One thing that commonly gets overlooked when people are considering starting a new business is traffic. If you are considering a home care franchise, how could traffic issues actually impact success? Since August is National Traffic Awareness Month, it’s actually a good idea to begin thinking about this in terms of how it could impact your potential new business opportunity.
Home care aides and other caregivers will often meet with multiple clients.
Some of the caregivers you hire will ultimately be working with perhaps four, five, or more clients in a single day. If those clients don’t live in close proximity to one another, it means a commute of some sort. The home care aide may have to drive or, if he or she doesn’t own a vehicle and lives in a major metropolitan region, a taxi, subway, or bus might be their means of transportation.
Consideration needs to be made with regard to traffic.
If your home care franchise is going to rely on a majority of seniors and disabled adults who receive reimbursement for these services through Medicaid, that is not going to cover a home care aide’s time of travel. If they get stuck in traffic repeatedly, taking them 30 minutes to go a few miles that would, without traffic, only take 10 minutes, that could be expenses you need to account for.
How can you handle these traffic related issues?
First, it may be necessary to try and find clients from within a very narrow geographical area, especially in major cities with a lot of traffic congestion. For example, you may have about 5 square miles of coverage for your potential home care franchise, but if it takes the average aide an extra 20 minutes to get to each client, is that practical?
Group clients in close proximity together.
As you obtain clients, work with your home care aides to determine who would be best suited not just to work with this individual, but also with regard to geographic location. If you can manage to group clients with one home care aide within a couple of blocks, that will save commute time.
These are just a few considerations someone who is seeking to own a home care franchise might need to make if they plan to operate within a highly congested metropolitan region. No one can anticipate unexpected traffic delays, and those will happen from time to time, but consistent congestion is something to consider with any business where you have employees (home care aides in this case) traveling to meet with clients.
If you have questions about franchise opportunities with Golden Heart Senior Care Franchise, please contact our office at 1-800-601-2792, or check out our form at https://goldenheartfranchise.com/apply-now/.