About this episode
Willena McGee is an NEMT startup coach and registered nurse who runs the YouTube channel NEMT Startup, and she opened her own transportation company during the pandemic before working through bankruptcy. She tells host Nirav Chheda that she ran a one van operation as though it were a big company, kept no business plan or spreadsheets, left a six figure nursing income, and did not know a first contract takes 30 days to pay. Her fix is to slow down, pull the state application before buying anything, and get certified through the SBA so brokers are not the only route to work.
Key takeaways
- McGee says there is no nationwide NEMT regulation, so the first document to pull is the state application, usually from the public service commission or the Medicaid health department, which lists insurance and vehicle requirements.
- She pushes owners toward SBA certification so brokers are not their only access to contracts, arguing it also opens prison, school and community contracts at the state and local level.
- An Illinois client came to her already locked into roughly 1,800 dollars a month in vehicle and insurance payments, plus driver certifications and inspections, before her business side was structured at all.
- A client told McGee he was setting up an S corp. She told him to talk to a tax advisor first, because an S corp requires paying yourself a check rather than a member draw.
- McGee has run about 88 consultations since her channel took off the previous October and carries around 20 mentees at once, across Florida, Texas, Maryland and Pennsylvania.
Chapters
- 0:00 Introduction
- 2:59 Willena's background
- 10:00 NEMT startup coaching service
- 12:49 NEMT business structuring
- 17:09 Willena's client stories
- 24:01 Conclusion
