
Home \| Buying a Franchise \| Finance \| Operations \| Marketing \| Legal Corner \| Free Newsletter
Feedback \| About Us

Home Care: A Franchise Opportunity with a Dynamic Market

by Ed Teixeira

Based upon The Entrepreneur 500, from 2007 to 2009, fourteen Senior Care franchisors grew from 3,059 to over 3,721 franchisees. A rate of increase of 22%! The growth of this franchise segment portends the increasing need for services that seniors will require. In addition, the franchise format for senior care is focused upon private pay services rather than government reimbursed programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid. This approach avoids the burdensome requirements of government regulated and funded programs. Private pay home care programs for seniors are easy to administer with simple payment terms. Whether franchisors will venture into insurance and government reimbursed programs in the future remains to be seen.

Unlike consumer driven franchise concepts, home care services are generally immune to economic fluctuations. This provides a level of security that most franchises can’t offer.

A compelling case for participating in the home care market based upon data from the U.S. Census Bureau:

The U.S. population age 65 and older is expected to double in size within the next 25 years.
An estimated 36.8 million people - 12.4% of the population - are 65 and older.
About 80% of seniors have at least one chronic health condition and 50% have at least two.
The 85+ population is projected to double from 4.7 million in 2003 to 9.6 million in 2030

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics the healthcare industry and home care will lead in job growth:

As one of the largest industries in 2008, healthcare provided 14.3 million jobs for wages and salary workers.
Ten of the 20 fastest growing occupations are healthcare related.
Healthcare will generate 3.2 million new wage and salary jobs between 2008 and 2018, more than any other industry, largely in response to rapid growth in the elderly population.
Most workers have jobs that require less than 4 years of college education.
About 59 percent of jobs in this segment are in service occupations, mostly home health aides and personal and home care aides.

According to the National Association of Homecare approximately 25% of caregivers are family members. Many of these informal caregivers experience stress and a loss of work hours as a result of taking care of a family member. There will be a continued need for people to care for elderly family members.

Franchise companies can provide significant opportunities for individuals seeking a franchise opportunity. The demand for home care services will continue to grow and there will be an available labor pool. Prospective franchisees interested in a home care franchise should perform appropriate due diligence. However, one fact is evident: The market for home care services will continue to grow.