Can't find work...should I start a business?
Posted By: NewbieMT on 2007-07-14
In Reply to:
I am about to finish up my certification at a local college and have been extremely disappointed to find that it seems no one is going to hire me to work for a company because I don't have 2+ years experience....even though I've spent the last 2 years transcribing school work....I am trying to decide if I'd just be better off to take what I've learned and try to start my own business. Financially, I am able to do it, but I'm just not sure how much of a headache it might be. What should I do? I kind of feel like I've wasted a lot of time and money. I'm pretty confident that I can do the work, but how can you prove that to someone who just wants to know if you have experience? I just don't know what to do.
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anyone know where to find samples of flyers to start your own business?
I want to make my own and would like to look at how a few are formatted. Thx.
start up business
I've be MT for about 3 years working at home for another person who gets the clients. I want to break off on my own but I'm unsure how to approach a dr office. Don't know the 1st thing about contracts, equipment needed, negotiation, etc. Can anyone help me. I really want to start very small and expand. I currently get all file through FTP but would be willing to pick up tapes if local. Thanks for any help!
start up business
Thanks for the info... I will check that out!
Business start up
I was wondering about this too. I am not sure how to go about it but I hear there are some good programs on bytescribe. That is what I have been told by a few people who have their own clients. I wish I knew how to go about it all but I am not too sure, if you need more help or something, I might be interested. Where are you from?
START-UP BUSINESS -let's help eachother with Q's and A's
I am sure I am not alone...One of the many MTs that see potential in trying to start our own companies. I am a quality MT with some computer knowledge and a good sense for business. I created a website, created a introduction letter to send out along with a questionnaire...looking into writing up contracts, have a few good MTs lined up to help me out. Going to focus on orthopedics and physical therapy in my area to start with. Still need info on digital services and/or equipment to use. My biggest question is how to integrate with what a client has to get their reports into their systems, etc. Also curious on the going rate to start out with... Can we please have some Q's and A's here to help eachother out? I don't want to put too much time and money into this yet until I know I can get at least 1 client and build up from there. Hoping I can do this with an inexpensive FTP service that is HIPAA compliant. Want to stay all digital as I travel frequently. Do I need a business license before I even start up, or can I wait until I get my first client before applying for licenses etc? Lots of questions, lots of ideas...I am willing to trade for some good information :) Thanks!
Well, it all depends. What kind of business are you looking to start?
Want to start my own small business, need advice..sm
Hi all. I am looking to get started doing some transcribing on the side for myself, and perhaps turn it into a small business. Right now, I only have the capabilities of doing tapes and using Word as my software to transcribe in. I feel like I should look into digital and see how much the equipment would run, and how easy it would be to use. Does anyone have any recommendations on something that is relatively inexpensive for a beginner? Should I stick to my guns and start out with tapes first? Any advice would certainly be appreciated. I have been doing this for 16+ years and I feel like I shouldn't have any problems getting some local work drummed up. I am getting ready to type up some letters to send out and I guess I will go from there. Thanks in advance!!!!
I find it unlikely this company will be in business much longer...
that is just horrible.
find referrals or start searching
I don't know anyone who gets massages, so I have to go through the search process (yellow pages). Try one, if that doesn't work, try another. One who works on athletes is a good bet. When I call and talk to them, I tell them exactly what my problem is and what I'm wanting -- very deep tissue, therapeutic massage to work out the adhesions in the arms and lots of upper back/shoulder work. Ones who have been around awhile have worked on many with this exact problem. Unfortunately, not all of them will work for YOU, so it's a matter of trying one for a few months, then evaluating how you feel. If you're not better by then, move on. I just left one who I was SURE would help because of her style (rolfing), alas the arms got worse. I have one now who does exactly what I need. imho, gadgets and pills may relieve some pain, but they don't straighten out the muscles that's causing the problem. (btdt) If you can't go the professional route, get a shiatsu massager thingie, and dig that into your arms, shoulders, upper back and neck. They're all connected. The tingling I get in my little and ring fingers is relieved by working out the back of my shoulder. (I can't do my own massage well enough myself to maintain, but it's good for spot treatments.) The massage is painful, but it's worth it to keep my profession, and lifestyle, alive for me.
You and me both. MQ is totally sick. They had better find another type of business to get into
because they have failed miserably with this.
Gee, I dunno. Maybe since you find Americans fat and arrogant is a start
so we're stuck with your nasty ol' hair-ball self
What is going on when every time you start computer - there are numerous empty folders, cannot find
nm
steady work...gearing up to start new account....but there was no work on Tues as it was a holiday
Be patient with your eyes open....
Just return the work, submit your bill, the scurry and find more work elsewhere. sm
They will never meet with you before next week. It is Thursday, already. Be prepared to sue for payment, because you will probably need to. But, most of all, find other work elsewhere, because I have a feeling this final payment will be a long time coming.
Men are far less work in this business
As an MTSO, I can tell you from personal experience, I prefer hiring men. They show up on time, work, and do not complain.
well not this business but home to work b/c of it.
i'm not an emotional person at all at least with work, tend to be very matter of fact. i found that working with groups of people - they were just too emotional for me to deal with. i'm much happier not having to hear the ofc rumor, politics, grind, who's mad at who, who didn't say hi today, who didn't get invited to lunch, who is upset because she should get special privies and leniency b/c she's a single parent, who didn't put in their pto requests as supposed to but gets upset b/c they can't just walk in and have their time off, and junk like that.
no putting up with that 1 person in the office who wears enough perfume for the entire staff, either.
different reasons but i'm glad i'm home instead of in that stuffy ofc anymore!
So it's time we all start doing our own work (sm)
We cannot afford a middleman anymore.
If you think that's bad, try living on the 7-8 cents a line and still having the expenses of paying for equipment, etc.
Time to just find your own accounts, folks.
I can start with the company I work for.
I won't name names, of course, but I do know that almost half of their MTs are foreign - I know this because I used to QA their work. This company is a small, family-owned company - maybe 150 MTs, so if even half of the larger companies offshore that much, that's a pretty significant number.
As far as how to make a reporter find out the actual number, I think the main idea behind the letter should be to get the information out there that offshoring exsists with companies other than computer technology and call centers. If more people knew that their medical records were being sent out of the country, they might pressure their mayors or governors or congressmen to find out exactly how much of this is going on.
It could work like the ripple on a pond from throwing in a stone - all we have to do is throw the stone and see what happens.
Even to start with, $14.00 an hour is lousy pay for ANY MT work...NM
?
Business plans don't work either...been there done that with SBC & ATT...MTSOs/hospitals need to.
 either offer 1-800 numbers or internet transcription if they want to keep hiring us all over the US....that's it!! Maybe we could all share the cost of a 1-800 number or something, and for goodness sake, with all the technology out there, everything needs to go to digital dictation anyway. Bottom line is MT is NOT allowed for ULD. I even asked about some sort of special ULD transcription package through SBC & ATT and they wouldn't even consider it. So, MTSOs, please listen up...the ULD is going to be a thing of the past real soon. It's a wonderful option to you and it broadens the MT's working capabilities, but without ULD, nobody can rake out that kind of money! We should all put our heads together (MTSOs and MTs) and try to get something going here. We can no longer overlook this situation.
Good luck everyone...I will be holding my breath for us all!
I cannot believe Amherst is still in business with the work they are throwing out filled with blanks
with tons of MTs on all these accounts they cant do well. Dont they have any amount of brains up there. Well what goes around comes around.
Delete your voice files at the end of your shift or before you start work again. No
s
Can't find any work
I guess I need to start over as a newbie. Can anyone tell me the companies that hire new MTs? I have a lot of experience, but not acute care. Maybe, with my experience, I can start at the ground level at one of these companies that does not require experience with acute care. All the work at my company is gone, the docs editing their own reports now.
I don't get this. Why would somebody be obliged to find work SM
for other MTs because she has a good job?
"When they find out they have not work"?
And no question mark?
Wow...
Try to find an office you can work out of where other MTs can help you out!
nm
I work 2nd not 3rd but I find taking a nap
just prior to start of shift makes a big difference is my staying power and alertness through the shift. I usually take a 30-minute _power_ nap. Yes, I keep the same schedule on my off days unless family members force me to get up early! Then I just take a longer nap during the day! My productivity has increased from 1100 lpd to 1800 to 2000 lpd since I switched shifts. No one else on the systems helps a lot!
Do you find there is more work at those times
and less stressful because of a good workflow?
I think you need to find a different line of work.
Don't work for a national. Find a small
MTSO that pays well. They are out there, as long as you hold up your end of the bargin. I left my hospital job to work for a national, several nationals now but who is counting. I found a small company and finally am making the $$$.
Good luck to you.
How do you find a balance in this type of work...
with family, friends, hobbies, etc and still have time to type! Is it possible, if so, how?
Been trying to find steady MT work for 8 months now, at least
At first, no one would even respond. A few months ago I decided to take ANYTHING from anyone who actually did respond.
I'm used to getting paid 10 cents a line for the past 12 years, but when I did get a bite from a company, I took it, even at 7 cents and 8 cents because at that point I was STARVING and worried about making my house payments and paying my utility bills!
Now do you know what the problem is? All three frickin companies have very little to NO WORK available. This is consistent.
Now, at 7 and 8 cents a line and barely squeezing out any work between three DIFFERENT companies (even though they KNOW I am available to do any and all work they have), I am just about as bad off as I was before finding these jobs.
I know nothing else and have no college education, BUT I do know my job backwards and forwards, research skills, terminology, pharmacology, anatomy and physiology and everything else that goes with being a good, experienced MT.
Do you think I am getting paid for this experience? No. Times are bad right now, but they've been bad for me for many, many months. I just don't know what I'm going to do anymore. I rue the day I went to school for this godawful so-called profession.
Every day wake up, raring to go, hopeful there will be SOME kind of work available, at least to make $80 or $100 a day, AT LEAST.
But every day I end up stressing out, worrying, continuously being broken down because even though I'm a hard worker and a darn good MT, I am treated like low-class scum by my creditors because all my bills are late & I can't pick up the phone anymore due to bill collectors on my back. Believe me, I paid all my bills on time every time when the work was abundant and I WANT to pay my bills, but good intentions don't pay the bills. Neither does little to no work at a lame 7 or 8 cents a line.
I also have little food in the fridge or pantry, and things are beginning to be shut off left and right.
I don't know...
It's just extremely frustrating and stressful. I can't live like this anymore but have no way out.
How to find legitimate work as an independent contractor?
I work about 25 hours per week for a company, making 7.5 cpl. I'd like to try supplementing with some IC work to try to make more per line. How do you go about scouting out legitimate work?
Thanks...
Does anyone know where you find work transcribing talk shows, CNN, FOX, etc.?
I've been doing medical transcription for years and thought it might be a change of pace to try transcription of that type of work. Does anyone know of a company that transcribes that type of work?
Supposedly more dfficult to find work as coder, than as MT.
zz
I've done all work types also and always find myself making more
doing radiology than any other work type.
I think it's mainly because it's more repetitive than the other work types.
With your three years experience, you should do fine jumping back into it.
Good luck.
So what do you do to keep motivated to type during the work day? Sometimes I find it so hard to...
stay focused. When you're working at home it is soooo easy to turn on the TV, take frequent breaks to answer the phone, talk to hubbie, play with the kids, take a hot bath, play solitaire on the PC, surf the net, post on a message board, etc.
I just wondered if anyone had any miracle cure for the wandering mind?
You can find different work gloves in Office Max, Best Buy, Staples,
s
I also live in Georgia - how did they find out you work from home?
NM
I am extremely curious as to what new hires do when they find out they have not work. Do they quit,
do they get transferred, what happens to them.
Does anyone find the search feature on this board doesn't work right?
I can't ever seem to find the old posts that I know are there by using the search feature. Does anyone else have this problem or is it just me?
Unfortunately it is legal..so yes it is business and they will continue with bad business practices
x
When work gets slow and you're switched to unfamiliar dictators does anyone besides me find it ha
nm
I *only* make $40K a year for full time work. Now I find that isn't decent is or fair?
nm
I work for the person. I know. Very excellent person, personally and business-sense.
It is an INSULT to have QA hovering over seasoned MTs who know what they are doing. She trusts her MTs and again if there are questions there is one person, a trainer, who can answer them via phone, e-mail or instant message or you can send the whole report to them if you choose.
I made my business your business by posting and...
I totally respect everyone's opinions. It is easier for others on the outside looking in. That's why I pushed the "post reply" button yesterday. I trust my fellow MTs and I know the more I read from you all, the more confident I am becoming. I just need that final push, not from him though. I also wanted to let you all know that the physical abuse while I was pregnant was documented by my doctor and the hospital. I only wish I had known then that it is a felony to abuse a pregnant woman. I also photographed my face from a couple of weeks ago and told several people in my circle. I had such high hopes for us. Now...not so much. I'm not saying that I won't try to get him to church, but I realize that God can only do so much for someone who isn't listening. j
Business is business. Internet forums are
.
HELP with Shorthand. Suddenly today when I tried to start work today.sm
my ShortHand would type only the first letter of an expansion and then take all the letters away! I checked and the Type It button is grayed out! I have restarted the computer and looked on the Shorthand Help menu but can find nothing that applies. Can anyone please help me ASAP? I am lost without it! TIA
go to chat room on web site and find out. i'm working but if you find out, let me know.
creepy dude.
my take is that she worked inhouse, not at home, and now wants to find out how to work at home. nm
x
For a business ad?! A business that deals
''Transcriptsis'' x2
''with good track record''
''serve our clients of all sizes'' (I know what they mean, but I just think the wording is funny)
''strive to achieve highest possible quality'' (once again, they never met an 'article' that they didn't hate)
''all departments including H&P...'' (or a comma, for that matter)
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