Home Care Franchise Owner Stories

What influenced me to go into the home care industry was that I was a paramedic for many years and I saw a great need in my community full of seniors. I was going into assisted living facilities seeing how people were treated and I thought there had to be a better way to keep seniors at home. None of these people were happy in assisted living and there’s a statistic that 91% of seniors want to stay in their homes. Seeing this need, I got into the home care industry so I could help the community.

Nurse Next Door differentiates themselves because it’s not your typical home health care company – there’s 120 of them in my area but I’m the only one who’s a concierge home health care company meaning that we’re a one-stop shop. We have everything you need from companion caregivers all the way to registered nurses. You don’t just get home care with us, you get a new friend.

A franchise for us is a great path because you have the model set-up before you even begin so there are systems in place that allow you to find success. If you had to do all of this on your own, you’d struggle for a long time. It would cost a lot of money, time and you’ve got nowhere to turn to when you have some struggles. With a franchise, you may struggle a bit or have some questions but you always have resources to turn to get some help.

The support was immaculate. You never feel like you’re flying alone. It’s just a phone call away for whatever question you have and you get an answer right away. The training was amazing as I didn’t know anything about home care when we first started so I was unsure how everything would work. Once we had the training, I felt very confident to go out and start my business with back-up and tools I needed.

The Care Services Center has benefited us greatly as it’s a 24/7 service. We can’t possibly work 24/7 because we need sleep. The Care Services Center doesn’t sleep. They’re answering phones, putting out fires and re-scheduling when things need to be done. I cannot say enough about the Care Services Center. I absolutely adore every single person that I’ve ever come in contact with. They are so caring, diligent and experts at everything that they do. Recently, I just had them take over our intakes and as soon as they started doing them, things moved quickly and we’ve gotten more business and consults.

We decided to go into business for ourselves because we were struggling with our own family needing care. David’s parents needed home care and we were having a hard time finding a solution for them. Unfortunately, Nurse Next Door wasn’t around at that time so when we discovered the company, it was an easy fit. We knew we needed to help and expand care to Mississauga.

The biggest advice I would give to those considering a Nurse Next Door franchise is that you are an entrepreneur and you have to go into it full force. It’s not a thing you can take lightly and you’re on it all the time. Look at your family life, look at how many hours you’d like to be involved, make sure this wonderful system fits, make sure you can manage the hours, speak to other franchisees and learn from others and make it your own. There’s a lot of hard work but the hard work pays off in self-satisfaction, reputation you gain in the community and appreciation from clients.

I decided to go into business for myself because my husband, who is entrepreneurial in nature, thought this was a business we could be really passionate about. Serving on a hospital unit, it became really apparent that you really couldn’t put the caring into health care and the power to affect change is what really resonated with this brand.

Building a successful quality business is by far the most satisfying to me. To see income come in because of something you’re doing that also benefits the community is powerful. Seeing our caregivers and Care Designers do what they love to do and giving people the opportunity to stay at home is pretty awesome.

An unexpected challenge about being a franchise partner or business owner in general is how much things change so quickly and how you have to be prepared for that. Nurse Next Door is the best at preparing you for this as they provide you with a warning, training and hand to hold during that change. Every day there seems to be something new and different but as scary as it is, I know that Nurse Next Door has my back.

I would tell someone to definitely consider a Nurse Next Door franchise because everything is from the heart. It’s very real and you’re making a huge difference in your community. At the same time, I would also prepare them. Home care is not easy but if you’re going to do home care, you should do Nurse Next Door.

Going at it alone, there’s a lot more hurdles. With a Nurse Next Door franchise, you have support and the benefit from HeartQuarters and Corporate office. You also have the camaraderie and learnings from other franchisees. I think that’s really important for the community to have home care with consistent back-up and support.

My favourite thing about being a Nurse Next Door franchise partner is the flexibility, accountability and responsibility to make lives better because we can and we do every day. There’s a lack of bureaucracy and ability to turn things over in a short period of time which is what people truly need to stay safe in their own homes. You can make a decision to change what you’re doing with feedback whereas in a bureaucratic situation it can take up to 18 months to make a simple change.