Duration: 14m 29s
Every single one of our franchisees is a valued member of this incredible community. But it is truly a privilege to hear from one of our longest tenured owners.
Paul Blom operates Right at Home’s Minneapolis territory, and his is Franchise #3 in a network that now includes well over 700 locations! In his 21 years with Right at Home, Paul has truly seen it all.
So we caught up with Paul for some insight into everything that’s changed around here in the last two decades.
From Software to Home Care
Paul’s journey to home health care began during the dot.com boom of the late ‘90s and early 2000s. As an IT pro, Paul was right in the middle of the early internet bubble. However, he had the foresight to make a major career transition before he could become a casualty of that famous bubble burst.
As he recalls, “Probably 25-26 years ago, when my mother-in-law was working as a home care aide, my husband and I started thinking about home care as an option for something really meaningful to do.”
Paul was immediately drawn to Right at Home’s incredible approach. “I couldn’t believe that what I wanted to do existed in a franchise model,” remembers Paul, “and I didn’t have to recreate the wheel.”
Meeting the Family
Obviously, Paul and his family go back a long way with Right at Home. In fact, Paul can actually remember a time before all the orientation and onboarding that we do these days. Instead, it was just a road trip to company headquarters in Omaha for a personal meet and greet with Right at Home’s visionary founder, Alan Hager.
“We went out to lunch and spent the day with Alan and his wife,” recalls Paul. “I realized that they were the kind of people that I wanted to be associated with.”
He was particularly impressed with their perspective on what it takes to be a successful franchisee.
“It wasn’t about, ‘Do you have enough money to do it?’” says Paul. “It was about, ‘Why do you want to do this? Because we want franchisees who really care about making a difference in the quality of life, not only for the seniors that we serve, but for their families and for our employees.”
For Paul, this was a truly compelling sales pitch. What really clinched it, he explains, is when Alan explained that “‘we’re about improving the quality of life for everyone we touch.’”
Paul describes this as a truly “awesome” value proposition.
Changing Times, Shifting Challenges
To suggest that things have changed over Paul’s more than two decades in the Right at Home network is an understatement. Indeed, things have truly changed in the home care business at large. In many markets, home care was not nearly as well known or understood as it is today.
“20 years ago, we had plenty of caregivers, and we struggled to find clients,” says Paul. “We struggled to find people in the industry who understood how to make a referral for our service.”
Of course, to remain in business for more than 20 years, Paul must be doing quite a few things right. Thanks to the experience, partnerships, and community connections that Paul has nurtured over the time, he doesn’t struggle to find clients. He struggles to handle all the clients seeking his service.
In fact, Paul admits, it’s been roughly five years since he’s even invested in marketing his business.
“Today,” he explains, “after 21 years of building a reputation, referrals come in – sometimes 10 inquiry calls a day. The struggle is finding enough caregivers that we would trust and hire to fulfill that need.”
Being Part of Something Bigger
Over time, Paul has learned how to navigate this challenge by maneuvering caregiver schedules and negotiating availability with prospective clients. This ability to adapt is essential to Right at Home franchise ownership. Fortunately, Paul notes, you will enjoy the support of an unparalleled network as you learn the ropes.
For one thing, this powerful network includes all of your fellow franchisees. “Being very active in the community,” says Paul, “I know the owners of other franchise system territories.”
Paul calls this access a great opportunity for “comparing notes.”
But he also reserves extremely high praise for the support that franchisees receive from corporate. “I don’t think there’s a franchise system out there that provides the level of support and system support that Right at Home provides,” says Paul
Coming Full Circle
So what advice would one of our longest tenured franchisees offer to those considering Right at Home for the first time? As it happens, it sounds a whole lot like what Alan Hager said to Paul all those years ago.
“If you are considering purchasing a home care franchise, and you’re looking at Right at Home,” Paul advises. “Take a good look at yourself and your reasons for pursuing this industry and the Right at Home franchise system. Make certain that your intention is to improve the quality of life for everyone that you touch, because that’s what Right at Home is about.”
A lot has changed in 20 years. But this mission remains as true as ever.