The secret ingredient for a successful home care business

January 13, 2022 Alyssa Kay

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?!?

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49 comments

Hi Dave,

I sympathize with you!! Getting started is the hardest part! But I also think the harder something is, the more rewarding it is in the long run (and I know that’s how my business has been for me).

If there’s anything we can do to help you or support you let us know!

Cheers,

I am looking to create my own companion business. I’ve had the thought for years.. Im being stopped by walking outside of my comfort zone.. I have a job, but it isn’t consistent…for most, easier to stuck to what you know, than the fear of the unknown.

Hi Cale,

That’s very exciting for you guys! I just had a look back through the business plan and the structure and probably about 50% of the written content would apply perfect to your business (the market research is very similar, business description is very close etc).

There are also other areas that would need to be changed since the regulatory rules for facilities are quite different than home care agencies and the competition section would be different as well.

Also we’d be happy to offer any support we can (you can always email us directly if you’d prefer that).

And we also offer a free consultation with anyone who chooses to buy our starter kit.

I hope that helps!

Hi Alyssa and Chris,
Great insights! Thanks so very much for sharing your knowledge and expertise.
I am interested in starting a small senior’s community where my partner and I will do property management (approx. 6 small modular home units) and provide some basic nursing care to seniors living in our rentals. This is different than the business you have started but I’m wondering if you feel your business plan would still be relevant to our project or if you can provide any advice on where and how to get started? Thank you for considering!