1. 5
Mistakes
to
Avoid
When
You
Start
a
Home
Care
Business
You
have
to
ask
yourself
a
lot
of
questions
before
you
start
a
home
care
business.
How
much
money
does
it
take
to
get
up
and
running,
and
what
are
the
monthly
operating
costs?
What’s
the
market
size
and
who
are
my
competitors?
Which
services
should
I
offer?
Who
should
I
hire
and
how
should
I
hire
them?
The
list
of
questions
goes
on
and
on,
and
the
difference
between
success
and
failure
can
depend
on
getting
the
answers
right.
There
is
little
margin
for
error,
especially
in
this
increasingly
competitive
industry.
Most
home
care
agencies
don’t
fail
because
of
the
quality
of
their
services.
They
go
out
of
business
due
to
a
variety
of
operational
reasons,
which
inevitably
lead
to
revenue
and
cash
flow
problems.
In
other
words,
they
have
satisfied
customers
but
an
unsatisfactory
balance
sheet.
Home
Care
Startup
Mistakes
Before
you
start
a
home
care
business,
make
sure
you
put
all
the
right
pieces
in
place
to
give
you
the
best
chance
to
succeed.
Here
are
five
of
the
most
common
mistakes
agencies
make
and
how
to
avoid
them.
1.
Poor
Preparation
Creating
and
implementing
a
clear
strategy
is
critical
from
day
one,
and
it
starts
with
understanding
your
market.
You
have
to
perform
your
due
diligence
to
select
the
area
you’ll
serve,
get
to
know
the
needs
of
your
potential
customers,
and
develop
services
to
meet
those
needs.
You
also
need
to
perform
a
competitive
analysis
to
know
what
your
competitors
are
up
to
and
how
you
can
differentiate
your
services
from
theirs.
Then
you
can
start
creating
your
marketing
plan
to
determine
the
best
way
to
beat
your
competitors
to
your
ideal
customers.

2. 2.
Insufficient
Capital
Of
course,
preparing
to
start
a
home
care
business
also
includes
setting
aside
enough
capital.
The
last
thing
you
want
to
do
is
hamstring
your
agency
by
launching
it
with
insufficient
funds.
Generally
speaking,
home
care
agencies
need
at
least
$40,000
to
$60,000
to
get
started.
Non-­‐
Medicare
home
health
agencies
require
$60,000
to
$80,000,
and
Medicare
home
health
and
hospice
agencies
need
between
$150,000
and
$300,000.
3.
Sloppy
Operations
Starting
a
home
care
business
with
disorganized
and
inefficient
operations
is
a
recipe
for
disaster.
You’ll
find
yourself
burning
through
startup
cash
much
faster
if
you
haven’t
defined
and
setup
the
right
internal
systems.
These
include
everything
from
the
software
you
use
to
your
procedures
for
new
client
intake.
All
operational
areas
need
to
be
addressed
in
your
policy
and
procedure
manual
so
you
can
be
ready
for
every
challenge
your
business
throws
your
way.
4.
Hiring
the
Wrong
People
Ultimately,
the
quality
of
your
staff
will
make
or
break
your
home
care
agency.
Establishing—
and
following—strict
hiring
practices
from
the
very
beginning
is
paramount.
Create
well-­‐
defined
position
profiles
so
you
can
screen
out
candidates
who
aren’t
a
perfect
fit
for
office
staff
and
caregivers
in
the
field.
Recruiting
and
hiring
employees
without
thoroughly
assessing
their
experience,
skills,
and
passion
for
the
work
are
mistakes
agency
owners
usually
end
up
regretting.
5.
No
Tracking
System
Putting
your
agency
on
a
path
to
growth
means
carefully
measuring
your
progress
along
the
way.
Develop
dashboard
metrics
so
you
can
accurately
measure
all
of
the
factors
that
contribute
to
your
agency’s
performance.
Careful
tracking
also
enables
you
to
change
course
quickly
when
you
see
a
downturn
in
one
area
of
your
business.
Trying
to
start
a
home
care
business
without
a
plan
is
like
trying
to
build
a
house
without
a
foundation.
No
matter
how
much
money
you
invest
or
how
hard
you
try,
it’s
eventually
going
to
fall
down.
Make
sure
you
have
the
planning,
people,
and
processes
in
place
from
day
one
to
position
your
agency
for
success.
Whether
you
need
assistance
creating
your
strategic
plan
or
improving
your
existing
operations,
Kenyon
HomeCare
Consulting
can
help
take
your
agency
to
the
next
level.
Schedule
an
appointment
at
KenyonHCC.com
with
one
of
our
home
care
consultants
to
see
how.