While owning a business comes with risks regardless of the industry, buying a home care business can dramatically increase the odds of becoming a successful business owner. That said, it is important to be clear – there is no secret to success. Tenacity, optimism and an ability to hustle are common markers of someone with a strong entrepreneurial spirit and are just some of the characteristics successful Nurse Next Door franchise partners have.
Over 13 years of building a global home care company recognised for its world class systems and award winning culture, we’ve seen our share of successful franchise partners. In this article, we’ve identified five characteristics of successful franchise partners, and business owners everywhere. Five characteristics that will help you answer the question: is buying a home care business right for me?
1. They Start With Why
You can’t go past Simon Sinek’s 2009 Ted Talk ‘How Great Leaders Inspire Action’ to best understand the first of the five characteristics of great business leaders. It is the ability to know not just WHAT you do, or HOW you do it, but to be clear on WHY you do what you do.
With the core purpose of Making Lives Better, successful Nurse Next Door franchise partners align with our WHY and the idea that we can truly making a difference in the lives of others.
If, on the other hand, you’ve heard that the home care market is “recession proof” and you’re looking for an easy way to run a profitable franchise, we firmly believe that home care is NOT for you. A home care business is equal parts passion and profit, so whilst it’s true that, as an essential service, a home care business is likely to weather most storms, success is less likely if you are simply looking to make a quick profit.
Whether you’re dealing with clients, their families, employees, business partners, suppliers or members of the local community, having a passion for why you do what you do will go a long way.
2. They Have An Ability To Hustle
Among other things, the COVID-9 worldwide pandemic raised the idea of pivoting, and the ability of some business owners to quickly shift their business offering in order to survive, and in some cases to thrive, in a difficult environment. Successful business owners don’t wait for an opportunity, they seek it out and make it happen.
Hustling is about having a laser-focus, 24/7 and an ability to identify your bold goals then eat, sleep and breathe them until you succeed. You know that opportunity is out there and you’re constantly looking for ways to grow and to learn. We call it ‘finding a better way’ and it’s important enough to be one of our four core values and something we know helps our franchise partners build a successful business.
Successful business owners aren’t afraid to take risks, no matter the odds, and they aren’t afraid to admit when they fail. Hustling is about grit and determination and the idea that failure is not to be feared.
As Abraham Lincoln said: “Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle”. So you need to ask yourself, are you prepared to hustle?
3. They Hire Great People
Every successful business owner knows they have to hire great people. Without the right people around you, your business simply won’t thrive. Critical to the success of any business, it’s especially true when it comes to operating a successful home care franchise.
That’s why one of the five characteristics you’ll have will be a determination to develop strong people skills and a commitment to recruiting and retaining a team who can provide services in a way that supports your brand and delivers on your core purpose. It’s a constant rhythm of recruiting for growth and ensuring you have the right team in place to support you as you scale and build your business. A team that generates such positive word of mouth about your business’s incredible professionalism, reliability and commitment to every single client that your business grows exponentially.
We know that successful business owners admire their people – we call it our ‘people promise’ and we see our successful franchise partners constantly looking for opportunities to provide their employees with long-term opportunities to grow and develop their own skills. At Nurse Next Door our successful franchise partners recognise that caregiving is a career and place a focus on making sure that their employees understand the value they add to the success of the business.
4. They Are Committed to Public Relations
Too often business owners get stuck looking at the numbers or servicing existing clients, paying little attention to the need to continuously position and promote themselves in their market.
Successful business owners understand that an important part of any business is a consistent commitment to strategically planning opportunities to promote the business, whether they are taking a call from a prospective client, interviewing a new employee or playing a round of golf with their friends. Paul Dunn, 4 x TEDex presenter and Senior Fellow of one of the world’s leading think tanks, refers to this as “the huge power of small”, and an ability to identify those small moments that provide big opportunities to connect with your audience.
Successful business owners are never “too busy” to plan and implement their marketing strategy, valuing the opportunity to communicate with potential customers.
5. They Focus on Customer Experience
Finally, we know that achieving success as a home care franchise owner is about focusing on the customer experience which is why one of Nurse Next Door’s four core values is a commitment to ‘WOW Customer Experience’ – ‘good’ just won’t do.
Seventy five percent of Nurse Next Door franchise partners don’t have a medical background. 100 percent are committed to exceeding the expectations of their clients and their families, and it’s this attitude to providing the highest-quality care and service that sets successful home care business owners apart from other providers in the market.
Delivering a WOW customer experience means responding to calls and emails promptly, communicating in a clear, pleasant manner and addressing any complaints or concerns with compassion. Operating a home care franchise means working closely with vulnerable people and their loved ones, giving them peace of mind that home is the safest place to be – it’s all part of providing the WOW Customer Experience, every time, that lets you go above and beyond basic caregiving and genuinely makes a difference in your clients’ lives.
Owning a Nurse Next Door franchise gives business owners the opportunity to combine both profit and purpose to build a business with heart. Our franchise partners are motivated, passionate people who have the confidence to drive around in a bold pink car, enthusiastically embody our brand values and are genuinely passionate about making lives better. We partner with bold business owners who share our commitment to disrupting the home care industry and believe that ageing should be celebrated.
It’s an exciting time in the home care industry and the future is bright. If you want to do your part in Making Lives Better and sign up for the opportunity and responsibility that comes with owning your own home care franchise, we want to hear from you.
With a core purpose of Making Lives Better, Nurse Next Door Home Care Services, under the leadership of Melbourne based Master Franchisors Matt Fitton and Amber Biesse, provides in-home aged care and disability support services built on our philosophy of Happier Ageing® focusing on possibility rather than disability.
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