Why is home healthcare franchising on the rise? Here’s a quick snapshot of the unique opportunity in this fast-growing sector:
Why Invest in a Home Care Franchise?
Lower investment. While it can cost $500,000 or more to open a fast-food franchise, most home-healthcare franchises cost $150,000 or less to start up, a feature that attracted Right at Home Seattle franchisee Ben Solomon, who owns two area territories and is buying a third. The investment is primarily for hiring marketing, recruiting and training staff, and for office space.
- High revenue. From that relatively low investment, home-health franchises can drive a lot of volume, especially after the first year’s ramp-up making connections with key referrers such as elder-law attorneys and social workers. Territories are usually large. Industry research firm Home Care Pulse found median franchise home-health revenue was nearly $2 million. What’s more, franchise owners brought in substantially more than independent operators, giving their businesses a resource advantage over the competition.
- Growing demand. Demand is forecast to grow sharply, thanks to the aging of baby boomers. The number of people over age 60 is set to triple to 2 billion by 2050, the UN estimates.(worldwide)
- Help with red tape. Mom-and-pop home healthcare operators struggle to keep up as national, state and local laws evolve.
- The chance to do good. Helping seniors stay in their own homes affordably, is more than a business — it’s a community service.
With home-health franchises booming, how can you spot the best one? Ask lots of questions. Franchise contracts vary widely, so read carefully.
According to the Census Bureau, by 2030, the number of seniors will jump to 19.6 percent. Many older people want to remain in their family home as long as they can, so savvy entrepreneurs are rushing in to provide a range of nonmedical home care services that help them age in place.
The biggest obstacles to breaking into nonmedical home care are often the seniors themselves, who are reluctant to acknowledge their needs.
Getting Started
Before you start a non-medical healthcare business, consider the following:
- Start strong. Make sure you make the proper investments in your staff and infrastructure before you take on any clients.
- Make connections. Most of your clients will be referred by health-care providers like assisted living facilities and hospital systems.Build relationships with discharge planners by saying “yes” whenever they call–even on a Friday afternoon, filling last-minute requests, and by always having a live person on the line to talk to them.
- Choose the right location. You should balance two factors when locating your corporate offices. You want to be in an area affluent enough so that there will be a large number of people who can pay for your services out-of-pocket, but the offices also have to be accessible to the home health-care workers who will be your field staff. Look for a location that is well served by public transportation.
- Focus your marketing on adult children. Most seniors are unwilling or unable to acknowledge their need for non-medical home care, so don’t focus your marketing efforts on them. Instead, develop “thoughtful marketing” strategies aimed at adult children that educate them and help them navigate the maze of long-term care considerations.
- Your website should be succinct and easy to understand, using fonts and colors that are kind on the older eyes of both the seniors and their children.
- Have a solid sales team. Many going into this kind of people business fail because they don’t understand the value of a vigorous sales staff.
- Hire the right people. The most important part of home care is the person you put in the home, you want someone who is hardworking, naturally enthusiastic and solution-oriented.
If you have questions about owning a 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/.
Sources:
Entrepreneur Magazine Online https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/170794#Forbes Online: https://www.forbes.com/sites/caroltice/2014/05/27/best-franchises-home-healthcare-is-hot/#15a3845149cd