5 Ways to Make Your Senior Care Franchise a Successful Family Business

By its very nature, the in-home care industry is family-oriented. For example, when family members are looking for support for an aging or disabled loved one, the entire family is usually involved in the decision-making.

Similarly, when an entrepreneur considers a senior care franchise opportunity, it can become a family affair, as this career shift is likely to affect everyone financially. In fact, there are 5.5 million family-owned businesses in the United States, according to the Family Business Alliance.

When families are seriously thinking about a senior care franchise, there are five tips our team at Homewatch CareGivers® believes can help make the process easier for everyone.

1. Separate Professional and Personal Lives

Almost nothing can put a wrench in a personal relationship faster than combining it with a professional one. As co-workers and family, it’s important to separate your senior care franchise life from home life. A few things you can do to keep your business from dominating your relationship include:

• Set specific work hours and make sure everyone sticks to those hours
• Stop discussing business-related topics after work hours are over
• Designate time to focus on your family relationships and spend quality time with loved ones

It’s inevitable that when you first open your senior care franchise that you’ll talk about business nonstop and not even realize you’re doing it. However, you must be cognizant when you slip into franchisee mode to maintain healthy and productive relationships in your personal and professional lives.

2. Assign Specific Responsibilities

Everyone has particular strengths when it comes to business ownership. Some people are natural-born leaders, others are detailed decision-makers, and many have a passion for problem-solving. When you and your relatives can tap into these strengths to serve your senior care franchise, you’ll add much-needed balance to the business.

As your business grows and you’re going through the training process, you and your family members need to designate specific roles and responsibilities based on formal education and personality traits. Not only will these designations help other non-related staff members know who to consult when they have particular issues within the business, but they will help keep everyone accountable.

3. Discuss Goals and Ensure They Align

It’s never a good idea to assume that you share the same hopes, dreams, and ideologies about owning a business just because you’re related to someone. Before you sign your franchise agreement, you and your family members should talk about goals for your franchise business—and not just the financial ones. Sure, everyone wants to make money and be successful. But what are some of your short-term and long-term goals for your business overall? For example, do you want to provide more in-home care options for families like yours? Do you want to keep your business small or expand to multiple locations? How many caregivers do you want to hire, and what are their expectations?

It’s vital to get on the same page about goals and aspirations for your senior care franchise, so there isn’t conflict later on down the road when cooperation is necessary to maintain successful operations. You don’t want to lose respect for your family member because you can’t adequately make decisions together or decide on achievable business goals. These disagreements can result in low morale and poor employee retention rates if non-related staff members see constant strife.

4. Make Sure All Family Members Are Committed to the Franchise

Many of the most successful business partnerships are born when every single person involved is committed to all aspects of the business. Having someone who is always taking steps to grow your franchise while other family members are less involved and aren’t contributing or showing a genuine interest can cause resentment. Even if one family member is more engaged in particular parts of the company than another, as long as everyone is devoted to seeing the business thrive, you’ll have no problem with success in the future.

Some ways to make sure everyone stays committed include:

• Have family members write down or sign a statement of commitment
• Check-in with loved ones periodically to gauge the level of commitment
• Once bi-monthly, remind staff of their commitment to the franchise

When all family members are consistently dedicated to business growth, it can attract potential investors and business partners and be used as a tool to help your in-home care franchise stand out from competitors in the industry.

5. Celebrate Successes Together

Life as a home care franchisee can be arduous and time-consuming when you’re just starting out. However, when you work hard, you also have the privilege of celebrating any and every achievement along the way. As an in-home care operator who partners with family, you should always recognize successes together because it can help strengthen bonds and truly bring everyone closer together.