One of the questions I get asked the most by people starting out their own home care business in Canada is:
“Should I hire people first? Or should I start with marketing?”
I get the question so often I thought it would be best just to write an article about it.
So let me start by telling you what I did…
When I started out several years ago I agonized over what I should do first.
On the one hand I was really afraid of what would happen if I started marketing and was flooded with new clients but had absolutely no staff to help me fill all those shifts!
On the other hand I really didn’t know what to tell caregivers I was interviewing when they asked me how many clients we had and when they could start work! These people would be coming to my interview hoping for a job - what would I say to them???
So here is what I did.
I decided I would hire first.
I worked for a week building an interview guide, designing job descriptions, and building a skills matrix in order to help me hire a strong starting team with a good mix of skills.
Then I set myself up in my local Tim Horton’s with a binder of resumes and did a dozen interviews.
Through that process I hired a team of 5 capable, hardworking, lovely caregivers who were all very eager to start work right away.
And here’s the catch…
Not one of those caregivers I hired ever actually worked with a client on behalf of my company
The reason is because it took me around 8 weeks from the date of those interviews before I actually had a client to work with.
In that time, all of those talented hard working caregivers had moved on to other companies who actually had clients and hours to offer them.
So when I finally did get a client wanting to hire my company, I scrambled like crazy to book as many interviews in the next 48 hours as I could.
And I ended up hiring a caregiver that was perfect for that client and stayed working with him as long as he was with my company.
What I realized through this process is...
You can’t do one or the other first, you have to market and hire SIMULTANEOUSLY.
You go out looking for clients and when you get one you start hiring for that right away.
This simultaneous process has some huge benefits as well:
Benefit #1 - You can hire caregivers into specific schedules that work really well for them
Caregivers are often working multiple jobs, have young families and have commitments outside of work. They have extremely busy schedules already.
But now you have an advantage!
Because you’re hiring for a particular client you already know what your client wants you can be very specific about what days and hours you’re looking for.
You can ask an interview question like this:
“I have a client I think you would be perfect for but they are looking for someone to visit them Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 4pm-8pm every week. Is that something you can commit to in your schedule?”
Being this specific up front means the caregiver knows what they’re committing to and so they’ll be much less likely to want to change it later.
Better for the caregiver and better for the client.
Benefit #2 – You can ask interview questions that are specific to the client’s environment.
For instance, since you’ve visited the client you may already know that he has a cat. So you can ask the caregiver specifically if they are ok with cats.
Believe me, it matters.
I can’t tell you how many times we’ve forgotten little detail like that and then the caregiver goes to visit the client once and calls right after their shift saying they’ll never go back because they’re allergic to the pet.
Hiring and marketing simultaneously helps you avoid situations like that.
Benefit #3 – Word spreads FAST about your company and your ability to provide hours
Caregivers talk.
So if you’re able to hire someone and get them into a good schedule that matches their availability right in the interview, you better believe they’re going have good things to say about you and your company to their friends.
You will start to build a reputation as a busy company that finds great fits for caregivers and has lots of hours to give.
That reputation will help you more than any marketing campaign could.
That all sounds great, but what do I do if I can’t hire someone fast enough for a client I just got???
Well I know that you already read The Most Important Ingredient for Success and so you already know that if you promised a client you would fill a shift then you need to deliver what you promised.
That means if you can’t find someone, then YOU ARE GOING TO THE SHIFT YOURSELF.
Even if that’s 12 hour night shifts…they are yours until you find the perfect person for that client. So get your shoes on!
And keep in mind, there’s no better way for you to get to know the client than to work with them yourself!
I’ve worked my share of night shifts to get where I am, so if you want to build a successful business, you better be ready to do the same!
Conclusion
I get asked all the time what to do first.
And my answer is...neither.
You don’t need to market first or hire first, you need to do both simultaneously.
Not only does it prevent you from hiring people you don't need, but it helps set you up for success once you do get some clients!
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30 comments
Hi Khadija,
I sympathize! Starting on your own is tough (I remember because I had to do it)!
I’m not sure if this helps, but when I started out I printed a copy of Rudyard Kipling’s poem named “If” and I taped it to my wall. It helped me be brave!
Good luck!
Hi I read your advises and articles. I really like it and I need your help
I would like to open my own business health care .I have 15 years background health care . I scare to death moving forward and I don’t have confidence.I don’t know what to do.
Hi Jefflyn,
I know you and I have traded a few emails but I thought I would respond here as well in case anyone else has this question!
As I always say I think that the most important thing in home care is truly caring about your clients and having a genuine desire to help others. As long as you have that you have everything you need!
I don’t think your background is a road block because this business is very flexible in the types of services you can offer. That means you could focus on non-medical support (ie friendly visiting, home making, personal care) and save the more complex medical services for when you’ve grown enough to be able to hire a nurse to help you with that side of things.
Also, I’d really encourage you to look at the start up kit because it’s got a lot of great starter tools to help you out at the beginning and can cover some of the gaps you might have since your background is not health care.
I hope that helps!
All the best,
Hi Crystal
Thank for the detailed explanations!! Really interested in starting my own home care business unfortunately I’m coming from a Engineering background which gives me cold feet :( and fear of failure. Any thoughts about my case with no health care background.
Thank you and hope to hear from you
Hi Crystal,
Yes this will definitely help!
I’m glad you chose to buy our kit, everything we put in there is applicable in Alberta (although some terms are different) but we can chat about that in our 30 minute consultation!
Congratulations on taking the next step and I can’t wait to chat!
Cheers,