[0:02] Willena McGee: than just a transportation business. You know, we really want to have our companies set up in the proper format so that we can actually do business with the federal government.
[0:14] Willena McGee: So, that's what I aim to help young entrepreneurs do.
[0:30] Nirav Chheda: Welcome to NEMT Expert Talks. I'm excited today to have Willena McGee, the NEMt startup coach.
[0:38] Nirav Chheda: Willena has built up a really solid YouTube channel called NEMt Startup where she provides lots of education especially for NMT businesses that you know as the name suggests are just starting up.
[0:54] Nirav Chheda: Um, she focuses on helping NMT businesses create the right fundamentals and the right groundwork in terms of business structure and everything you need to do at the beginning to get from zero to one and beyond.
[1:08] Nirav Chheda: Um, Wina, thanks so much for being with me.
[1:11] Nirav Chheda: Uh, would you like to do a quick intro of yourself?
[1:14] Willena McGee: Hi. Yes, thank you for having me on.
[1:16] Willena McGee: And I really do appreciate you taking the time to reach out to me and to learn more about what I offer and how we can um further um help each other during this journey of NEM startups and beyond.
[1:30] Willena McGee: I'm so excited to be here.
[1:32] Willena McGee: Um but my name is Wina McGee.
[1:34] Willena McGee: I am a um NEM startup coach mentor slash business advisor.
[1:41] Willena McGee: I specialize in helping young entrepreneurs and NEMT entrepreneurs set up the foundational portion of their businesses.
[1:50] Willena McGee: Oftent times um many entrepreneurs um into the new to the NEM space will want to take off and run by getting the van or the stretcher vehicle and just go forth.
[2:03] Willena McGee: Um, but I try to get you guys to step back and actually set up your business administrative side before you leap into the transportation Awesome.
[2:16] Nirav Chheda: Thanks for that intro, Willena. Uh, so I'm pretty excited to dive into today's topic, um, which is going to revolve around setting up the right business structure for when you're starting an NEM company.
[2:28] Nirav Chheda: You know, at Bambi, we come across a lot of NEMT companies that are essentially just starting up their businesses and we get questions about, you know, hey, what kind of business structure should I set up?
[2:41] Nirav Chheda: You know, how should I go about it?
[2:42] Nirav Chheda: The legal aspects of it. And Willena, you have a lot of expertise in this area.
[2:49] Nirav Chheda: Um, please, without further ado, let's dive into your knowledge about getting business structures set up.
[2:57] Willena McGee: All right. So, a little bit about my background.
[3:01] Willena McGee: I'll just kind of lay the foundation so you guys understand.
[3:04] Willena McGee: I've had several businesses as I've matured.
[3:08] Willena McGee: Um, starting small daycares, starting um doing a little bit of foster care and all kinds of endeavors I I have taken on.
[3:21] Willena McGee: Um, I did some legal nursing and all of those were kind of practiced to um, get me to the point where I thought I was ready to start a NEM because I'd had other really sm small side hustles
[3:37] Willena McGee: that I was dabbling in. And so I then decided when the when COVID 19 when the pandemic started to hit that I would open up my own non-emergency medical transportation company.
[3:51] Willena McGee: also and when I did I wasn't very focused on it.
[3:56] Willena McGee: I wasn't um prepared for what I needed to really get done.
[4:01] Willena McGee: There were there were not a lot of resources out there.
[4:04] Willena McGee: We didn't have individuals like myself and other content creators even like yourself where they're getting more information.
[4:11] Willena McGee: It just wasn't there. So, I had to really rely on the very little experience that my um that someone that I knew that was in the industry, he would give me a little nugget here or there.
[4:26] Willena McGee: Um but just enough to get me confused again.
[4:29] Willena McGee: And so, um, working the pandemic as an RN, it was pretty difficult to set aside time to focus on what it required to be a business owner and to really research the industry.
[4:42] Willena McGee: So, flash forward, I got home from my journey as a train as a travel nurse and I began to focus in on my business.
[4:53] Willena McGee: And when I did, I still didn't understand and not having that understanding of I was treating it as if I already was a big company.
[5:06] Willena McGee: And by treating it as a big company, I wasn't I didn't I wasn't considering managing my finances.
[5:14] Willena McGee: I didn't have spreadsheets. I didn't have my ideas written down.
[5:19] Willena McGee: I didn't have the goals set aside for my business.
[5:22] Willena McGee: I had more of an action plan rather than a business plan set up for myself.
[5:28] Willena McGee: And um it just really became a mess.
[5:33] Willena McGee: So eventually I did quit my job to go full-time into the business.
[5:38] Willena McGee: And when I did, um it was a rude awakening because I then started to understand and recognize what my driver was talking about.
[5:47] Willena McGee: I began to see issues and cracks all throughout my business.
[5:51] Willena McGee: Um, I started having driver issues, vehicle issues, maintenance problems, and insurance problems.
[5:59] Willena McGee: And now I no longer had my steady 9 to5 income that was over six figures.
[6:04] Willena McGee: So now I have to rely completely on um my contract, which no one told me that it takes 30 days to receive the first payment on a contract.
[6:16] Willena McGee: So, I really had myself in a financial mess and a business setup mess.
[6:23] Willena McGee: And um I ended up pulling my vehicle and van out of service in order to um reestablish.
[6:32] Willena McGee: And when I went to go reestablish, I finally um reached out to a business mentor, business coach for myself to help me when I was literally up to my neck in debt and and mess.
[6:48] Willena McGee: But um he suggested that, you know, I take some steps and contact um you know, some federal contracting agencies that help out with small businesses.
[7:00] Willena McGee: He suggested that I get on YouTube to help other individuals um to not get in this mess.
[7:08] Willena McGee: And that's what I did. I started out pretty much um vlogging um my experience what where I was I pretty much tried to keep my tears in the whole time that I was rolling on those first um few
[7:23] Willena McGee: episodes because I was literally going through bankruptcy from all of the financial things I had put myself in by just getting up and going.
[7:32] Willena McGee: So little bit fast forward, I started the channel, things were going great.
[7:37] Willena McGee: people started reaching out, emailing me and asking me questions and I was like, I know the answers to these.
[7:44] Willena McGee: Wow. And from there it just kind of grew and I started um to realize that I had an area of weakness and that was in business an area of weakness in financing.
[7:58] Willena McGee: So I decided to go to business school at and started at Walden University.
[8:03] Willena McGee: no affiliate but [laughter] started there at Walden University and I have been um really enjoying the information that I have been learning and I have been doing everything in my willpower and power to convey that information on growing
[8:19] Willena McGee: a true entrepreneurship rather than just a transportation business.
[8:24] Willena McGee: You know, we really want to have our companies set up in the proper format so that we can actually do business with the federal government.
[8:32] Willena McGee: So that's what I aim to help young entrepreneurs do.
[8:37] Nirav Chheda: Well, Willena, thanks for sharing that.
[8:38] Nirav Chheda: That's a really inspiring story. Like you went through all these struggles yourself.
[8:43] Nirav Chheda: You saw a big sort of gap in the market for people educating about this because you saw that it wasn't just you.
[8:51] Nirav Chheda: A lot of people are facing the same struggles and now you're helping all the new people.
[8:57] Nirav Chheda: And you know, NMT is a fast growing industry.
[9:01] Nirav Chheda: new businesses are coming up all the time to meet all the demand in NMT.
[9:05] Nirav Chheda: They're all going to fall into the same traps unless there's someone like you saying, "Hey, I've been down that hole before.
[9:12] Nirav Chheda: Let me guide you." Right. Um, so you're doing a real good service to the industry and helping to just help not only any the NMT businesses but the industry as a whole by getting more NMT businesses to the
[9:28] Nirav Chheda: place they need to be to actually provide these critical medical transport services.
[9:33] Nirav Chheda: So, um, it it's really great what you're doing.
[9:36] Nirav Chheda: Um and your story really conveys that you are, you know, one of the unique people that actually has the expertise and the ability to do this.
[9:46] Nirav Chheda: You've been through all the struggles.
[9:48] Nirav Chheda: You've equipped yourself with the knowledge having after going through those struggles and and now you have uh a pretty large and growing number of NEMT businesses as clients, right?
[10:01] Willena McGee: Yes. Yes. Yes. I am just so grateful and thankful.
[10:06] Willena McGee: Um, again, you know, just all of those individuals that have reached out to me, you know, for help.
[10:13] Willena McGee: I mean, I today I was cleaning out my inbox and I probably had from the time of last October where the channel began to actually start to pick up until um now I've had over 80 like 88 consultations
[10:30] Willena McGee: and actually are I'm holding like 20 mentees right now and we are we are ranging from Florida, Texas, Maryland, Pennsylvania, just I mean just all over.
[10:46] Willena McGee: Um and it's just, you know, and that's one thing that I hear consistently with those that call me or um email me or they take my coaching and mentoring service is that, you know, there's information there, but it's
[11:02] Willena McGee: not it's not structured and it's not giving all of the information.
[11:08] Willena McGee: And not because anyone or people don't want to give the information.
[11:12] Willena McGee: It's because it it it requires a lot of research.
[11:17] Willena McGee: It requires a lot of diligence and finding the information.
[11:21] Willena McGee: And again, taking a year off of nursing and going straight into this business.
[11:27] Willena McGee: That's all I've had time to do is to research this business.
[11:31] Willena McGee: Look up the NAICS codes. Understand what NAICS codes are.
[11:35] Willena McGee: Understand what the SBA actually offers.
[11:38] Willena McGee: Understanding what government contracting is. Understanding what brokers are and how they how they are entwined into the transportation industry and just so many different business aspects that I've learned just by answering questions initially and having to take it
[11:57] Willena McGee: that step further to improve my own skill set.
[12:00] Willena McGee: So, it's been a wonderful journey.
[12:03] Willena McGee: Um, and again, the channel growth has been inspiring because I didn't think anybody was going to listen to me.
[12:10] Nirav Chheda: [laughter] Well, I've been listening and it's pretty awesome.
[12:14] Nirav Chheda: And for everyone watching, I'm putting Willena's channel link and her contact info in the description of this video.
[12:22] Nirav Chheda: Um so Willena obviously you know creating a business structure there going to be particularities and nuances um for different businesses and that's why you know they should speak with people who have gone through and know about it like
[12:36] Nirav Chheda: yourself. Um but like you know just as sort of a highle overview of some tips you know what can you tell our viewers about the things they should be thinking about in in creating that business structure when they're
[12:49] Willena McGee: starting Okay. Number one, I tell all my mentees, all my coaches the same thing.
[12:57] Willena McGee: The United States is a capitalist society.
[13:01] Willena McGee: Therefore, you have to structure your business to work within a capitalist society, which means you have to have your business government contract ready, which breaks down to having your business certified through the SBA, who holds all of the
[13:20] Willena McGee: federal certifications. By doing this, you open up your business to not just having brokers that are your only accessibility to contracts.
[13:34] Willena McGee: By doing this, you open up your business to other contracts such as prison contracts and and school contracts on the local level, you know, just so and and just community contracts that are listed within the state and the
[13:48] Willena McGee: local levels that um you guys aren't really focused on right now because you're so busy just trying to get that transportation side get set up.
[13:59] Willena McGee: But I just strongly recommend that everyone just slow down.
[14:03] Willena McGee: Slow down. It's not going anywhere.
[14:06] Willena McGee: People are getting older every day.
[14:08] Willena McGee: People are going to need help every day.
[14:11] Willena McGee: This is a a a government um funding sector that most likely will not go out of business any time or soon or not get funded.
[14:22] Willena McGee: So slow down and structure your business the right way so that you really give it an opportunity to grow and to scale.
[14:31] Nirav Chheda: Okay. Yeah. No, that's that's fundamental and really important.
[14:37] Nirav Chheda: um are there any particularities in like you know maybe different regions of the country or the type of NEMT operation that you're looking to set up that makes the questions different like the questions that you have to think
[14:51] Nirav Chheda: about in creating that business structure.
[14:54] Willena McGee: So this the there really isn't each state.
[14:59] Willena McGee: Okay. So there's no nationwide regulation on NMT.
[15:05] Willena McGee: Everything is state specific, but the states are structured pretty much the same.
[15:12] Willena McGee: It's just knowing where to find the information.
[15:15] Willena McGee: It's knowing where to look. So, I try to give information out um on the various videos that I do state by state, but I'll just give share some um when you're first looking for the application on just determining
[15:30] Willena McGee: whether or not ne is for you because on the application, it's going to generally tell you how much insurance you're going to require.
[15:38] Willena McGee: Um some states don't, but most do.
[15:41] Willena McGee: um and tells you if there's vehicle requirements um or um drivers requirements.
[15:47] Willena McGee: Sometimes there's a um no certain criminal activities exclude you.
[15:52] Willena McGee: So just looking at the application and generally you can find those applications at um on online for your specific state with either the public service commission or your medic Medicaid health department.
[16:09] Willena McGee: So that's your starter your your starting place to find out how much this business is really going to cost you to get an idea about it.
[16:18] Willena McGee: And then once you have that again with that business structure setting it up um to be certified through the SBA that the procedure is the same.
[16:29] Willena McGee: is just tedious and long and so um I'm having to break that down into sections with my students because it's a long Yeah.
[16:40] Nirav Chheda: Yeah. So Willena, can you do a bit of storytelling for us?
[16:45] Nirav Chheda: So, can you tell us like a story of an NEMT company who maybe didn't think about the business structure the right way and didn't do the leg work they were supposed to do and how that turned out for
[16:58] Nirav Chheda: them because I think it's important for our viewers to know the consequences of not putting in the effort into figuring this out right in the first place.
[17:08] Willena McGee: Yes. Yes. Yes. I have I actually have a client right now and we just did an interview so I know she's not going to mind me giving the information.
[17:16] Willena McGee: Um her name is [name removed]. She is out of um I her name of her business company, forgive me, is escaping my mind, but she's out of Illinois.
[17:26] Willena McGee: And um one of the things she did is, you know, she has a business mindset and she knew that she needed to get a mentorship or someone to help her along.
[17:36] Willena McGee: So she did invest her time into a mentorship but that mentorship focused on setting up the transportation side and tr the transportation side only.
[17:47] Willena McGee: So what happened with her that I am seeing repeat on and this is just the same story every single time.
[17:56] Willena McGee: I can give you another one here in just a minute.
[17:58] Willena McGee: But um we one of the things that she did was she set up that transportation site.
[18:05] Willena McGee: So when she called me, she's like, "Okay, I have something's not right here because I have this broker list.
[18:13] Willena McGee: I have this van. I have this insurance payment and I've got this application to um um the impact office and I got this payment to make." [laughter] And I'm like, "I'm sorry.
[18:29] Willena McGee: I'm sorry. I'm truly truly sorry because you're gonna have to make them payments and we're gonna have to backtrack and do XYZ.
[18:38] Nirav Chheda: And how much are those payments if you can share?
[18:40] Willena McGee: Oh my goodness. I want to say she's in um for I want to don't get me wrong, but I want to say she's in for about almost $1,800 a month.
[18:52] Willena McGee: 1,200 for the vehicle and I can't even remember what the van was, but um the insurance was but it it's close to two grand a month and you know it was it's just a very stressful situation for her
[19:06] Willena McGee: and I understand because I was in the same situation a very stressful situation because now she's under the gun because you know funds are drying up after you've expended so much to get all of these processes underway.
[19:21] Willena McGee: way and you've had to pay for um drivers to get certified.
[19:26] Willena McGee: You've had to pay for the vehicle inspections.
[19:29] Willena McGee: You've had to pay for, you know, the pass programs and all the other um things that go along with getting your transportation side set up and then to find out that, you know, the reason why these brokers are
[19:43] Willena McGee: not contacting you is because your business is not governmentfriendly.
[19:48] Willena McGee: your business has to be SBA certified for them to really give your business a chance.
[19:54] Willena McGee: Um, without that, you're competing against every fish in the ocean.
[19:58] Willena McGee: By getting that certification, you're only you're only competing with the big fish.
[20:04] Willena McGee: So, it makes it a little bit easier for the smaller guy to slip through.
[20:11] Willena McGee: that's where I try to get my um NMT entrepreneurs to understand um coming into this business is that it is not um that that's one incident.
[20:24] Willena McGee: That's one story with with [that client].
[20:26] Willena McGee: And then I just had someone um a couple of days ago who had reached out to me because she was in I believe North Carolina and she had gotten up she had gotten all this transportation side once again
[20:42] Willena McGee: up and going and she was she was like um they won't allow me to use my personal vehicle for my commercial insurance.
[20:54] Willena McGee: What do I do? And I'm like, "Hey, you going to have to put that personal vehicle [laughter] into the business, you know, because she had 30 days to do so, you know.
[21:07] Willena McGee: Um, her application had pretty much been approved with North Carolina.
[21:12] Willena McGee: The insurance, everything was pretty much approved.
[21:14] Willena McGee: And she was an ambulatory vehicle on top of that, getting approved in North Carolina with one ambulatory vehicle.
[21:22] Willena McGee: I'm like, you better hurry up and jump on that because the rules are changing.
[21:27] Willena McGee: You you got to do what you got to do on this one.
[21:29] Willena McGee: So, we had, you know, again, it just goes to show that, you know, having a mentor and having someone who can advise your business during that startup process is beneficial.
[21:41] Willena McGee: One more. I had um one of my coaches who actually threatened me with um saying that he was going to set up an S corp and I'm like, "No, [laughter] no, no, no.
[21:56] Willena McGee: Please don't set up an S corp right away." And the reason why is because, you know, S corps are not for everyone.
[22:03] Willena McGee: They need to be um you need to really speak with your tax advisor before setting up a S corp because the disadvantage to that versus an LLC is that with an LLC um you pay yourself as a member
[22:17] Willena McGee: out of that LLC. However, as an S corp, you have to pay yourself a check.
[22:24] Willena McGee: you have to issue yourself a check which then that is now taxed and then you are taxed again for having the LLC.
[22:33] Willena McGee: So you're double taxing yourself by starting up and as a completely new startup as a S corp.
[22:41] Willena McGee: So really really find out if you're thinking about doing an S corp, talk to your tax advisor first.
[22:54] Nirav Chheda: most fun things to think about and do when you're starting an NEMT business.
[22:59] Nirav Chheda: Uh, but they also happen to be some of the most important things, especially if you get them wrong, then they become unfortunately too important.
[23:10] Nirav Chheda: That's right. Um, and I think you would probably agree that rather than trying to figure out this, you know, all on your own with online re I mean online resources can point you in the right direction on what
[23:23] Nirav Chheda: to think about, but um I think a lot of people could use help, you know, directly from someone who's gone through it um in successful ways and unsuccessful ways and has just seen a lot of NMT companies go
[23:38] Nirav Chheda: through this process and can point out all the traps.
[23:40] Nirav Chheda: apps. So, um I want to thank you so much for for sharing your knowledge and your story with our viewers.
[23:47] Nirav Chheda: Um like I mentioned, I'm going to be including your link to your YouTube channel and your website and your contact information in the description of this video.
[23:57] Nirav Chheda: Um Wina, is there anything any more thoughts that you'd like to leave our viewers with?
[24:03] Willena McGee: Absolutely. I understand and I know that my content is so boring and the the information is like uh with you [laughter] on that one.
[24:19] Willena McGee: thank you. But it is truly educational and if you pay attention, you know, I tell everybody, you know, take off a bite, chew, digest, and then come back for another round so that you really set your business up
[24:36] Willena McGee: the right way. And I'm always just an email, text, phone call, Facebook group, whatever, a way to reach out to me um for one-on-one consultation and then, you know, come on board and get this mentorship because it it's
[24:52] Willena McGee: not going to be available at the price that it is right now.
[24:55] Willena McGee: I have my manager, he's already um fussing at me about that.
[25:00] Willena McGee: So you guys come on, get it in while it's still very very very reasonable.
[25:08] Nirav Chheda: Willena, I just want to emphasize that I really appreciate how easily accessible you are.
[25:12] Nirav Chheda: I mean, the way we got in touch was just so simple and easy.
[25:15] Nirav Chheda: You know, I just messaged you on Facebook and and you're a really accessible person.
[25:21] Nirav Chheda: Um Willena, thanks so much for your time and being with us.
[25:25] Nirav Chheda: Run, Bambi, run. Go ahead, Bambi.
[25:28] Willena McGee: [laughter] Awesome.
