's the opportunity cost of staying stuck in the weeds. And it's not just about the money, it's also about energy. When your time is scattered across admin, marketing, travel, and patient care, your focus is it's suffering. You're working hard, but not always on the right things. Listen, you didn't start your business to drown in all the paperwork. You started it for freedom. Remember the great reset you wanted and to serve on your own terms, to help people and to have more control over your life. But freedom doesn't come from doing everything yourself, it comes from learning how to value your time and absolutely spend it where it creates the most impact. Okay, this brings us in to the time ROE or ROI ROE. Uh ROI framework. Return on investment. Let's bring in a simple but powerful tool and it's gonna help you to take control of your time. I call it the time ROE framework. Return on investment for your hours. There are four steps. This is what I've used. It has definitely propelled me to another section of my business. It made me think, it made me move on. And let's be honest, if you're listening to me on this podcast, I've done something right and I've built something right. I've actually built something quite huge. And I continue to expand. I know that in my area, oh, I hate to say this, but I wouldn't even be a foot nurse in my area to compete against me. That'd probably be a no. Anyway, there are four steps eliminate, automate, delegate, and concentrate. I actually learned this from somebody that I seek counseling from. I do one-on-one mentorship. And it really, really helped when I put this into play quite a few years back. But let's break each one down, and I'm gonna give some examples from like real foot care businesses. Number one, eliminate. Eliminate. Look at your daily tasks and ask yourself, do I really need to be doing this? You'd be surprised how much time goes into the things that don't actually move your business forward, like driving across town for one single client, saying yes to every speaking invitation, or constantly reorganizing your office, or going to fairs and events that really don't produce clients. Ask yourself Does this task help me grow revenue, improve client care, or reduce stress for myself? If not, it might be time to eliminate it. Once nurse entrepreneurs, like one I know, stopped traveling to clients more than 30 minutes away. Instead, she focused on serving local clients and long-term care homes. She actually cut her travel time in half and increased her income by 20%. Sometimes eliminating isn't about doing less, it's a it's about doing what matters most. Um, we have always noticed one of the biggest things that is not a great turnaround for us um is all the local fairs. We still um I have enough staff, I have admins, we always do them, but I think it's just presents, but yeah, that if I didn't have those extra people, I wouldn't do them. So that's something that we had eliminated a long time ago, and now I just have um office staff able to be able to cover it. But there's been a lot of things that I'm like, okay, yeah, this is like out of our way. Um, we had a another location that um was taking too long to fill up. I combined two locations. There are always things that are kind of wasting your time. A lot of it can be like literally looking at the tasks that they make you cringe to have to do them. If you're mad about driving far to go to that area, stop doing that area. Two, automate. Automation. I love automation. It is your silent assistant, it saves time without adding people. Here's some example appointment reminders, let your booking software text or email clients automatically. Absolutely, we do this. Online forms, use digital intake or consent forms, so you're not chasing paperwork. All of our consents and health intake forms were carefully designed by health law lawyers, which we do sell on our website. We were able to just, you know, copy paste them into our online charting uh portal. I know a lot of people use Jane, uh, I think there's company on. We use um Clinico and absolutely love it. All of those things can be ported in there. The minute we have a brand new client sign up, um, it we get their email, we get their uh mobile cell number, and those intake forms are actually sent to them. We see a green check mark, we check them before we see the client. If not, then we go to a hard copy, or we'll pull out an um iPad at the appointment. Huge time saver to get all that stuff done, and a lot less missed appointments. Or sometimes, you know what, it reminds them maybe they got a cancel, and that's okay too. Uh, reoccurring suppliers set up monthly restocks instead of placing manual orders every time. This is something we worked really hard at by developing an inventory list. We really got down to the nitty and gritty. Um, we also do um many comparisons to once a year to make sure to do an audit. Um, that's a whole nother talk. Anyway, um, and from that list, we're able to now order like a lot less frequently, save on shipping, and it's just much, much easier to be able to have a compiled list. We almost generally know how long it lasts in the clinic anyway. It's interesting, and if you keep a log of when you have to reorder, you'll see your sweet spot because it might not be a month, it could be three weeks that it's just easier for you. But you'll notice, like, hey, if I order this much, it lasts this many weeks. And you're always adjusting that because you're gonna grow. Anyway, if you spend more than five minutes on a task every week that could be automated, it's time to automate it. These little systems protect your time and help your business run while you're focusing on care. Number three, delegate. Delegating feels uncomfortable at first because we're so used to doing everything ourselves. But delegation isn't a weakness, it's a leadership skill. Oh, and I'm happy to do that. Think about tasks like bookkeeping, website updates, marketing, or social media posts. You don't have to hire full-time health. Start small. Maybe you bring on a virtual assistant for just five hours a month or an accountant to handle quarterly taxes. I want to mention we it's kind of ties in with delegating. We use QuickBooks Online, and we literally read QuickBooks for Dummies. Um, my office staff handles, it matches almost everything. By the time it's going to the accountant, it's almost like ready to go. Save, save, save on the money, and most of it's automated because all of the um accounting stuff is filtering in. Anyway, you like I said, you don't have to hire full-time help. You might even be able to hire um a part-time office admin just two days a week who does some accounting, who does some of marketing, who does some of this. There's plenty of people out there who maybe even retired and want a small position. Because you know what? Every hour you delegate is going to give you back time to do higher value work, like seeing patients, networking with physicians, or planning your next business school. Four, concentrate. This is the final and most powerful step. It's focusing on what creates the biggest impact for your business. For many of us, that's relationship building. Spend your best hours on things like following up with referral sources, nurturing local clients, creating educational opportunities for yourself, learning, educating, building partnerships with diabetic educators, podiatrists, or local senior centers. See, those are the activities that multiply your reach and your revenue. So here's kind of an exercise. If you guys are driving, I know you listen a lot when you're running around, but when you can, grab a sheet of paper and divide it into four columns. Okay, think of like four columns or four four squares. Label them eliminate, automate, delegate, and concentrate. Write down at least one item under each. You'll be amazed how much clarity that brings. I've done that and I continue to do that. And I'm not gonna lie, I love pushing stuff away. So when you shift your time from busy work, guys, to meaningful work, your business becomes lighter, more efficient, and definitely more profitable. And here's another thing. The one we never like to look at, the one we have to admit is when to invest in help. Now let's talk about the emotional side because nothing you should delegate or automate and actually doing it are two different things. Many nurse entrepreneurs say I can't afford help, but let's reframe that. Can I afford not to? If you're spending 10 hours a week on admin mark and your clinical rate is 80 an hour, and that's$80,800 of potential value lost. Now imagine hiring a part-time virtual assistant or using automation software for$200 a month. That's not an expense, that's a return on investment. It's not about spending more, it's about spending smarter. Start small. Hire someone for bookkeeping or scheduling, try an online tool to handle appointment reminders or invoices. And you know what? You can use AI tools even to generate marketing content or templates. There are many virtual assistants online willing to do different things. And when you free up your time for income generating activities, your business grows and your stress decreases. And here's something I've learned personally: when you invest in your business, you start showing up differently, you stop thinking like a solo nurse, and you start thinking like a CEO. That shift changes everything. Here's the truth. Time is your most precious currency. And you know what? You can always make more money, but you can't make more hours. So spend your time where it creates the most value in client care, in strategy, and in your own personal well-being. Take a few minutes this week to complete that time return on investment exercise. Eliminate, automate, delegate, and concentrate. You'll be amazed at how much freedom you create when you stop trading time for money and start investing your energy intentionally. Thank you for joining me today on Empower Her Entrepreneur. If this episode has resonated with you, subscribe or follow wherever you listen and share it with another foot nurse entrepreneur who's ready to make smarter use of her time. Cheers and have an amazing week, everyone.