About Us

Hi, I'm Alyssa. I'm a nurse, and 15 years ago I started my own home care agency in Canada with no roadmap.

I was working in a hospital and knew I could do more. I wanted to help seniors stay safe at home, build a workplace where caregivers felt valued, and have more say over my own life. Starting a home care business felt like the right fit. It also felt completely overwhelming. How do I set it up? What insurance do I need? What do I charge clients? How does payroll work?

Those first few months

I still remember sitting at my kitchen table after long hospital shifts, laptop open, a pile of notes beside me and no idea where to start. I'd search one question and end up with ten more. Every answer seemed to depend on something else I didn't know yet.

I called insurance brokers who asked questions I couldn't answer. I wrote my first policies from scratch, then rewrote them when I realized what I'd missed. I sat with spreadsheets trying to work out what to charge, worried I'd price myself out of the market or not earn enough to pay anyone. Some nights I wondered if I'd made a huge mistake.

It took me more than a year to get ready for my first client. When that first call finally came, my hands were shaking. But I said yes, and I learned more in the next few weeks than in all the months of planning before it.

I made plenty of mistakes along the way, most of them avoidable. But I kept going, one client and one caregiver at a time, and the agency grew far beyond anything I imagined at that kitchen table.

What I learned the hard way

Why I built Home Care 101

Home care is a big part of the answer to our aging population, and there's more than enough need to go around. I built Home Care 101 to give you what I wish I'd had on day one: the policies, forms, plans and know-how to open your doors with confidence, without paying franchise fees forever.

Everything here comes from running a real agency, not from theory. The policies, forms and plans grew out of the systems I built for my own agency, adapted so you can make them yours.

Who I help

• New agency owners who want to start the right way, without a franchise.
• Nurses, PSWs and caregivers ready to turn their experience into their own business.
• Families arranging care for a parent or loved one. See resources for families.

You might not think of yourself as an entrepreneur yet. If you're reading this, you already are. And the families in your community who need good care at home are waiting for someone like you.

How I can help

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In health and good home care,
Alyssa