The secret ingredient for a successful home care business

Most important ingredient

 

One thing I get asked all the time is how did I do it?

How did I grow a home care company from nothing all the way up to serving hundreds of clients every month?

I always answer the same way.  And yet, for some reason the person asking me never seems to like my answer.  I always say that,

I grew my business by "doing it right one person at a time"

Unpopular answer.  Always.

The reason is because what they want me to give them is a short-cut or some kind of magical ingredient that will grow their business 100x. 

But that's just not how it works.

Your clients are all real people and the magical ingredient is taking the time to get to know them, caring for them personally, and being better at it than anyone else.

No marketing plan or gimmick will beat that.

Here's an example of one client we helped

We received a call late on a Monday afternoon from a woman, (let's call her Joan).  Joan just got the news that her mother, who had been in the hospital for the past 6 weeks, was coming home TOMORROW!

Joan was completely blindsided by this news.

She had no time to plan, and she didn't know how to plan for it anyway.

The only thing the hospital told her was that her mom could not be left alone.

Joan called us because she had to go to work the next day and had no idea what to do!

I quietly and thoughtfully listened as Joan told me the whole story.  I also asked lots of questions to make sure I got all the details.

Then I told her what I tell almost everyone who calls in the state of panic that Joan was in.  I said,

Don’t worry, you’ve called the right place. We can definitely help with this. We will make sure your mom has the support she needs”.

Next we talked some more as we built a care plan full of details to help make Betty's transition home smooth.  It had all sorts of notes on:

  • what Betty liked to eat
  • what games she liked to play
  • how her mobility was
  • what her sleep schedule was like
  • what medication she was on
  • What Joan's work schedule was
  • How the house was setup

I could hear the relief in Joan's voice and she started to see the answers to her problems take shape.

 Next came the most important part...the secret ingredient...the part almost everyone else does wrong.

WE DELIVERED WHAT WE PROMISED

First I visited the hospital to meet Betty and Joan in person and also to talk to the nurses and doctors to make sure I had the complete medical picture - filling in the gaps from my discussion with Joan.

Next I worked some scheduling magic to make the right caregiver available for Betty and I made sure that the caregiver had a clear report with all the info she needed before she showed up to meet Betty.

I also scheduled that caregiver to meet Betty at the hospital rather than at home in order to help her get her things organized leaving the hospital.

Lastly, after the first visit I followed up with Betty and Joan to make sure they were really happy with the experience and the caregiver who visited them.

And guess what came of all this hard work?

Joan and Betty have been long-term clients even since that day. 

On top of that they speak very highly of my business and my staff.

They also go out of their way to praise my business to anyone else who needs help who will listen...and that word of mouth advertising is better than any other possible referral source.

Go through that whole process every single time you get a new client and in 5-10 years you will have a successful, thriving, happy home health care business.

 In Conclusion

The secret to success is caring. 

The magical ingredient is delivering what you promise.

Don't worry about all those other people out there taking shortcuts.  They'll all come and go and then 5 years from now they'll be pounding on your door to ask you one simple question....

How did you do it?!?

 Purchase the Home Care 101 Complete Start Up Kit to put you on the fast track to starting your own home care agency!

You can get in touch with us by signing up for our newsletter. We send out freebies to our Home Care 101 subscribers to help you get started!

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49 comments

Hello, do you help walk the talk on how to set up a home care business? I am interested in setting up and will like to know if i can leverage on your service to achieve the set up goal.

Jessica

Hi Alyssa,

Which province are you operating from?
Also, have you supported someone in Alberta? Because Alberta seems to be different from other provinces because of Alberta homecare provided by AHS.
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HomeCare101 replied:
Hi Bee, congrats on your business! Yes we have many clients in Alberta and are familiar with the home care set up with AHS. We operate across Canada :)

Cheers, Alyssa

Bee

Hello
Thank you so much for your help. I am an RN planning to start a health care agency that will be providing RN, RPN, PSW and housekeeping. my question what is the best way to go about looking for contracts with hospitals, home cares, long term cares etc.

wakanyi

Hello! Thank you so much for what you do and are doing for us first time business owners!!
I wanted to ask if the starter package would give me an idea of where to cal late startup costs and monthly costs for my business plan? For some reason I’m stumped and don’t know how I would get that information. Thank you so much for your time.
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HomeCare101 replied:
Hi Malia, yes the start up package does have a cash flow worksheet and start up expenses template to help you get organized with those items! The business plan template also includes some helpful information on finances.

Cheers! Alyssa

Malia

Hi Alyssa, I can’t tell you how thrilled I am to come across your page few mins ago. I am doing my master in healthcare administration at U-Ottawa and has extensive knowledge in business with no technical health background. I have worked as a PSW for the last 3 years.

At this juncture, I have decided to work for myself, rather, than working for anyone based on my experience, and operating a non-medical home care is what I seriously considering.

I am definitely buying that Starter Kit and will book a consultation in mid-May/23. I am sure it will safe me tons of time surfing the internet. Please use my email if you wish to response to me.

Raheim

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