Keys to Starting a Successful Home Care Franchise

Keys to Starting a Successful Home Care Franchise

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Hello and welcome to CareSmartz360 On Air. I’m Dennis Gill, Senior Sales Consultant at CareSmartz360. Join us as we welcome Craig Dowling, Director of Franchise Development at Senior Helpers. With experience in the home care industry and a background in business expansion across North America, Craig brings a valuable perspective on what it takes to build and grow a successful home care franchise in Canada. So, in this episode, Craig shares insights into choosing the right franchise brand, first,

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avoiding common mistakes in the early stages of ownership and building a strong client base during the first year. We’ll also explore the role of franchisor training and ongoing support in long-term success, along with how Canada’s home care industry may evolve over the next five to ten years and what aspiring franchise owners should be prepared for. Welcome to the podcast, Craig. >> Beautiful. Thanks so much for the introduction, Dennis, and I appreciate you having me. >> Thank you. We are thankful you

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were able to take out the time today for all our listeners from all over the world where they are listening, and I hope they have a pretty fruitful and learning session, and we cover all the important aspects that we have discussed today. >> Fantastic. Looking forward to it. >> Perfect. So, without wasting any time, I’ll just straight away start with my first question for you, Craig. So, Craig, according to you, what are the most critical factors to consider when choosing the right homecare franchise

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brand? Yeah, such a good question, Dennis. It’s, um, it’s funny. I often get asked about this pretty much every day. Like, I’ve been franchising in North America for 10 years now, and all of that time spent in home care. >>> What I always say to individuals that come to and talk to me and ask me this question is, ‘I encourage you to look beyond the brand, like look beyond the logo and the brand recognition. ”You’re not just buying a name. Like at the end of the day, you’re

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investing in a business and you need to look at the long-term relationship that you’re going to have with a franchisor. And it’s funny, Peter Ross, our CEO, will often say when I talk to him, I’m going to tell you what you need to hear and maybe not what you want to hear. But, you know, with these businesses, it’s purpose and passion. Like, we are profit-mission-driven. mission-driven… driven… And home care—it’s it’s a beautiful business, and it’s a people business. And honestly, you genuinely need to care.

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about people, supporting families, and creating meaningful relationships. You’re going to be an incredible employer. Um, and you need to put your why first. So, whenever I talk to individuals, I want to know why. Um, because if it’s just about, you know, making profits and you look at the baby boomers, or by 2030, we’ll have more seniors than people under 18 for the first time ever, I think, um, it needs to be more than that. So when considering it, looking for a proven operating system is something.

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that I’d also add to that too. Like I mentioned, you know, go and talk with owners, go through the FDD, and talk to owners who’ve experienced the highs and the lows, the challenges, the wins, and the losses, and ultimately, you know, evaluate the franchisee because they’re going to be a key part to your success. Who are you getting into business with? What are their backgrounds in? Do they even have a healthcare background? Who’s my coach? What is my support? Um, you know, another great one as well is

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When you look at the brand, also get in and ask them the tough questions. Ask about the territory. Um, ask about financial requirements. Ask about what my royalties are, or, you know, some of the basic fees that are involved in a franchise. I think a lot of these are often overlooked, but I would really encourage you, like I said, not to just fall in love with the brand but to get into the nitty-gritty. Ask the tough questions because, like us at Senior Helpers, we have a 10-year franchise.

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agreement. Last time I saw that lasts longer than most marriages in North America today, right? So, you know, really do your due diligence on who you’re going to be married to for the next 10 years. You know, ask about franchise fees, all of that fun stuff, and really get an understanding of what this is. What is this? What’s the business going to be like? Because in home care, its purpose, people, and process. And you have to do your due diligence. like take your time when talking to these franchisers

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because the homecare market is very competitive in Canada. You know, you don’t have a lot of requirements to operate these businesses today right now. So, you know, it brings a lot of competition. A lot of the time I turn on the TV or the radio, and I hear of a new company coming up, and I’m based out of Vancouver, BC here. Um, so take that time to do the due diligence and really understand what that relationship is and make sure you have the expectations in place. >> Correct. Correct. So, discussing mainly

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we could say discussing all the minute details, every question that comes to your mind. So just to be clear about that. >> Yeah. No, absolutely. Like I said, validation is a really great way to hear what a day in life looks like. So, anyone talking or even looking at getting into any franchise, maybe not even just senior care, but go talk to existing owners, go visit a store, and ask about what training they provided before opening. Like for us, we make our owners go through 6 days.

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inversion training as well as 118 hours online. >> So, get into that. Like, ask, like before you opened, you know, ‘I’m not a nurse, and you don’t need healthcare experience,’ but were you, you know, did you feel like when you were going to open, like, this was going to be a hit? I loved the training that I got. I felt like I could call on my business coach anytime. Um, you know, would they make the same decision to buy the franchise again? I think yeah, like, really getting you know those that

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information to eliminate those fears to give you confidence in the business and the brand and the model that you’re buying. >> Um don’t leave any, uh, any stone unturned. >> Any stone unturned. Yeah. And just continuing with this, what are the most common mistakes new franchise owners make? You have discussed some, but how can they avoid them? >> Yeah, it’s interesting you asked for that one. I see it quite a lot, and you know I look at our system in

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particular. I’ve got registered nurses. I have people who own other franchises. One of my gentlemen used to be a professional soccer player. I have backgrounds and all different walks of life. And one thing that I always love to ask is, what’s your why? Because your why, if it’s purely monetary, >> you know, then maybe look at day trading, maybe flip houses or something in the stock market. Like, you know, you don’t need to get in and start putting people’s lives, you know, and getting

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into a people business. >> I often see the stumble, and I get asked this question even just this morning. I made a call with a couple in Ontario, and they said, “Where are you going to give me the clients?” And my response was, “If you find a franchise that will give you clients, let me know because I’ll probably invest with you.” It just doesn’t happen, right? You know, if the kids need a Happy Meal, I know I’m going to McDonald’s for that Happy.

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Meal, right? You know, it’s brand awareness, and I think often a common mistake people make is they think a franchise is going to give you, you know, the clients or the caregivers, you know, like a franchise gives you a very robust system and process and framework, and the owner still has got to get out and execute on that. You know, it’s like buying a gym membership. I’ve got, you know, the stairmaster or the treadmills, the weights. I have everything there to be successful. But if I don’t go to that gym every day and

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hit my fitness goals; it’s not the gym’s fault, you know, right? You have to get out of there. You have to make it happen. And often, I would say close to that, people often underestimate the sales role. Um, like this business, it’s so intimate. It’s so beautiful. It’s so trusting. But the clients are not just going to come to you. You know, you have to get out there and make the brand recognizable. You know, like, we have our owners get out there building referrals at

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hospitals. case managers, the transitional services team, retirement residents, and community organizations. It could be a mobile dog groomer as a referral for one of our stores here on NBC in particular. >>> Um, you got to get out and be the face of the business because the trust is earned in this business, right? >> > You must have the patience and the time to be persistent with your efforts. So, um, I think both of those come to mind for me. I think another one as well that I’d add to it, Dennis, is a

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lot of the owners in this business, or in most franchises, try to do everything themselves. >> Like when you buy a franchise, you’re responsible for recruiting. You’re responsible for answering the phone, cleaning the floors, and opening the store. >> We don’t do the owner operator. I want you to have two people full-time from day one. I want you to invest. You have 168 hours a week. >> These businesses do not turn off. You know, it’s not like a restaurant that I

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opens at 11 a.m. and closes later. >> > You have to be on call all around the clock, which is great. You can make money all around the clock, but you need to be responsive all around the clock. Like, if a visit with a client is starting at 7:00 a.m., that caregiver is calling in sick at 3 or 4:00 a.m. Someone’s got to answer that sick call. Otherwise, that client is going without care, right? So, you know, I think having the time to be able to delegate that, um, and really have that internal reflection on yourself is

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to, you know, with this business, when I look at my investment, I come into this and know that it’s not going to make immediate profits. You know, many businesses don’t even turn out a profit in their first year. They need to be patient with that. And for us, I don’t want you to cut corners on your investment when you come in. Come in and invest and put the right people in place to allow the business to grow and to scale. It’s not going to grow on scale if you don’t have the foundation. And

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and so, you know, you can’t sacrifice quality for growth like, you know, inconsistent communication with families or delivering poor service, or the caregiver is always calling off sick or just wasn’t the right fit for the business and how we train and operate. That’s going to result in that client going to a competitor and using other services. So, >> competitors, >> yeah, these things are often overlooked, but um >> yeah, it’s a sales business at

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the end of the day. It’s a people’s business. It’s a community business. So, you have to get out there, and you have to get out and provide exceptional service. And people often think the business is going to come to you. It isn’t. You got to get out. You have to get after it. You have to be a hunter. >> Correct. And I think the next question would be, “I think it would be getting it the most.” So, if you can share any key strategies for building a strong client base during the first year of operation.

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>> Really? Yeah, that’s a good one, too. My advice is that, you know, you’re not going to build a home care business if you’re waiting for the phone to ring. I was just on a validation call yesterday with Robert, one of our owners here in BC. He owns our Victoria franchise. And Robert said, “You’re kidding yourself if you think the phone is just going to ring.” >>> You got to get out in the community and give your community, the families, a

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reason to trust you. And so that’s what I want you to focus on. Like for us, like you two of our owners here in BC, they just opened their doors not even a week ago. They opened last Thursday. For those guys, they’re out there, and they’re in the community. They’re at board trade meetings. They’re involved in the Rotary Club. They’re in with the Lions Club. They do a lot of work with the school board and other voluntary organizations. For us, and in

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my opinion, you have to give back before you can take it from the community. So, getting out there, building a professional referral network, becoming visible locally, and, um, leading with education, I think is also another big piece. It gives you credibility, like every senior helper’s location; we require you to have a nurse in the office. That’s another thing. We have a physical office, and in every office, you have to have a nurse. And so, when you get out there, like every one of our locations has what we call a center of

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excellence. It’s a training center. Every caregiver for us has to go through 10 hours of training. That training center is also available to family members or loved ones, sons, and daughters who are taking care of this individual. So, to allow them to age in place. No one often teaches us these life skills and how to deal with this aging process and how fast some of these conditions can progress. You know, whether it be Alzheimer’s, dementia, Parkinson’s, or you name it. There’s no

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cure, right? So, the more that we can cross-train families to be able to take care of clients, you know, I think that’s a big piece of it as well and factoring that into a kind of marketing strategy. So, whether that’s a 30, 60, or 90-day plan, get really aligned with who you’re looking at building your pipeline because you have a great pipeline of sales to keep filling that funnel from the top down. We’ll help you with conversions and what to say, what to

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bring, what to do, but you have to get out there. Um, as well as that, you know, that’s on the client side; you also need to have a solid pipeline. So, we do a lot of work with colleges and universities that produce, you know, healthcare aides in BC and PSWs for our Ontario listeners. Um, those care aides are going to the client’s homes. We work a lot with colleges across Canada that are really feeding, you know, that pipeline of caregivers for us because the only reason we can’t accept the client into

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our business is if we don’t have the staff available. >> You know, it’s not like a care home. There’s no capacity on the number of homes we can be in at any one time. So, you’ve got to make sure that you’re constantly filling it, and it’s kind of chicken before the egg. How many caregivers should I have before clients? But >> if that phone rings and the client takes a fall now, suddenly, they need overnight care starting tonight at 11:00 p.m. >> can you look at your squad and say, you

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know, we got a choice of four caregivers. Who’s the best fit? >> You know, you need to always constantly be in that that state of recruitment. And you know, like I go back to, you’re not just going to build a business with clients if you don’t have the right product in the right place at the right time. And our product is people. So, you always have that bench. You always have to have that reserve always ticking over to be able to allow for whatever could happen or whatever

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phone call could come next. >> Perfect. Good to know that. Pretty knowledgeable for me too. And, uh, you have mostly answered my next question, but if anything, you want to add on that, like, how important is ongoing training and support from the franchiser in ensuring long-term success? >> Yeah. Um, I, for me, would say the initial training, like senior helpers in particular, to buy a franchise takes maybe 6 weeks. Often funding your franchise takes longer, from when you purchase the franchise to when you open.

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there’s about four to six months of time that must elapse in that period. >> We all of our owners have to go through 155 items on a checklist. And this is from a stationary checklist to even getting their business license located in an office space. >> So everything in between, like now, we’ve got 507 locations across three countries, about 26,000 staff. >> We’ve got it down. We know what we’re doing. So you have to trust in the process. And they’re guided through

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that process with a business coach who works with them weekly pre-launch and also post-launch. That’s included in the franchise. But unless you’re building the initial training foundation. So for us, it’s 6 days in person, 118 hours online, and that creates the foundation. But the business is only going to evolve. That gets them ready to launch. They need to get into that stage of eventually managing a larger team. Like some of our locations have 800-plus caregivers, >> you know, they have hundreds of clients

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Like, you know, this results in thousands of hours of care monthly. They need to be able to grow and scale as well. So, like, at the moment, we have a team of 20 business coaches, and they cannot be business coaches with senior helpers without having healthcare experience. So having that insight, I think, is really invaluable. They’re also joining a franchise. So, lean into your peer network; you know, go and visit a store before you’re opening, like we encourage that. go spend a day or

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you know, bring your caregivers that you’re going to open with, take them to, you know, the White Rock office, and do the training in person and hold a bigger training session there. So really leaning into that, a support network could be a WhatsApp group or could be teams, you know. There are lots of ways of communication, of course, but I think you really leverage the validators that you’ve spoken with prior to buying, you know, and having those relationships in franchising is truly critical, you know.

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because you have to be as strong as your neighbor. >> Yeah, perfectly sad. And finally, the last thing from my side, like, how do you see the home care industry evolving in Canada, and what should new franchise owners be prepared for in the next 5 to 10 years? >> Yeah. Yeah. I saw a statistic the other day. I kind of alluded to this earlier, that by 2030 you’ll have more seniors than people under 18 for pretty much the first time in history. And that’s quite alarming. Um, you know, you

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take a look at things going on, you know. I’m originally from Ireland. It’s going on across Australia. It’s going on across Canada, the United States, pretty much, you know, globally. You got this silver tsunami. You’ve got a whole lot of baby boomers who are going to need a lot of services. And, you know, it’s really interesting. I think that franchising and home care really play an integral part in Canada’s future and in what that looks like. Um, for each individual family, you know,

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It’s very different. You know, if I look at my parents, they’re 5,000 miles away from where I am in Vancouver today. If something were to happen to them, you know, I’d be looking at the support on a local level in the Irish system as to how people can, you know, be able to age in place >> of them. Yeah. >> Yeah. It’s so true. Like, um, I’m not too sure what the post was that I read, but you 96% of Canadians that want to stay and age in place, which is often

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at home, you know, so for that to happen, a lot of families need services that are flexible, you know, that can preserve that independence. And often people think of home care as a white trench coat and a clipboard, and we’re coming in to take away your independence. Whereas I think for us, the messaging is really creating that knowledge about aging and getting ahead of that conversation. For us, you know, we want to create more of a proactive approach >> to aging than a reactive approach.

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instead of getting the call to say we just had a fall, we’re getting discharged, we don’t know what to do, or where to turn. You know, we kind of want to bring that conversation more to light today. So, um I think getting out there and spreading awareness, having our physical office spaces, and really bringing that branding and invisible business to life will help with that. But it’s, uh, it’s definitely not slowing down. You know, families needing a lot more specialized and

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personal care. You’ve got, you know, even individuals in their 50s developing Parkinson’s and dementia or Alzheimer’s these days. >> > It is. It’s honestly, yeah, quite scary. And so, I think when you take a look at these families, you know, referral partners, and the healthcare systems, there’s a lot of stress, and you know, you often hear of systems being referred to as fractured and things like that. But I think when I look at any home care provider across

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Canada or even across the world today, you have to be adaptive to what realistic outcomes families are dealing with today. A lot of families want to stay at home, and families need peace of mind, >> you know, and I think that gives great opportunity for these home care businesses. No matter the brand there, there are so many incredible brands that are out there. Um, these businesses can thrive, but you need to be able to be producing quality care, give the consistency, and have those strong

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relationships in your community. Um, and I think that that comes down to, honestly, the role of a franchisor in setting these business owners and, more importantly, these families up for success, you know, because it’s not slowing down. It really isn’t. >> Great, great, great. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Craig, for all this valuable input. And I hope it really does help our listeners if they’re from Canada or anywhere in the world that are looking for a franchise.

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a partner. So what are the basic things that should be taken care of? And, uh, obviously, just look more into the details and ask the questions. Whatever thing comes to your mind, just feel free to ask; that would be the main thing. >> > Yeah, absolutely, you got it, Dennis. Yeah, like a good franchisee at the end of the day that they’ll help you to open the business, but a great franchisee is going to help you build it. So, get into it and ask those uncomfortable questions because only with more knowledge that you’re exposed to, people

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often think they need more time to make a decision on a business. In my opinion, >> you don’t need time; you need information, and the people who have that information are the franchiser or the other franchise owners that live and breathe it every day. So do your due diligence. But yeah, it’s an incredible business. Very meaningful, I have to say, when you do get to become a part of it. >> Perfect. And just to add one more thing, they don’t provide clients with franchises that you have to find.

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>> They don’t. But yeah, if you do, my friend, like I said, I’ve been franchising 10 years in Canada now. And if you find a franchiser that will give you clients or revenue, you give me a call and let me know because I’d love to talk to them personally. >> Surely, Charlie, Charlie. No, it was lovely talking to you, Craig. Lovely, lovely talking to you. And, uh, we hope to have more sessions with you in the future and more valuable inputs for our listeners at home. Thank you.

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>> Absolutely. Thanks so much, Dennis, and I appreciate everyone at CareSmartz360 reaching out, and yeah, we look forward to those future conversations and talking a little more about this space. Have a great day. >> You do. You do. Thank you again and thank you to all my listeners all over the world. I’ll be shortly back with you. This is Dennis Gill signing off.