The IV hydration & wellness clinic launch plan
Every step from deciding to opening, in the order it happens, shaped to your situation, with your own numbers beside it. About 54 steps in 8 phases, 28 of them specific to an IV hydration & wellness clinic. Free to read; ticking steps off and putting in your own numbers come with membership.
The plan54 steps
- 01Not started0/6Fold
Decide with the numbersa week or two
Before a dollar is spent. Most expensive mistakes happen here, and this phase costs nothing.
A clinic sells nurse time in a chair, priced per bag.
Typical for one unit is $250,000 to $750,000 a year; the owner keeps 15 to 30% of it before paying themselves. If that band does not cover what you need, that is the signal to pause and look again.
~50% survive 5 years. Roughly half of new U.S. employer businesses are still operating after five years.
Twelve questions about your money, time, experience and temperament, scored. Then the 5 questions this business asks of its owner, about the hours and the work. Answer both before you spend a dollar.
Rule of thumb: build unless a clinic with real memberships, clean charts and nurses who will stay is for sale at about two times owner earnings. Answer it in your situation above and the plan reshapes.
Customers, prices, rent, staff pay, what it costs to open. We filled in typical numbers; change what you know and everything on this page follows.
- 02Not started0/5Open
Plan the moneya week
What it costs to open, where the money comes from, and the cushion that keeps you alive until the business pays for itself.
Opening an IV clinic means buying recliners and a medical refrigerator, stocking fluids and additives, setting up the emergency kit, fitting out a small suite, and putting the legal structure,...
The itemized cost to open10 lines
- Infusion recliners, IV poles and chairside setup: $3,900 to $21,400A clinical recliner runs about $980 to $2,500; used ones about $400 to $900
- Medical refrigerator, AED, emergency kit and vitals: $3,700 to $12,300The emergency setup is what clinicians and insurers expect for needles and fluids
- Clean prep area, sharps and medical waste setup: $1,100 to $4,700
- Reception, waiting, POS, tablets and network: $2,600 to $14,500
- Exterior sign and window graphics: $3,300 to $14,000
- Opening stock of fluids, vitamins, NAD+ and shots: $7,000 to $19,000A bag of fluid costs about $8 to $14; additives from 503B facilities are the bigger line
- Mobile nurse kits: $500 to $3,000A used vehicle for event runs adds about $15k to $35k if you want one
- Clinic fit-out, drawings and permits: $12,000 to $201,400The biggest swing; a former clinic or office with a sink costs far less than a raw shell
- Legal setup, medical director agreement, licenses, insurance and training: $6,400 to $25,500Entities your state allows, protocols and consents, first premiums, IV and BLS or ACLS training
- Lease and utility deposits, brand, website and grand opening: $7,500 to $35,000
Costs start on day one; customers take months. Map the first twelve months of cash so the business does not run out of money while it is getting going.
The business has to earn your pay like any other bill. Set it in your numbers and watch the month it move.
How deals in this business are financed4 lines
- SBA 7(a) loan (Up to $5M · up to 10 yr (25 with real estate) · 75-85% guaranteed)The usual way to fund a build-out, equipment, first stock, working capital or a purchase.
- SBA microloan or community lender (Up to $50k · up to 7 yr)For a lean opening under about $50,000: recliners, a refrigerator, the legal setup and first stock.
- Equipment financing (Secured by the equipment · 3-5 yr)Recliners, the refrigerator and a vehicle can be financed against the asset itself, keeping cash for marketing and payroll through the ramp.
- Seller financing (Often 10-20% of price · 3-5 yr)Common when buying an existing clinic.
Most new shops pair an with 10 to 20% of your own cash. Know the monthly payment before you look at a single space.
Before you shop. A lender tells you what they would fund, what they need from you (credit, your cash in, a plan with numbers), and a pre-qualification letter makes a landlord or a seller take you seriously.
- 03Not started0/4Open
Set up the companya day or two
A day of paperwork, and it has to come before the space: a lease, a loan application and every permit are in the company’s name.
Your state’s business name search, the trademark register, and the domain, before the name is on a sign, a van, or a lease.
A , an , and the S-corporation election each change what you keep and what you are exposed to. Compare them with the numbers, confirm with a CPA and an attorney, then file with your state.
After:The is free from the IRS in minutes once the company exists. The bank account needs both. Keep business money separate from day one.
After:Pick the accounting software and connect the bank account now, so every cost of opening is captured and the numbers you later are real.
- 04Not started0/5Open
Find and secure the spaceone to three months
An IV clinic wants a trade area that already spends on wellness out of pocket, a visible suite with easy parking for same-day visits, hotels, gyms and event venues within a short drive for the mobile side, and a state...
What decides it for this business: a trade area that pays cash for wellness, visible suite with easy parking, hotels, event venues, gyms and offices nearby, workable state rules, second-generation clinic or office space.
One call to the planning desk with the address: is this use allowed there, and what will it take (, permits, fire sign-off)? A space that needs a change of use can add months.
Rent, free months for the , who pays for what, the and the renewals, subject to financing and permits. The lender needs this letter or a draft lease to take your application.
After: ,, renewal options, increase caps, what the landlord adds on top of rent, and what happens if you have to leave. For a location business the lease is part of the purchase price.
After:at minimum; property, workers’ compensation and the rest as the business needs. The landlord asks for a certificate at signing and the lender at closing.
- 05Not started0/2Open
Get the loanfour to eight weeks
Four to eight weeks with an SBA lender, longer if the file is incomplete. Everything else waits on this, so send a complete file.
Your plan with numbers (download it as a PDF from this page), the company’s papers, the or draft lease, the and equipment quotes, your personal financial statement, and proof of the cash you put in.
After:The lender approves against the ; you sign the lease once approved; the loan closes against the signed lease and the insurance certificate. Ask for the to match the or longer.
After:
- 06Not started0/16Open
Permits and the build-outone to three months
An IV clinic is regulated like a medical practice even when it looks like a lounge: the ownership structure, the provider who orders, the nurse who administers, the drugs on the shelf and how they are mixed each have...
Bind the policies you had quoted before a contractor, a vehicle or a customer is in play. Keep the certificates; the landlord, the lender and the city will ask.
After:Local approval for a medical or wellness use, and building, plumbing and electrical permits for the sink, private room and refrigerator circuit.
After:Most cities approve exterior signs separately; signs take weeks to make. Order early.
City or county business license, state tax registration for retail shots and products, and any clinic or facility registration your state asks for.
City or county business license, state tax registration for retail shots and products, and any clinic or facility registration your state asks for.
In states with a corporate practice of medicine rule, the medical side must be owned by a physician (or, in some states, an NP); a nurse-owner runs a management company that...
A written agreement with a physician, or an NP where the state allows, who writes the protocols, reviews charts, is reachable for complications and whose license the drug...
Most states require a physician, NP or PA to assess each new patient and order the IV before a nurse administers it; the exam may be in person or by telehealth and must be...
RNs administer under an order; LPN or LVN scope is narrower and varies by state, and Texas bars LVNs, paramedics and medical assistants from elective IV therapy under H.B.
Fluids, vitamins and medications are prescription drugs bought under the medical director from licensed distributors or FDA-registered 503B outsourcing facilities; some states...
Adding additives to a bag is compounding under most state pharmacy laws: USP 797 standards, a clean area, written procedures, trained staff and short beyond-use dating; some...
A bloodborne pathogens exposure control plan, sharps containers and a licensed medical waste hauler; patient records fall under HIPAA.
State boards and the FTC act on cure, hangover-proof, detox and weight-loss claims; keep the menu descriptive and the consent honest.
Hired and non-owned auto insurance for nurses driving their own cars, and any local permit for events in public spaces or vendor badges at venues.
Fire-marshal review of exits, extinguishers and load, after the build and before the .
After:Local approval for a medical or wellness use, and building, plumbing and electrical permits for the sink, private room and refrigerator circuit.
After:
- 07Not started0/11Open
Set up to runduring the build
During the build, so the business runs from day one: the systems, the prices, the people and the routine.
Online booking, consents, vitals and medication charting, good-faith exam records and recurring membership billing in one place; tools built for med spas and...
A physician or NP collaborative agreement, protocols and chart review, plus a per-patient telehealth exam service until an NP on staff pays for itself.
Card and tap payments at the chair and on mobile visits, with saved cards for memberships and tips for nurses handled separately.
Entity malpractice that names IV therapy and NAD+, , property and hired and non-owned auto for mobile runs.
Separate accounts for the management company and, where the state requires one, the professional entity.
See the price the the business needs implies, then check it against what the market pays.
Federal plus state withholding, unemployment and once you hire.
After:Wages are the start: , insurance, training time and the hours you stop billing. Owners usually post the jobs a month out and hire two to four weeks before opening so training happens before the doors open.
Daily: Open the booking calendar, check the refrigerator log, confirm each... Weekly: Order fluids and additives in small lots against beyond-use dates,... Monthly: Review per nurse-hour, membership sign-ups and churn,...
Opening, closing, the sale, the complaint, the cash. One page each. This is the manual a franchise would have sold you.
Free, and it is how most people will find you. Address, hours, photos and the menu or price list, live before opening day; then the sign, the soft opening and the first regulars.
- 08Not started0/5Open
Open and measurethe first ninety days
You own it. Now run it on the numbers.
Friends, neighbors and a short menu or list. Find the problems while the room is forgiving.
Enter the real numbers and see every cost line against the for this business.
Empty nurse-hours; The exam and the medical director; Marketing an elective service.
Growth consumes cash before it produces it. Find the rate your own cash funds before you push.
You are building an asset you can sell, but a modest one: single IV clinics trade to individual buyers, often nurses, on owner earnings, and the price rides on members, nurses...