How to Start a Non-Medical Home Care Business 1-2-3
Hot Business: Non-Medical Home Care
Home care in the United States is a diverse and dynamic service industry. Approximately 20,000 providers
deliver home care services to 7.6 million individuals who require services because of acute illness, long-term
health conditions, permanent disability, or terminal illness.
Home care is a broad term that describes a wide variety of health related services provided in the home
setting. Home care is health care brought to your home to maintain or restore your health and well-being.
Growth Trends in the industry
Seniors are one of the fastest growing population groups in the United States. The senior population has
grown about twice as fast as the overall population since the early 1980s. The growth is also expected to
continue early in the second decade of the new century when baby boomers turn 65.
Seniors aged 85 and over are the fastest growing segment of the overall senior population. Consequently, the
demand for Non Medical Home Care services is also growing. It is listed as one of the fastest growing
occupations by the U.S. Labor Department. According to AARP, as Americans age, most will remain in their own
homes. Nearly 7 out of 10 older Americans own their own residence and most have no plans to move.
As a result, fewer seniors are getting the help they need with simple daily functioning. For example, in
1990, 80 percent of seniors needing help to prepare their meals reported that someone was available to help
them; by 2001, that had dropped to just 60 percent, according to the National Council on Aging.
Overall, from 1988 to 2001 there was a significant decrease in the number of seniors who reported that they
had spouses, relatives, friends or neighbors to provide personal care or assistance. Today, an ever-increasing
senior population has fewer resources available to help them with the daily tasks of living. At the same time,
older adults have longer life expectancies than ever before.
Leading Psychologists believe by seniors remaining in their own homes, they can retain an important sense of
independence. It is also psychologically beneficial for older seniors to remain in familiar surroundings. While
their well-meaning children may wish to put them in a retirement home, the fact is that forced relocation can
cause some seniors to feel disoriented, depressed and confused.
Remaining as independent as possible can boost a senior's overall sense of well-being. Staying in their own
home is, in most cases, far more preferable (as well as less costly) than relocating to an assisted living
facility. It gives them a sense of empowerment, and allows them to retain close friendships with neighbors.
The Business Opportunity
Until recently, however, few choices were available to healthy seniors who wished to remain in their homes.
Most health businesses only offered Medical Home Care. This can be extremely costly, since most professionals
must be registered nurses or nurses’ assistants. In addition, they may balk at performing light housekeeping
tasks.
Finally, they rarely have the opportunity to build long relationships with their clients. Often a different
professional appears every week, which is disorienting to seniors and prevents establishing a bond with their
caregiver.
Your business, Non-medical Home Care, in contrast, is designed to help the older adult with the tasks of
everyday living. Non-medical caregivers do not assist with medical procedures, and since they are not
registered nurses or medical personnel, their hourly rate is not as high. They also offer the opportunity for
steady companionship, as they are generally assigned to specific clients on a long-term basis, enabling a
friendship to grow.
These caregivers can help seniors maintain their independence by taking over the daily tasks that become
increasingly difficult with age. They can take the client grocery shopping or to the bank, prepare meals, do
light housekeeping and provide daily conversation and companionship. Non-medical caregivers represent a rapidly
growing trend to allow people needing help to remain in their home or in the community.
Getting Started!
Barriers to entering the Non Medical Home Care business are relatively low. While potential profits are
medium to high. Your success depends upon many variables: your marketing efforts, your start up budget, the
demographics of your area, just to name a few critical attributes. In most states no formal training is
required to provide Non Medical Home Care services.
It is important to check with your state-licensing agency concerning the appropriate license for the
services you will offer. Not all Non-Medical Home Care agencies can perform personal care services without a
licensed.
As with all business, as the business owner, you must have exception drive and motivation. In addition, your
customers will expect your business to be punctual and trustworthy. Whether you plan to provide the services
yourself or hire employees, these are key business characteristics that cannot be overlooked.
The start up cost for your home care business depends on how you define your business scope. The cost can
range from low to medium-high. Some business owners have started their Non Medical Home Care business with as
little as a thousand dollars to as much as five hundred thousand dollars.
If you are interested in starting a Non Medical Home Care business you have two options. You can choose to
start your business on your own or your join forces with a Non Medical Home Care franchise.
If you choose to start your home care business on your own there is a diverse amount of information
available online and in bookstores that can help you achieve your goal of establishing a profitable home care
business. You can find general business startup information ranging from how to raise capital, how to establish
your business plan, to Home Care Guides specific to the Home Care industry. These guides can provide you with
the critical information you need to get started.
There are pro’s and con’s to each start up option. The benefits to starting on your own are lower cost, ease
of entry, and no franchise fees. The downside is you won’t have the on-going guidance of the franchisor to
steer you around problems and pitfalls.
If you decided go the franchise route you will benefit from the well-established plans of the franchisor.
Many of the mistakes and pitfalls that you may face by starting on your own will already have mitigating
solutions. The downside is that you can expect a higher start-up cost in addition to a recurring royalty cost
of 4 to 10 percent. Furthermore, the market area where you would like to operate your business may not be
available.
In the end, Non-Medical Home Care is an option that allows the senior to remain in the home without feeling
overwhelmed. The senior receives the assistance and companionship required, the family enjoys peace of mind
that a beloved parent, aunt or uncle is not struggling with the simple tasks of everyday living and you get the
opportunity to start one of the fastest growing business that will continue to grow well into the future. It is
a "win-win" situation for all.
Blake Williams is the founder of SmallBizGuides.com and a multifaceted business management expert, speaker,
and author. His typical topics include careers, start-ups, small business marketing, and project management.
Copyright 2005 by Blake Williams Media Group, You can purchase his e-book “How to Start and Run a Successful
Non Medical Home Care Business” at http://www.smallbizguides.com Contact Blake at postmaster@smallbizguides.com.
Home Care Forms and Templates
Home Care Templates Get the forms you need to start and run your home care business.
Over 100 full customizable forms that you can download and print straight from the internet. Customer
relationship and care forms, privacy policy and code of conduct manual, sample business letters, human
resource forms, employee training materials are some of the documents included.
MyOnlineMedForms.com also provides custom forms for home care businesses. They have
business manuals, medication profile forms, nursing evaluation, plan of care forms, consent for care, rights
and responsibility templates, Oasis forms and more - downloadable individually.
Home Care Business Plans
Adult Day Care Business
Plan
An adult day care is a non-residential facility which provides activities for elderly people. It is a
community-based program that can provide a variety of health, social and support-related services. This care
service is ideal for elderly people who would benefit from regular socialization. You can use this Adult Day
Care business plan template to help you get this home care business started.
For local licensing and permit requirements in your area, state tax forms and business name registration
instructions, contact your local county government office. Each state has it's own business requirements -
which can vary sometimes by county or city. You can use this list of state-by-state business resources to find the information specifically for your
state and local area, including phone numbers and other contact information.
If you want more information on nursing education, nursing networking sites, home care business plans, home
health care equipment and supply resources >> how to start a home health care
business,
