Senior Home Care Franchises - Why I Chose to be an Independent

There is nothing inherently wrong with any of the senior home care franchises. Not surprisingly, I seriously investigated several national franchises before I opened Comforting Home Care. They did offer a head start on marketing and advertising and they certainly had some good accounting tools. I'm a professional nurse, and, frankly, I was more concerned about providing care and less interested in the "business" of home care so these franchises seemed like a good way to get started.



However, as I continued to investigate these corporations and talked to the people trying to sell me their franchises, I realized that many of them were exactly that - sales people. The flashy web sites and sales literature gave the appearance of compassion, but the documents and the conversations were all about money - there was very little about people at all. Every one of them seemed to be trying to "sell me a business system" that anyone with half a brain could simply follow and be successful. Every system claimed that it was simple and that success was practically guaranteed. In fact, not one of them seemed to care if you had any nursing experience at all. Everything was about making money; actually providing care seemed like it was just a necessary chore - like emptying the trash - that required no experience or skill whatsoever.

After all, these franchises were willing to accept anyone - the butcher, the baker, or the candlestick maker - and they didn't even care if you actually operated the business! (I'm still amazed by this. Search the internet and see how many franchise owners have zero health care experience.) One franchise salesman asked me if I wanted to be an absentee owner. Really??? There is nothing "absentee" about health care, and no place that it's more important than in the intimate setting of providing personal care in someone's home. It was bad enough that most of the franchise owners had no health care experience; this one company didn't mind if the owner wasn't even involved!

To be fair, I am not saying that all of the senior home care franchise companies are bad. Some of them are run by medical professionals with the knowledge and experience that it takes to care for people. I have the utmost respect for these exceptional companies. But, regardless of the nice TV commercials, the quality of each varies from franchise to franchise. That's why we've seen 2 franchises go out of business recently and 2 other senior home care businesses are for sale in the Lehigh Valley.

I've been running Comforting Home Care for several years now and I'm glad that we're independent. It probably took us longer to get established, but I know that we're completely focused on providing care. I know that because I meet every client, I meet every Caregiver, I review every Plan of Care, and I make sure that every client gets the quality care they deserve.

I've dedicated over 25 years caring for others because I'm passionate about quality nursing care. It takes experience, compassion, sacrifice, and hard work - something none of the franchise models seemed to offer.