Many prospective home care business owners need clarification about buying a home care franchise or a home care business. But, little do they know that this decision is less crucial than they think; instead, profitability must be at the forefront of all their business decisions.
They’re investing their time and resources, so they must optimize returns on their efforts.
Running a non-medical home care business can be a really rewarding endeavor. However, the financial results depend on the amount of time you put into your business at the end of the day.
Fortunately, the costs of establishing a home care agency aren’t high owing to the manageable overhead costs.
All that’s needed is the right home care software to help you manage clients and staff. A franchise partner, on the other hand, offers a solid customer relationship management system.
Regardless of the case, you’ll want to increase your home care business income and plan for recession-resilient success. A non-medical home care business is needed to assist with Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) like cooking, shopping, socializing, companionship, and more, which makes having a home care agency necessary.
The home care industry in North America is expanding rapidly, especially due to the ever-increasing population of baby boomers who need home care services. Not to mention, seniors significantly prefer aging in the comforts of their homes instead of living in a nursing home.
As per industry reports, the average profit margin for non-medical home care businesses is around 30 and 40%. The national average rate for at-home non-medical care is about $27, so you could make up to $50,000 per year or more – depending on how much you charge for your services.
As the market expands with 10,000 seniors every day, running a non-medical home care business can be very profitable. However, the profitability of the business depends on certain factors, like the services you are providing, your hourly rate of care, and also your business expenses.
The market size value of the home care market in 2020 was valued at 303.6 billion USD. The revenue for 2027 is forecasted at 515.6 billion USD.
– Grand View Research
As years go by, demographics are changing at a rapid rate. On an estimation, approximately 55% of Americans would need reasonable long-term care, while 25% would require long-term care in upcoming years.
Home care agencies’ opportunity to succeed has never been more prominent because of this increased demand. Statistics show that the demand will only rise further in the future.
With such a bright future in the home care industry, more people will need more care, meaning more profit for the home care business. If you, as a home care business leader, want to boost your profits, here are some strategies you can adopt to give your business the boost it requires. Let’s dive deep to know more:
Customer acquisition is a critical part of any business, without which a business is just a shell. However, the real question is- how do businesses gain more customers?
The answer is Marketing, which helps businesses get noticed by the right people, making offerings attractive compared to the competition. Marketing involves having a webpage for displaying your business’s prices and services. It involves getting your customer reviews, as reviews are equivalent to word-of-mouth marketing. Building and using email lists offers clients new discounts, which promotes referrals by giving some incentives.
Chances are excellent for home care agencies to opt for old-fashioned ways of acquiring customers, like flyers and establishing strategic partnerships with insurance companies, care homes, and more, which also bring huge business profits.
The elderly and their families plan ahead of time to ensure that they pay for in-home care services for themselves and their loved ones. The key to earning more income next year is making private pay a primary source of revenue.
Private pay clients pay out of pocket for home care services. For better profits, getting these clients through the door as fast as possible is wise.
The best way of attracting potential clients is through referrals. While building these may take some time, opening up a franchise may solve the purpose.
Outsourcing staff is a unique way of earning extra profits in the succeeding year while ensuring you are well-rested in the startup phase. With surplus caregivers and skilled team members, you can leverage team members for additional revenue.
To facilitate this, as a home care agency, you will be saved from the managerial headache of scheduling staff or partnering right caregivers for the client.
Referrals are more than one size-all approach to home care referrals. Each home care business is unique and employs its own referral system that works best for them.
Many home care agencies incentivize clients to refer others by creating customized referral programs. Asking for current or past clientele referrals can be an effective way to get new clients.
As per a report, friends and family remain a popular source of trust in brands. Providing top-notch services and incentives to your customers helps refer your services to their friends and family.
There are a million caregivers, and the market isn’t yet saturated- all thanks to the ever-growing caregiver growth in the US. However, due to the nature of the job, some caregivers tend to feel that they need to be more spread owing to the variety of clients they cater to, which is why they may consider withdrawing from this career.
Replacing non-medical in-home caregivers is very expensive, so retaining existing caregivers is a must. You can converse continuously with caregivers and indulge in training sessions to ensure they provide the right service while keeping open communication channels and clear expectations.
Once you have a customer base, make sure to retain them. You can do this by asking for feedback-whether individually or through surveys. Another option to retain existing customers is offering them attractive discounts to veer off the competition.
Every home care agency needs great branding to attract more customers. Clients are deterred without a strong brand image, making them go elsewhere. A benefit to home care franchises is that strong branding already exists, making life much easier.
As a private home care business, building a brand from scratch may take months, leave alone spreading the word in the community. As a home care business owner, all you have to do is strengthen your branding efforts and implement forward-thinking ideas that lead the industry.
Caregivers are the heart and soul of the home care business and industry, bringing valuable service to clients. Agency owners must take care of their caregivers through apt training, benefits, incentives, and fair compensation to gain happy clients.
With happy caregivers and staff, companies can thrive.
The Bottom Line
Starting and growing a home care agency will be one of the most rewarding things to do with your time. It’s a business and makes sense only when you’re running it profitably.
Suppose you feel you’ve reached a threshold when gaining more clients. In that case, it’s time to employ the above mentioned strategies to ensure you’ve acquired new clients, keeping existing ones happy and bringing revenue to your business.
Our users reported 95% customer satisfaction in 2023. Schedule a personal walkthrough to see CareSmartz360 in action.