Any money in Non Medical Senior Care?

[anonymous]

I now own a dry cleaners and do senior care consulting for home care, assisted living, memory care and personal care homes.

 

[anonymous]

When you go visit nursing homes, you will want to visit several people. Start with the admissions person as they will know about incoming patients who might need your sitter service while in the nursing home. Discharge planner is next as he/she will be recommending home care companies for patients who are going home from the nursing home. You will also want to meet the DON (Director of Nursing) and any nurse practitioners who are practicing there. I got several referrals from them as they are closely monitoring each patient. I always got to know the rehab workers as well as they tend to see patient's true physical limitations. Get to know the Executive Director as well. Make friends with the receptionist as they are the gate keeper. Obviously, you can't do all of this in one visit. Make weekly visits until you have met all of these people. No, they won't care one bit on your first few visits as they are bombarded with reps each day including home health, hospice, home care, assisted living, etc. Once they get to know you though, you will have much better access. Take business cards and brochures and try not to overload them with too many materials as they will more than likely end up in the trash.

 

[Ajay]

Hello Newbie here
I was a caregiver for 4 years. CNA for 8 years and i am just about to graduate nursing school although not a nurse yet. i have lots of experience in this field. My friend i am partnering with has been a home care cordinator for 2 or 3 of the big name franchise out there. My friend who is an accountant is our 3rd partner. I feel we have a solid team to finally start my dream. Qe have even found a space in an affluent neighborhood for a very low cos of $500. 1200sq
(Just by the way). Anyone did this in the state of PA? Share insights.. thank you for such a wonderful and informative forum.

 

[Ajay]

I don't know if you'll see this or not but I just came across this thread. I'm about to hit 5 years of owing a non medical senior care business. I bought a franchise so I had training provided, materials and now we have support and a national advertising program. The goods of the business.

1) It is a growing market as nobody is getting younger and the baby boomers just started retiring to the tune of 10k a day so the market is huge.
2) The relationships you will gain with your referral sources and clients is great.
3) The money is pretty good. The difference being that with owning a franchise, of course I give away 8% right off the top every month. If you are going independent with set up assistance and no ongoing royalties, you can make money. I give up $5-6000 a month in royalties and ad fund. Even with royalties though, I still make about 8-12000 a month. The franchise is a blessing in the beginning to help get set up and avoid pitfalls. It sucks later as you get established and successful and you are giving up 8% a year in revenues. Part of that 8% does go a national ad fund so we do have national advertising programs but it is in it's infancy so I don't have any results to speak of.
4) This can be true of owning any business but being my own boss is the only way to go. I could never go back to working for someone else. I have freedom to do what I need to do to make the business successful. I don't waste time doing busy work for someone else. I only work to drive my business. I came from pharma so I know the time wasted there, call plans set for us even with customers who are giving us business, etc.

The bads of the business
1) Depending on your area, there is lots of competition. There are big name players like Home Instead, Visting Angels, Always Best Care, Synergy, Right at Home, etc. These are all franchises and typically have national advertising behind them. There are also several mom and pop shops but I see them getting squeezed out by the franchises over time. You could have an advantage having a wife as your RN. Some states require an RN, some don't so you will need to check on the state regs where you live. You could also have a price advantage since you don't have to charge to cover 8% royalties.
2) Staffing can be a nightmare. This business is full of good, hard working people who care. It is also full of trash and scum that want to say they have a job, but they don't really want to work. You will have last minute call offs, no call no shows, people who show up but aren't very good at the job. You will hear every excuse in the book from they don't have gas to go to work, sick child, have to go to grandmother's funeral even though they've already buried a grandma 4 or 5 times this year. The one I got Friday night was that they couldn't go to work because their cousin got shot and killed. There is a lot of drama in alot of these people's lives. You just have to weed through them. You can get a good staff which I do have now but in the beginning, it was a challenge. I basically threaten my new hires with prosecution for elder neglect and abuse if they even think of doing a no call no show.
3) If in a licensing state, you will be under govt scrutiny at that point. I'm in Texas so we are required to have a license. I am subject to surprise surveys by the state at any time. It's a typical govt operation in that the left hand usually has no clue what the right hand is doing. I've had one survey in 4 years and it wasn't that bad however I only had about 8 or 9 clients at the time so the sample size they were looking at was pretty small and survey was quick. Now, the survey will probably last 3 or 4 days. I do dread that.

Here is the low down. My first six months in business, I did $45,000. That's from June to December. The next year was a full year and I did $425,000. The next was $640,000. The next was $650,000 and this year I will do a little over $800,000. It takes time to grow it and it requires the willingness and ability to really market the business. You can't just open an office and wait for the phone to ring. Nobody will know about you. Face to face marketing works the best for me. I've tried local ads and got nothing from them. Getting out and beating the bushes has been the key for me. I would be leery if someone is telling you that you will have 100 clients in your first year. I guess anything is possible but I don't think that is accurate. I don't even look at number of clients. The key is the number of billable hours. You could have only 10 clients but they are 24/7 clients and that is all you need to be successful. Or you could have 30 clients at 6 hours a day. You can still be successful like that too but think more in terms of billable hours versus number of clients because each client's needs will be so different.

In our franchise system, we have about 175 offices. The biggest office does about $2 million a month. Yes, that is a month. A big agency is $2 million a year. The office is not the norm. They tapped into some type of govt assistance program so this is not the norm. We have probably 10 to 15 offices over $1 million a year and the rest are less than a million but more and more will reach the million dollar mark. I should get there next year so it's not impossible.

You can make money in this business. It does take alot of work especially when you are getting started. Once established, the demands do diminish and I am working typically 40 hours a week. Some weeks, I don't work that much, others more. It's not for everyone but if you can hold it together for the first year and get it going, it is a goo business. In my area, it is somewhat seasonal. Summer time is typically very slow with fall and spring being the busiest.

If you decide to do this, get in an area with high income and affluence because they have to be able to pay for this service. Some people will have long term insurance however that typically only covers a portion depending on how much the policy will cover. Good luck to you on whatever you decide to do.

Hello there
I hooe you do see this, since its been a while.
I am in PA and interested in starting my own homecare agency. Are you comfortable in working with me as a consultant for a fee? I am aware you are not in PA.
aseri84@gmail.com

 

[Ajay]

Thanks for taking the time to type this, it was very insightful as I'm also looking at the possibility of opening a home care business soon. What part of Texas are you in?

Helllo can you be my coach?? For a fee..

 

[anonymous]

Sorry for the delay but yes, I am accepting consulting clients at this time. You can email me at hitbyabrick@outlook.com.

 

[Pharma Flair]

The pharmaceutical company that has begun in the late 50s or early 60s was the time when the pharmaceutical companies were depended on the IT companies because most of the medicines were imported but with an advancement of technologies and more awareness the pharmaceutical companies have shown wide growth in the market. The years 1950-2010 were the one when these companies have marked massive growth and brought treatments and cure for even the deadly and neglected disease. As per surveys, India is the largest provider of generic drugs globally. The global pharmaceutical industry reached remarkable heights and With rising pressure to develop drugs and to meet ever-increasing global demand, pharmaceutical companies continue to work tirelessly to bring forward the most innovative and cutting-edge treatments Pharma Industry offers immense Employment and Business opportunity in the form of manufacturing Plant, Pharma Marketing Company, Pharma Franchise PCD, Third Party manufacturing, Surgical Products & Medical Franchise. Pharma Flair Global Pharma B2B Marketplace connect Pharma Professionals seeking Franchise Pharma Opportunity, Generic Medicines Franchise, Branded Medicines General and Critical care products for PCD Franchise Pharma Companies Business details, Find Latest WHO-GMP Molecules by formulation name, salt name, Brand name, THird Party Manufacturing and more. Pharma Flair Connect Pharma Professionals, Stockist, Chemists, Pharma Traders, with Contract manufacturing COmpanies and Top PCD Pharma Franchise Companies in India.

 

[anonymous]

Market rate in Houston is $9 per hour for CNA's (Certified Nursing Assistant), $8.50 for sitters. More experienced caregivers might command $10. I always started low and dangled a raise in front of them. i simply explained that I didn't know them and they didn't know me. They needed to prove to me why I needed to pay them more. You will know within 30 days if someone is worthy. Also, I might pay more for bi-lingual staff or for someone willing to take out of the norm shifts. But for the most part, $9 an hour is the going rate.

 

[anonymous]

No worries. I hate to keep using the term, "down here in Texas" but that is where my experience is as this industry is state specific. I had to establish a business structure first. I.E. LLC, Corp, Sole P. I had to list a company name and structure on the license application. The license for operating a home care will be separate from your business structure. You will need the names of all owners of the company. In Texas, we were all required to submit for a criminal background check as well. You will more than likely also need a NPI number. This stands for National Provider Identification. Google this and you can get signed up for it. It is free to obtain but my license application required this as well. In Texas, you are not required to have an RN on staff for non medical but you are required to have an administrator and and alternate administrator. These roles usually require some type of experience either in caregiving or administration of health care. Pretty easy to fudge this on a resume that we were required to submit. Don't tell anyone i said to fudge it but that's what normally occurs. Wait times for a license in Texas are at minimum 45 days assuming they find no deficiencies on the application. If deficiencies are found, they can take another 45 days to approve once you submit what you are missing. I have heard of some states taking up to 6 months but again, I don't know how Maryland operates. This is what I can think of at this point but again, just post again and I will continue to help out.

Can you tell me what company you franchised with? Thank you

 

[anonymous]

If you don’t mind me asking and if you can be so kind, what are you doing now? I live in Florida and would like to start my own business. I was thinking of Home Care but your post was very enlightening.

 

[anonymous]

Be careful and do your due diligence. I have been in home care since 2001 working in medicare certified agencies, pediatric home care, private duty and hospice. I have seen a fair amount of private duty companies come and go. Unless you are in a high income demographic area you may have challenges. It is very much driven my price with a very low percentage of the population having long term care insurance. Their are some govt waivers available but they will not generate a lot of revenue. I have also found that hha aides are very difficult to recruit and more importantly retain. Low pay and they will leave for a small increase to another company. Contact your state home health care association and ask them the tough question. Every state has one. I participated in a state association meeting last year and was absolutely floored on the large percentage of home care companies fail in the first two years.

 

[anonymous]

Sorry for the delay but I own a dry cleaners, do senior care consulting and I am an Executive Director at a memory care community. The dry cleaners runs itself so I have time for consulting and to run the memory care. If you are interested in consulting services, you can email me at hitbyabrick@outlook.com.

 

[anonymous]

I don't know if you'll see this or not but I just came across this thread. I'm about to hit 5 years of owing a non medical senior care business. I bought a franchise so I had training provided, materials and now we have support and a national advertising program. The goods of the business.

1) It is a growing market as nobody is getting younger and the baby boomers just started retiring to the tune of 10k a day so the market is huge.
2) The relationships you will gain with your referral sources and clients is great.
3) The money is pretty good. The difference being that with owning a franchise, of course I give away 8% right off the top every month. If you are going independent with set up assistance and no ongoing royalties, you can make money. I give up $5-6000 a month in royalties and ad fund. Even with royalties though, I still make about 8-12000 a month. The franchise is a blessing in the beginning to help get set up and avoid pitfalls. It sucks later as you get established and successful and you are giving up 8% a year in revenues. Part of that 8% does go a national ad fund so we do have national advertising programs but it is in it's infancy so I don't have any results to speak of.
4) This can be true of owning any business but being my own boss is the only way to go. I could never go back to working for someone else. I have freedom to do what I need to do to make the business successful. I don't waste time doing busy work for someone else. I only work to drive my business. I came from pharma so I know the time wasted there, call plans set for us even with customers who are giving us business, etc.

The bads of the business
1) Depending on your area, there is lots of competition. There are big name players like Home Instead, Visting Angels, Always Best Care, Synergy, Right at Home, etc. These are all franchises and typically have national advertising behind them. There are also several mom and pop shops but I see them getting squeezed out by the franchises over time. You could have an advantage having a wife as your RN. Some states require an RN, some don't so you will need to check on the state regs where you live. You could also have a price advantage since you don't have to charge to cover 8% royalties.
2) Staffing can be a nightmare. This business is full of good, hard working people who care. It is also full of trash and scum that want to say they have a job, but they don't really want to work. You will have last minute call offs, no call no shows, people who show up but aren't very good at the job. You will hear every excuse in the book from they don't have gas to go to work, sick child, have to go to grandmother's funeral even though they've already buried a grandma 4 or 5 times this year. The one I got Friday night was that they couldn't go to work because their cousin got shot and killed. There is a lot of drama in alot of these people's lives. You just have to weed through them. You can get a good staff which I do have now but in the beginning, it was a challenge. I basically threaten my new hires with prosecution for elder neglect and abuse if they even think of doing a no call no show.
3) If in a licensing state, you will be under govt scrutiny at that point. I'm in Texas so we are required to have a license. I am subject to surprise surveys by the state at any time. It's a typical govt operation in that the left hand usually has no clue what the right hand is doing. I've had one survey in 4 years and it wasn't that bad however I only had about 8 or 9 clients at the time so the sample size they were looking at was pretty small and survey was quick. Now, the survey will probably last 3 or 4 days. I do dread that.

Here is the low down. My first six months in business, I did $45,000. That's from June to December. The next year was a full year and I did $425,000. The next was $640,000. The next was $650,000 and this year I will do a little over $800,000. It takes time to grow it and it requires the willingness and ability to really market the business. You can't just open an office and wait for the phone to ring. Nobody will know about you. Face to face marketing works the best for me. I've tried local ads and got nothing from them. Getting out and beating the bushes has been the key for me. I would be leery if someone is telling you that you will have 100 clients in your first year. I guess anything is possible but I don't think that is accurate. I don't even look at number of clients. The key is the number of billable hours. You could have only 10 clients but they are 24/7 clients and that is all you need to be successful. Or you could have 30 clients at 6 hours a day. You can still be successful like that too but think more in terms of billable hours versus number of clients because each client's needs will be so different.

In our franchise system, we have about 175 offices. The biggest office does about $2 million a month. Yes, that is a month. A big agency is $2 million a year. The office is not the norm. They tapped into some type of govt assistance program so this is not the norm. We have probably 10 to 15 offices over $1 million a year and the rest are less than a million but more and more will reach the million dollar mark. I should get there next year so it's not impossible.

You can make money in this business. It does take alot of work especially when you are getting started. Once established, the demands do diminish and I am working typically 40 hours a week. Some weeks, I don't work that much, others more. It's not for everyone but if you can hold it together for the first year and get it going, it is a goo business. In my area, it is somewhat seasonal. Summer time is typically very slow with fall and spring being the busiest.

If you decide to do this, get in an area with high income and affluence because they have to be able to pay for this service. Some people will have long term insurance however that typically only covers a portion depending on how much the policy will cover. Good luck to you on whatever you decide to do.

 

[anonymous]

I don't know if you'll see this or not but I just came across this thread. I'm about to hit 5 years of owing a non medical senior care business. I bought a franchise so I had training provided, materials and now we have support and a national advertising program. The goods of the business.

1) It is a growing market as nobody is getting younger and the baby boomers just started retiring to the tune of 10k a day so the market is huge.
2) The relationships you will gain with your referral sources and clients is great.
3) The money is pretty good. The difference being that with owning a franchise, of course I give away 8% right off the top every month. If you are going independent with set up assistance and no ongoing royalties, you can make money. I give up $5-6000 a month in royalties and ad fund. Even with royalties though, I still make about 8-12000 a month. The franchise is a blessing in the beginning to help get set up and avoid pitfalls. It sucks later as you get established and successful and you are giving up 8% a year in revenues. Part of that 8% does go a national ad fund so we do have national advertising programs but it is in it's infancy so I don't have any results to speak of.
4) This can be true of owning any business but being my own boss is the only way to go. I could never go back to working for someone else. I have freedom to do what I need to do to make the business successful. I don't waste time doing busy work for someone else. I only work to drive my business. I came from pharma so I know the time wasted there, call plans set for us even with customers who are giving us business, etc.

The bads of the business
1) Depending on your area, there is lots of competition. There are big name players like Home Instead, Visting Angels, Always Best Care, Synergy, Right at Home, etc. These are all franchises and typically have national advertising behind them. There are also several mom and pop shops but I see them getting squeezed out by the franchises over time. You could have an advantage having a wife as your RN. Some states require an RN, some don't so you will need to check on the state regs where you live. You could also have a price advantage since you don't have to charge to cover 8% royalties.
2) Staffing can be a nightmare. This business is full of good, hard working people who care. It is also full of trash and scum that want to say they have a job, but they don't really want to work. You will have last minute call offs, no call no shows, people who show up but aren't very good at the job. You will hear every excuse in the book from they don't have gas to go to work, sick child, have to go to grandmother's funeral even though they've already buried a grandma 4 or 5 times this year. The one I got Friday night was that they couldn't go to work because their cousin got shot and killed. There is a lot of drama in alot of these people's lives. You just have to weed through them. You can get a good staff which I do have now but in the beginning, it was a challenge. I basically threaten my new hires with prosecution for elder neglect and abuse if they even think of doing a no call no show.
3) If in a licensing state, you will be under govt scrutiny at that point. I'm in Texas so we are required to have a license. I am subject to surprise surveys by the state at any time. It's a typical govt operation in that the left hand usually has no clue what the right hand is doing. I've had one survey in 4 years and it wasn't that bad however I only had about 8 or 9 clients at the time so the sample size they were looking at was pretty small and survey was quick. Now, the survey will probably last 3 or 4 days. I do dread that.

Here is the low down. My first six months in business, I did $45,000. That's from June to December. The next year was a full year and I did $425,000. The next was $640,000. The next was $650,000 and this year I will do a little over $800,000. It takes time to grow it and it requires the willingness and ability to really market the business. You can't just open an office and wait for the phone to ring. Nobody will know about you. Face to face marketing works the best for me. I've tried local ads and got nothing from them. Getting out and beating the bushes has been the key for me. I would be leery if someone is telling you that you will have 100 clients in your first year. I guess anything is possible but I don't think that is accurate. I don't even look at number of clients. The key is the number of billable hours. You could have only 10 clients but they are 24/7 clients and that is all you need to be successful. Or you could have 30 clients at 6 hours a day. You can still be successful like that too but think more in terms of billable hours versus number of clients because each client's needs will be so different.

In our franchise system, we have about 175 offices. The biggest office does about $2 million a month. Yes, that is a month. A big agency is $2 million a year. The office is not the norm. They tapped into some type of govt assistance program so this is not the norm. We have probably 10 to 15 offices over $1 million a year and the rest are less than a million but more and more will reach the million dollar mark. I should get there next year so it's not impossible.

You can make money in this business. It does take alot of work especially when you are getting started. Once established, the demands do diminish and I am working typically 40 hours a week. Some weeks, I don't work that much, others more. It's not for everyone but if you can hold it together for the first year and get it going, it is a goo business. In my area, it is somewhat seasonal. Summer time is typically very slow with fall and spring being the busiest.

If you decide to do this, get in an area with high income and affluence because they have to be able to pay for this service. Some people will have long term insurance however that typically only covers a portion depending on how much the policy will cover. Good luck to you on whatever you decide to do.

Would you be willing to share some information, even if I have to pay for it. I currently own a staffing agency and have been researching on how to start home care agency. My email address is
Sharonngozi@yahoo.com thanks

 

[anonymous]

I don't know if you'll see this or not but I just came across this thread. I'm about to hit 5 years of owing a non medical senior care business. I bought a franchise so I had training provided, materials and now we have support and a national advertising program. The goods of the business.

1) It is a growing market as nobody is getting younger and the baby boomers just started retiring to the tune of 10k a day so the market is huge.
2) The relationships you will gain with your referral sources and clients is great.
3) The money is pretty good. The difference being that with owning a franchise, of course I give away 8% right off the top every month. If you are going independent with set up assistance and no ongoing royalties, you can make money. I give up $5-6000 a month in royalties and ad fund. Even with royalties though, I still make about 8-12000 a month. The franchise is a blessing in the beginning to help get set up and avoid pitfalls. It sucks later as you get established and successful and you are giving up 8% a year in revenues. Part of that 8% does go a national ad fund so we do have national advertising programs but it is in it's infancy so I don't have any results to speak of.
4) This can be true of owning any business but being my own boss is the only way to go. I could never go back to working for someone else. I have freedom to do what I need to do to make the business successful. I don't waste time doing busy work for someone else. I only work to drive my business. I came from pharma so I know the time wasted there, call plans set for us even with customers who are giving us business, etc.

The bads of the business
1) Depending on your area, there is lots of competition. There are big name players like Home Instead, Visting Angels, Always Best Care, Synergy, Right at Home, etc. These are all franchises and typically have national advertising behind them. There are also several mom and pop shops but I see them getting squeezed out by the franchises over time. You could have an advantage having a wife as your RN. Some states require an RN, some don't so you will need to check on the state regs where you live. You could also have a price advantage since you don't have to charge to cover 8% royalties.
2) Staffing can be a nightmare. This business is full of good, hard working people who care. It is also full of trash and scum that want to say they have a job, but they don't really want to work. You will have last minute call offs, no call no shows, people who show up but aren't very good at the job. You will hear every excuse in the book from they don't have gas to go to work, sick child, have to go to grandmother's funeral even though they've already buried a grandma 4 or 5 times this year. The one I got Friday night was that they couldn't go to work because their cousin got shot and killed. There is a lot of drama in alot of these people's lives. You just have to weed through them. You can get a good staff which I do have now but in the beginning, it was a challenge. I basically threaten my new hires with prosecution for elder neglect and abuse if they even think of doing a no call no show.
3) If in a licensing state, you will be under govt scrutiny at that point. I'm in Texas so we are required to have a license. I am subject to surprise surveys by the state at any time. It's a typical govt operation in that the left hand usually has no clue what the right hand is doing. I've had one survey in 4 years and it wasn't that bad however I only had about 8 or 9 clients at the time so the sample size they were looking at was pretty small and survey was quick. Now, the survey will probably last 3 or 4 days. I do dread that.

Here is the low down. My first six months in business, I did $45,000. That's from June to December. The next year was a full year and I did $425,000. The next was $640,000. The next was $650,000 and this year I will do a little over $800,000. It takes time to grow it and it requires the willingness and ability to really market the business. You can't just open an office and wait for the phone to ring. Nobody will know about you. Face to face marketing works the best for me. I've tried local ads and got nothing from them. Getting out and beating the bushes has been the key for me. I would be leery if someone is telling you that you will have 100 clients in your first year. I guess anything is possible but I don't think that is accurate. I don't even look at number of clients. The key is the number of billable hours. You could have only 10 clients but they are 24/7 clients and that is all you need to be successful. Or you could have 30 clients at 6 hours a day. You can still be successful like that too but think more in terms of billable hours versus number of clients because each client's needs will be so different.

In our franchise system, we have about 175 offices. The biggest office does about $2 million a month. Yes, that is a month. A big agency is $2 million a year. The office is not the norm. They tapped into some type of govt assistance program so this is not the norm. We have probably 10 to 15 offices over $1 million a year and the rest are less than a million but more and more will reach the million dollar mark. I should get there next year so it's not impossible.

You can make money in this business. It does take alot of work especially when you are getting started. Once established, the demands do diminish and I am working typically 40 hours a week. Some weeks, I don't work that much, others more. It's not for everyone but if you can hold it together for the first year and get it going, it is a goo business. In my area, it is somewhat seasonal. Summer time is typically very slow with fall and spring being the busiest.

If you decide to do this, get in an area with high income and affluence because they have to be able to pay for this service. Some people will have long term insurance however that typically only covers a portion depending on how much the policy will cover. Good luck to you on whatever you decide to do.

I tried the phone number you provided but it's not in service. I would like to speak to you about the home care business I have been researching to start. My email is Sharonngozi@yahoo.com.

 

[anonymous]

1. I started out using some paid referral sources such as Eldercarelink. You will get alot of leads but a very low conversion rate. Many are just tire kickers and your rate of actually reaching them is pretty low. Leads ran about $20 per lead but if you convert just a couple of them, it can be worth it when getting started. Once I was established, I stopped these leads because I was getting plenty of actual referrals at that point. After a few years, my franchise parent started paying for paid leads but they were worthless.
2. I had a few clients using Long Term Care (LTC). Each LTC policy will vary as to what it will cover. Some policies give a daily rate while some had unlimited benefits. Clients will try to work within what their policies would cover so some cases were awesome while some were just ok. I would highly encourage you to set up where client pays you direct and have them file their own claims. Payments can be slow from insurance and you want to you get paid as quickly as possible. Some clients will want you to file though as they are elderly and it is difficult for them so you can leave the door open to do this. I had 5 cases like this going at the same time. i filed two of them and the other three clients filed them.
3. My first client came about 3 weeks into marketing. It was friend's mom from my church. My first real referral from marketing to facilities came about 6-8 weeks of marketing.
4. First call is to introduce yourself and meet the key people. Gather all the key business cards you can get and just a quick explanation of what you are marketing. Do NOT ask for a referral at this point. This is a very personal business and referral sources will want to know they can trust who they are referring their families to. It may take 7 to 8 visits before they will trust you enough to refer to you. If you commit to anything, be sure you do what you say you were going to do. Make weekly visits at first so they can get familiar with your face. There are alot of home care companies out there and many are established in some of these facilities. You can overtake them but it will take persistence and delivering outstanding service when the call comes in.
5. Texas rates start around $18 an hour for sitter service with a 4 hour minimum. This is critical. You don't want to take cases that are less then 4 hours because they will become a staffing nightmare. An employee may take it initially, but over time, they will decide that less than 4 hours is not worth it to them and they will stop going. Then you have to find someone else who will work it Trust me, it is not worth the headache. The only way it works with less than 4 hours is if the caregiver has another case in the same area where they are getting additional hours but this can be rare. Example would be a 4 hour sitter job in a nursing home from 8 am to 12 pm and then a 2 or 3 hour sitter job in the same facility that starts at 12:30 or 1. Otherwise, you will pull your hair out trying to staff this. Rates go up depending on level of care and also length of shift. Shorter shifts mean higher rates. Longer shifts mean lower rates typically. Incontinence care, feeding, bathing, dressing make the hourly rates increase as well. You will want to mystery shop your competition to better establish your rates for your area.
6. I never did a workman's comp case but they are out there. Our franchise parent set up a partnership with a company but I never received a referral in my area. Other locations in other parts of the country got quite a few of these though so they are out there. The VA is also a good source of referrals once you get through the red tape of working with the govt. One office in Ohio built 90% of their million dollar a year business with the VA. It take time to get approved but once you start getting the referrals, they will flow in. Medicaid in some states also will pay for this service. Reimbursements will vary by state so check your own state. I didn't take it in Texas because the rates were so low. In Pennsylvania though, the rates were higher than my normal rates so if you are in that state, definitely check into their program.
Hope this helps.

Hello, I just so happened to stumble across this interesting and informative thread (apparently 3 years later) regarding homecare and your insider expertise on managing and operating one. I am currently in the works of launching/establishing a homecare entity from the ground up, but want to make sure all of my t's are crossed and i's are dotted before actually moving forward. Based on the responses I've read in your reply threads, I can see that you're well-versed and experienced in this industry, and would like to have you as a point of contact for compensating you for consultation until I can get the hang of things in this business once I launch it. I currently live in Texas, Houston, and I am willing to work around any schedule you have set to provide this service for me, that is IF you're willing to take on the offer I propose. Should you consider my proposal, if you have an email address that I can make initial contact with you at, that'll be great for starters, or if you rather make contact with me, please do so at: lasleywes@gmail.com. Thank you for your time, and I hope I am fortunate to hear back from you.