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 Homa,
The policies are all covered in the HomeCare101 Starter Kit!
It’s one of the best parts of buying the kit because creating those policies is a HUGE amount of work and so having a starting template to work from helps a lot.
Legal is a bit different because it does depend on which province you’re starting in, but I do offer a 30 minute consultation with anyone who buys the starter kit and we can definitely chat about legal if you want!
Cheers,
Hi Kamelia,
Growing that client list is the hardest part when you’re just beginning!
Have a look at the HomeCare101 STarter Kit. I included a whole marketing section with several of the tools I used when I was starting out and I offer a 30 minute consultation to anyone who buys the kit and would be happy to use it to talk specifically about helping you grow your business!
Also most importantly, remember that the best way to grow your clients is referrals which means if you do great with the clients you have your business will start to grow on its own!
Cheers,
Need a Homecare worker so thinking I’ll start my own business. Interested in guidelines
Hi Alyssa.
What province do you run your company in? Does your kit cover all provinces?
Hello Alyssa and Chris,
I am interested in your product because I am starting home care business and just wondering if the package entails business policies as well as legal aspects of running a health care business.
Thanks