I'd love (and greatly appreciate) some feedback/insight from the community on a new service I'm starting in the Wisconsin area.
I'm offering senior concierge (healthy meals, grocery shopping, prescription pick up & drop off, errands and more) and moving/relocation (packing, downsizing, selling of items, finding housing if needed, etc. & related coordination).
I know home health companies offer some of these services, but it feels like there's enough business and room in the market.
Are these services a need? Any here I didn't mention? Other thoughts?
Thank you!
Christina
There is a franchise, Carepatrol , look it up you might be interested in..
I wish your endeavor health !
If you're in a rural area, it is highly unlikely they can pay what you'd need to make per client in order to have a viable business (and not a charity).
Then there is the challenge of caregivers (families) purchasing your service for their senior LO with dementia or short-term memory loss. This quickly becomes a hot mess since their cognitive abilities are compromised and they may not cooperate. Elders often do not adjust to new things easily, therefore frustrating their families. Elders often start to forget how to operate home appliances, such as ovens and microwaves. So, will your meal delivery be ready-to-eat? That will require a lot of accurate scheduling. There are already plenty of home-delivered frozen meals by online companies. Many elders have special dietary needs, like for diabetes and high blood pressure. And there is the risk that comes with dropping off food for someone who has memory loss, leaves it out, it goes bad and they get sick. This is called liability.
Finding housing for seniors? Like Assisted Living? I don't know what you mean by this. At advanced ages, elders are not moving into smaller apartments or homes -- they are either moving in with family or going into care facilities. The downsizing is usually done by family. Estate sale businesses may already have selling items covered. I sell a lot of items on craigslist and can tell you that alone would be a full-time job -- and probably not profitable. Grocery delivery is something already available but maybe you can help seniors or famlies figure out how to arrange it, rather than you doing the pick-up and delivery yourself. Not sure you will be allowed to pick-up prescription meds for people. Errands? Maybe. FYI many elders are still not digital-savvy and don't have smart phones or even email. Get ready to make a lot of time-consuming phone calls..
There will be a lot of client attrition since they will be actively aging and declining and therefore dropping out because they develop cognitive or health issues that land them in facilities, thus ending the need for your services. This means you will be constantly having to replace clients. Sales is the most challenging part of business.
Also, the price of gas and food keep rising due to current inflation. You will need to be increasing prices to cover for this as it happens. You will need to probably employ more than yourself to make enough money, so you will need to hire people during a time when there's an extreme labor shortage. You may need to do criminal background checks on them. You will need to know labor laws, do tax reporting, carry insurance, etc. You need to know all these overhead costs in order to price your service profitably.
You will need to have a year's supply of funds to keep your business afloat until it becomes profitable. Eighty-five percent of all new businesses die within 5 years, mostly because they are underfunded. Try to get a business line of credit: you will need to prepare a fact-based, realistic 3-year business plan to present to the banker.
Can your new business be a success? Yes, if the need is there and the business model can work. You need to go into it well-researched and properly funded. I have had my own small business since 1983 (and still operating) plus I am caregiver (and PoA) to 3 elders ages 92, 100 and 102. I wish you much wisdom and success!