How to Open a Nurse-Owned Practice in Minnesota

You've done the math in your head more than once. A few injectable appointments on your day off, on your own schedule, in your own space, and suddenly the shifts you pick up out of obligation start to look optional. The Twin Cities have a deep bench of nurses who trained at some of the best hospital systems in the country, and a patient base that budgets for self-care through six months of winter. Minnesota rewards the practices that show up consistently. (Already run your own practice? Skip ahead, there's a section below built specifically for you.)

The thing that stops most nurses in Minnesota was never the clinical work. You already do harder things on a Tuesday than a first tox or IV appointment will ever ask of you. What stops people is everything around it, the ownership rules, the medical director, the setup, all sitting there as one giant undefined to-do. So let's take it in order, starting with the question every Minnesota nurse asks first.

Can a nurse own an aesthetics, wellness, or functional health practice in Minnesota?

Yes, with the right setup. Minnesota treats registered nursing as a professional service (Minn. Stat. §319B.02, subd. 19), so an RN can own a professional firm, PLLC or otherwise. The catch is who else can own it. Ownership interests may be held only by professionals licensed in one of the firm's pertinent services, and a transfer to anyone else "is void" (Minn. Stat. §319B.07, subds. 1 and 4). An unlicensed spouse can't hold a share.

The Minnesota rule that catches almost everybody

Forming the entity isn't the end of it. The Professional Firms Act requires every firm furnishing a licensed professional's services to register with that profession's board (Minn. Stat. §319B.11), meaning the Board of Nursing. That's a Professional Firm Initial Report with your articles and a $100 fee, then a $25 annual report due January 1 every year. Nurses forget this because the Secretary of State filing feels like the finish line. Miss the January report and you're out of compliance with the board that holds your license, which is a worse spot than a lapsed SOS filing.

Minnesota is a full practice authority state for NPs and clinical nurse specialists, with no ongoing collaborative agreement required (Minn. Stat. §148.211). There is a postgraduate practice requirement for new NPs, amended in 2026 (2026 c 115 art 11) with the text not yet published, so if your director is a newer NP, ask whether they've cleared it rather than trusting an hours number from a blog. If your director is a physician, the day-to-day setup doesn't change, because neither board has published an aesthetics-specific supervision rule. Claims online about on-site physicians in Minnesota trace back to vendor pages, not a board.

Minnesota doesn't say good faith exam. The closest thing the Board of Nursing has published runs the other direction: an RN "may implement a protocol that does not reference a specific patient and results in a prescription of a legend drug" when a practitioner has predetermined and delegated it (MN Board of Nursing, Use of Condition Specific Protocols FAQ). What the Board hasn't said is whether that pathway covers tox, filler, IV therapy, or GLP-1s, and controlled substances are excluded outright. Five Square practices run a provider evaluation before treatment regardless, and any standing protocol for injectables is a question for counsel, which, yes, is less convenient than a signed sheet in a drawer.

The fact almost nobody knows: a physician and a registered nurse can co-own one Minnesota professional firm. Individuals licensed in medicine or registered nursing "are specifically authorized to practice any of these categories of services in combination" under the Professional Firms Act, overriding any contrary licensing rule (Minn. Stat. §319B.40).

How Five Square actually gets you started

The whole thing lives in one place: the free Five Square Nurses app. Your medical oversight, the step-by-step training, your pharmacy and vendor accounts, and the entire community of nurse business owners are all in there. You can open it between patients, on a lunch break, or on the couch at 9pm, and pick up right where you left off.

When you join, you're not handed a login and wished good luck. There's a Getting Started path that puts the order of operations right in front of you, so the mountain becomes a checklist.

You pick your lane, or combine them. Five Square supports three:

• Aesthetics. Tox and dermal filler, the core of a nurse-injector practice, with room to add more as you train.
• Wellness. IV therapy and vitamin injections. Low startup, very mobile-friendly, and a natural add-on to aesthetics.
• Functional Health. Peptides, lab work, and whole-person care for nurses who want longer-term, relationship-based patients.

You bring the nursing license and the nerve. We bring the medical director, the compliant Minnesota setup, the training, member pricing on products, marketing help, and weekly live calls with experts and other nurse owners, so you're never stuck guessing alone.

And every Five Square member, brand new or already established, gets instant on-demand Good Faith Exams for $19.99 each, a price we subsidize because we believe in nurse success. A walk-in can be cleared in about a minute, seven days a week, and the exam paperwork lands right in the patient's chart, which is exactly what a state board wants to see.

You start before you feel ready, and that's the point

Most programs make you wait. Watch every module, sit through every call, and someday you finally see a patient. By then half the people who started have lost momentum. Five Square runs the other way: you start your practice while you're still finishing the training, because the training sticks when there's a real patient on next week's calendar.

Kayla, an ER nurse in North Carolina, had never injected anyone when she joined. She watched the videos, took notes, and set a goal of 30 people in 30 days. Here's the advice she'd give a nurse who's scared to start:

"Believe in yourself, even when you don't know how to do something. Figure it out. The clinical knowledge from your nursing career is more than enough to get started, and there's a community of people around you who want to help. Do it scared."
- Kayla, ER nurse

She launched April 4. Her first month: 46 appointments, 28 good-faith exams, and $10,320 in revenue, run out of a single room inside a salon she'd been a client at for years. That's one real month from one real nurse, not a typical result and not a promise, and your market and hours are your own. The point is she was exactly where you are, never-done-this-before, and she started anyway.

Does it actually work once you launch?

Getting launched is step one. What you really want to know is whether it works after that. Here's the honest picture, numbers included, because income claims in this industry deserve a skeptical read.

Results vary, and they depend on things no membership controls: your market, your hours, how long you've been at it, how consistently you market. As practices mature, some established members report months in the $10,000 to $20,000 range. Individual results vary widely. Some land higher, some lower, and nobody here will promise you a number.

What's more useful is the math underneath, which is public. Neurotoxin appointments bring in $200 to $600. A syringe of filler runs $500 to $800. IV sessions run $150 to $350. Functional health consults run $150 to $300, often with patients coming back monthly. At those prices, two to four appointments a month would cover the $899 membership before product costs, and everything past that is the business growing. Want to see it with your own pricing? Run your numbers in the Five Square membership earnings calculator.

The nurses say it better than a revenue range does:

"Five Square is the reason I was able to launch my career as an aesthetic nurse injector. From setting up my LLC and making sure I'm compliant in my state, to a dedicated medical director, weekly live calls with experts, and a huge network of nurse entrepreneurs, it was the best decision I made."
- Krystle N., 5-star Google review

"I started with Five Square last spring and they've helped me every step of the way. Trainings, weekly meetings, check-ins. An abundance of resources to actually make you successful."
- Kendra P., 5-star Google review

Inside the community, the wins show up in real time. A nurse a few weeks into her launch posted she was already up to eight bookings, nearly all of it from one post in a local mom's Facebook group. Another saw a husband and wife for their good-faith exams in under ten minutes using the same-day exam tool when her director wasn't free. Scroll the forum any week and it's full of small wins like these.

The Google rating sits at 4.8 stars, and the reviews keep naming the same things: the setup help, the medical director, the training, and a team that answers when you're stuck.

Already run a practice in Minnesota? There's a membership for that too

Not every nurse reading this is starting from scratch. Plenty of you already run your own practice and already pay for a medical director somewhere. If that's you, a lot of what's above is stuff you sorted out a while ago, and Five Square has a leaner membership built for exactly your spot. In Minnesota, you can join whether you're just starting out or already running a practice.

It's called the Established Nurse Membership. It's $799 a month, month to month, no annual lock. You get a medical director who's actually engaged, a compliant structure in Minnesota, vendor and product pricing, the Five Square Nurse Community, and those instant on-demand Good Faith Exams at $19.99 each, a price we subsidize for our members because we believe in nurse success. There's no new-injector training folded in, because you don't need it and shouldn't pay for it. If you ever want the full education stack later, you can add it.

Here's the honest pitch. Most established practices are either paying $1,500 to $5,000 a month for a director who's genuinely involved, or a few hundred for one who signs protocols and disappears, which is its own risk when a board comes asking. For most nurses, $799 all in beats both, on price and on what you actually get. Tell us what you're paying now and we'll show you the side by side. No pitch, just the math.

What it costs, and the catch nurses look for

For a nurse starting out, membership is a flat $899 a month for one tier, $1,199 for two, $1,499 for all three, on a 12-month term. Startup beyond that is lighter than people expect: a starter tox order, insurance that runs well under most nurses' guesses, and the products you actually use. No revenue share, ever. (Already have a practice? The Established Nurse Membership above is $799 a month, month to month.)

That's usually the moment the skeptical part of your brain asks where the catch is. Fair. So, plainly: you own your practice and your patients through your own LLC. Five Square does not take a cut of what you make, and if a discovery call turns up that the honest answer for you is 'not yet' or 'start smaller,' the team will tell you that too.

Minnesota-specific costs to budget for

Two filings, two agencies. You form the professional firm through the Secretary of State, and the good news there is that the annual renewal is free as long as the entity is active and in good standing. Then you register the same firm with the Board of Nursing: a Professional Firm Initial Report with a $100 fee, plus a $25 annual report due every January 1. Neither fee is large. The cost is remembering both, so put the January date on the same calendar as your license renewal.

So, where do you actually start in Minnesota?

You book the call. That's genuinely it. Not a six-month research project, a 15-minute conversation about your license, your goals, and what launching (or leveling up) in Minnesota would look like for you. Whether you're brand new or already running a practice, the whole reason Five Square exists is so you're not doing the hard parts alone.

Schedule a discovery call

Common questions about starting a practice in Minnesota

Do I have to register my practice with the Minnesota Board of Nursing?

Yes. The Professional Firms Act requires every firm that provides a licensed professional's services to register with the board regulating that profession (Minn. Stat. §319B.11). For a nurse-owned firm that's the Board of Nursing: a Professional Firm Initial Report, a copy of your articles, and $100 to start, then a $25 annual report due January 1. This is separate from the Secretary of State filing, and skipping it is the most common Minnesota mistake.

Can my medical director co-own my Minnesota practice?

Yes, if they're a physician or a nurse and you want them to. Minn. Stat. §319B.40 specifically authorizes individuals licensed in medicine and in registered nursing to organize and practice in combination under the Professional Firms Act, and it says that applies regardless of any contrary licensing rule. Plenty of nurses prefer to keep the director under contract instead, which is the Five Square model. Either way the ownership has to stay with licensed professionals (§319B.07).

Can I run injectables on a standing protocol in Minnesota?

Not safely, at least not yet. The Board of Nursing allows an RN to implement a condition-specific protocol that results in a legend drug prescription when a practitioner has predetermined and delegated it, and it lists what the protocol must contain. The Board hasn't said whether that covers tox, filler, or IV therapy, and controlled substances are excluded entirely. Until there's a board opinion or counsel signs off, plan on a provider evaluation before you treat.

Can a registered nurse own a med spa in Minnesota? Yes, with the right setup. Minnesota treats registered nursing as a professional service (Minn.

Do I need a medical director for aesthetics in Minnesota? Yes. Minnesota requires oversight for medical aesthetic services, and every Five Square practice includes a medical director as part of the membership.

Can a nurse do Botox in Minnesota? Yes, within a compliant setup and with the oversight Minnesota requires. The clinical work is rarely the question; it's whether the practice around it is built legally.

I already run a practice in Minnesota. Can Five Square still help? Yes. The Established Nurse Membership is built for nurses who already have a practice: $799 a month, month to month, with a medical director, a compliant structure, vendor pricing, and $19.99 on-demand Good Faith Exams. No new-injector training you don't need, and no annual lock.

How much are Good Faith Exams? For Five Square members, simple Good Faith Exams are $19.99 each, on demand, seven days a week, a price we subsidize because we believe in nurse success. One exam can clear a patient for several treatments at once, and the documentation attaches right to the patient's chart.

Is Five Square available in Minnesota? Yes. Five Square already supports nurses in Minnesota, so a discovery call is about your timeline and your goals, not whether we're there yet.

How much does it cost to start? For a new nurse, membership is $899 a month for one tier, and startup beyond that (a tox order, insurance, products) is lighter than most nurses expect. If you already run a practice, the Established Nurse Membership is $799 a month, month to month. No revenue share either way.