"Starting A
Non-Medical Home Care Business
is fun, easy and rewarding"...
It is a little known fact that Non-Medical
Home Care is one of the fastest growing businesses in the United
States!
Every year, millions upon millions of dollars are spent on Non-Medical
Home Care. Don t you think it is time to act instead of dreaming of
owning
a Home Care Business?
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. Annual expenditures for home health care are projected to be
$48.3
billion in 2007. 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.
Author-Bio:
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. Webmasters and other article
publishers
are hereby granted article reproduction permission as long as this
article
in its entirety, author's information, and any links remain intact.
Copyright
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.
