The home care business is booming. You might think that this is because of the challenges of Covid-19, but this predates Covid-19. With an aging population, many developed nations, including the United States, have more and more older adults. Many of these older people have planned to live at home under the most dignified conditions possible. Medical advances mean that many people who suffer from previously fatal diseases live longer, often needing home care to manage their non-medical needs. This constellation of events represents a significant and growing addressable market for entrepreneurs who want to provide for the non-medical needs of the elderly within their homes.
The first thing to do is to get a license to start a home care business. Requirements vary from state to state, and sometimes requirements vary by cities within the same state. Licensing requirements may demand that you know right off the bat what kind of services you will be offering. Senior needs assistance; 24-hour home health care; transport services; supplying equipment and facilities to the elderly and Persons with Disabilities (PWD); technical support and assistance; and in-home care are the most typical forms of home care offered.
Senior needs assistance covers the daily needs of the elderly, such as doing their grocery shopping, taking them to see their doctor for regular appointments, doing their cooking, perhaps feeding them, among other tasks that the elderly need to be done on any given day.
24-hour home health care involves round-the-clock shifts to ensure that your client’s health care needs are met. Shifts are usually divided into two, with a caregiver assigned to each 12-hour shift. Your client need not be elderly; sometimes, these are disabled patients or patients who, for an extended period, need 24-hour health care. Each caregiver’s task is to ensure that the patient does not want for any of their health care needs.
It is also possible to offer transport services for your clients. Again, they need not be elderly. Many disabled and otherwise impaired people may find that they need transport services with some degree of regularity. You may need to buy a van or large car with wheelchair lifts and other essential equipment to provide such transport services.
Supplying equipment and facilities to the elderly and PWDs is another lucrative area that you might look into. Equipment needs are many. The elderly and PWDs often need non-slip mats, shower rails, stairlifts, walk-in showers, and other things. This is an exciting business if you are good with your hands and love to do small construction jobs at home.
A lot of the elderly have trouble with technology. If you are good with technology, you can offer them support to meet their tech needs. These needs may be IT-related, or involve tech support, or just assisting with technology.
In-home care involves helping your client with their daily needs and their more emotional needs, providing them with companionship, assistance, and care as they need it. You can either live with a single client or circulate among several clients to provide in-home care. In-home care is not always a substitute for the best elderly home care but done right; it can give a lot of relief for your client.
Start-up costs vary according to the kind of business you are building, as well as the legal structure of the business and the registration requirements of your state or city. There are more costs involved in a transport service than there are if your company provides in-home care. So, it is not possible to give a general figure. You have to research your business model to determine the typical costs of running such a business.
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