Opening a home care franchise is a rewarding venture that requires plenty of hard work. Growth projections for this type of business are promising, but only those who are willing to put in the effort and maintain compassion and resilience along the way can count on succeeding.
At Senior Helpers, we’ve had the privilege of helping hundreds of home care franchise owners thrive and experience the rewards that come with a successful business in this industry. Below, we have put together a list of things we have learned along the way that we believe up-and-coming business owners should know as they start growing their home care agencies.
We have broken these tips up into a few categories for easy reading.
Staffing Your Home Care Franchise
- Know that your office staff form the backbone of your business and will play one of the biggest roles in its success.
Be wary about making friends or family automatic members of your team, and work to establish a group of core staff members who can operate smoothly in your absence. This will make your life as a business owner easier and will also promote the sustainability of your business. - Set up accountability systems for your staff from the get-go.
When it comes to staffing performance, you should identify a couple of metrics from the outset that measure the output of each role and set realistic goals for reaching these metrics. - Understand that every interaction with your business counts.
Caregiver visits aren’t the only interactions that matter when it comes to shaping your brand, so be sure your staff members are up to the task of maintaining a positive attitude and a welcoming atmosphere at all times.
Working with Caregivers
- Show caregivers the same kindness and respect you want them to show your clients.
Maintaining a relationship with your caregivers that uplifts them and helps them feel supported is crucial to avoiding turnover and ensuring you have a team you can trust to uphold a reputation for high-quality care. - Always be recruiting.
In the current labor market, it is near impossible to have too many caregivers on staff. As you grow your client base, you will want to have plenty of caregivers available to meet various scheduling needs. - Avoid listing qualifications in job postings that caregivers can easily learn through training.
You don’t want to lose out on hiring a warm and loving caregiver simply because they lack a certain qualification that can easily be picked up through a quick training session.
Providing Exceptional Care for Clients
- Call clients regularly just to check in.
Depending on your workload, you can take on this task or have a staff member who is not the client’s caregiver do it for you. Establishing multiple channels of communication is important to avoid overlooking any small issues that could develop into larger problems. - Use technology to improve the client experience.
Nothing replaces human touch, but the power of technology can go a long way in ensuring clients receive comprehensive care. For example, Senior Helpers home care franchises work with the innovative LIFE Profile™ tool to perform data-driven assessments of clients’ needs.
Growing Your Home Care Franchise
- Schedule in time to work on the big picture.
Making time for regular breaks from working in your business is crucial if you want to work on your business. Without taking a step back to gain clarity, you will struggle to see how everything fits together and could overlook opportunities for growth. - Assess how you can boost per-client revenue and retainment.
Expanding your client base isn’t the only way to grow your business. It is also important to consider opportunities for increasing the revenue each client brings in, whether by providing them with additional services or serving them for a longer period of time. - Understand the power of great reviews - both word of mouth and online.
For major decisions such as choosing a home care provider, prospective clients will do in-depth research about the experience of former and existing clients. As a result, providing your clients with a great experience goes beyond enhancing their quality of life - it can also help you attract future clients. - Trust the plan.
When it comes to franchising, shying away from the business model you’ve invested in can backfire in a number of ways. Trust in the franchisor’s experience and the business model they have perfected in order to stay on the path to success.
Are you eager to open a home care franchise while benefiting from the support of experts who possess decades of industry experience? Reach out to Senior Helpers today by scheduling a call or requesting information online about our franchise packages!