We understand, that as a home health care entrepreneur, you want to scale and grow your business over time.
Whether you’re an established business, just starting, or simply looking at opportunities in the home health care space, here are five ways you can grow your business in 2023!
The Home Care Industry is Rapidly Expanding
In Australia, the home care industry is expanding at a rapid pace across both the aged care and disability sectors.
Approximately 4.2 million Australians are over the age of 65 and 7 out of 10 would prefer to stay at home as they age. Similarly, 4.4 million Australians are living with a disability with 40% needing assistance from formal providers.
By 2066 it is projected that the number of people over the age of 65 will reach 11.2 million. Similarly, as the population grows it is also projected that the number of people living with disabilities will increase to 7.8 million.
Despite the demand for assistance in an ever-growing demographic, there are still not enough home care service providers to meet everyone’s needs which is why starting a business in the home health care industry is not only a great opportunity but one that can positively impact many Australians.
Nurse Next Door’s own successful growth is a testament to this demand from Australians who require some level of care. Nurse Next Door Australia has rapidly grown to a total of 41 locations since 2020. As a result of this growth, Nurse Next Door has been able to deliver over 400,000 hours of care within local communities in 2022.
There is no better time for business owners to leap in 2023 and get their own home care businesses set up to get ahead of the booming demand. More people needing home health care means more profit for your home health care businesses.
5 Ways to Grow your Home Care Business
Taking a holistic approach to growing your business, building your customer base and increasing your revenue can help ensure you continue to run a financially sustainable business as more competition enters the market.
Here are 5 ways to grow your revenue and ensure you stay ahead of the race!
Build a Strong Brand Presence
A positive and well-trusted brand image will not only attract more customers but also help retain current clients for longer and increase the likelihood of customer referrals (word of mouth).
Without a strong brand, client loyalty may be affected and people are more likely to go elsewhere to brands that may have a stronger presence and influence with the local community; this is known as ‘brand switching’.
Partnering up with a home care franchise that already has a solid reputation and presence within the industry can help attract more customers in new local markets because people are already familiar with the brand and are aware of its reputation. This means locals are more likely to build trust much quicker compared to a completely new brand that has no awareness or reputation.
As a private home care business owner, creating a brand and building trust with consumers from the ground up can take months, if not years, of work to establish, let alone spread the word in the community.
Nurse Next Door has been a well-established brand since 2001 in North America and has already got a very strong presence in Australia. People recognise our bold pink branding, attracting many customers across the nation.
When buying a Nurse Next Door home care franchise, you gain instant access to a proven business model and brand, with systems and processes already developed through years of trial and error.
Maintain a Positive Work Culture
Cultivating a positive atmosphere where employees feel respected and important, can create many benefits but ultimately it results in happier and more productive staff.
Working with vulnerable people can be a tough but rewarding job which is why it is so important to ensure each person in your team continues to feel valued and cared for. A strong and positive culture will encourage and inspire your staff to continue to go above and beyond for clients providing those true WOW Customer Experiences.
Happier Teams = Happier Customers
Caregivers and nurses are the heart of what Nurse Next Door does. Our bold pink team are out on the frontline every day delivering WOW Customer Experiences to our clients. This is why it’s so important for any business owner to continue maintaining a strong work culture through ongoing training programs, incentives, and other benefits.
Listed as a 2023 Great Place to Work, 91% of our caregivers and nurses say that Nurse Next Door is a great place to work compared to 56% of employees at a typical Australia-based company. Some of the feedback our staff have given us include:
- 97% feel good about the way they contribute to the community
- 96% feel welcome to the team when they first join us
- 95% are proud to tell others they work with us
- 93% feel their job has a special meaning
Our teams and clients both mean the world to us. We look for talented caregivers and nurses who are genuinely passionate about what they’re doing and willing to go that extra mile to ensure the happiness, health and safety of every individual client. This quality of service as a reulst of happy staff will also continue to help build that strong brand and as a result increase both customer loyalty and referrals.
Diversify Revenue Streams
Diversifying your revenue streams can help provide financial stability for your company and reduce business risks as you are not relying on a single revenue stream. Some ways to diversify your revenue as a home care business can include:
Third-Party Payers
The definition of a third-party payer is “any entity that provides insurance, medical service, or health plan by contract or agreement. It includes but is not limited to: (1) State and local governments that provide plans other than Medicaid. (2) Insurance company or carriers.”.
In Australia several third-party payers commonly contribute to your bottom line for in-home care services:
National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS)
The NDIS is a form of Government funding that provides reasonable and necessary support for people living with a lifelong disability.
Home Care Packages
The Government Funded Home Care Packages program provides eligible recipients with flexible funding to help finance their home care services.
Insurance
Some insurance plans will cover some or all of the costs of in-home care.
Private Pay Clients
Private pay clients are people who pay out of pocket for healthcare services and are a common revenue stream many home health care businesses utilise. Most clients and their families will often plan to ensure they can pay for in-home care services when the time comes.
Outsource Your Staff
When you have a surplus of caregivers and/or skilled team members, you may be able to leverage your team to staff hospitals and other facilities for additional revenue.
Build Referrals with Health Professionals
One of the best ways to attract potential clients for your home health care business is through building a database of professional referrals including:
- Hospitals
- General Practitioners
- Support Coordinators
- Pharmacists
- Physiotherapists and more
Referrals always take some time to build, but opening up a franchise is the best way to do so. At Nurse Next Door, we already have a presence and influence with many allied health professionals in the healthcare industry and continue to help our Franchise Partners build on these relationships to help drive more consumers and overall increase revenue.
Utilise ‘Google My Business’
Get your home health care agency or company listed on Google My Business.
Listing your business on Google is free of charge and allows you to be noticed by new customers in your local community through Local Search and the Map Pack (a section in Google local search results that showcases the top-ranking local listings for the searched location).
Listing your business on Google My Business can help drive online traffic to your business and allow your customers to review your customer experiences in the Google Review section which, for many, is perceived as a trusted source for genuine reviews from real users.
Are You Ready to Build a Home Care Business with Heart?
If you want to enter the home health care industry and truly make an impact in the lives of Australians it is always good to research your options and understand how you can best set your home care business up for success.
Franchising is one of the easiest ways to start, and opening a franchise with Nurse Next Door Home Care Services presents you with not only a unique business opportunity but a wide range of other benefits.
Many people have already made the bold move to launch a Nurse Next Door Franchise and have built a business with heart while also experiencing first-hand the benefits of a business that provides financial stability and quality care that is truly Making Lives Better.
With a core purpose of Making Lives Better®, Nurse Next Door, 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.
