Ken Helmuth
With nearly 22 years of experience in medical, pharmaceutical, and lab device sales and management, Ken Helmuth is well-equipped for his newest position as owner of the Durham/Chapel Hill Right at Home.
Originally from South Bend, Indiana, Helmuth attended the University of Indianapolis (a.k.a. Indiana Central) on a football scholarship—a sport he played all four years of his collegiate career. Upon graduating with a marketing and finance degree, Helmuth began his career in sales, working the gamut of positions and products in the medical and pharmaceutical sales industry. He continued climbing in the industry before getting into lab device sales management, where he stayed for eight years.
Helmuth most recently spent two and a half years building a commercial team for a small, in vitro diagnostic company. But when the industry went sideways and started making cuts, Helmuth decided it was time to find himself and his next career option.
“I spent a lot of time researching what I wanted to do, and I found that my combination of healthcare knowledge and experience did not yield many opportunities,” said Helmuth. As a result, he turned to business ownership and was encouraged to look into an industry that would synthesize his experience and skills — breaking into the home-care industry by opening a Right at Home franchise.
How did you first learn about Right at Home?
It was happenstance. On one fortuitous occasion, I was consulting with a broker about opening a business to augment my income. At the time, I wasn’t looking at franchising necessarily, but I was looking for the right business to fit my bill. The broker said that there might be a home-care agency for sale in the area, which I was interested in after I did some research.
Why did you choose an opportunity with Right at Home?
I loved the Right at Home story, especially the story of how Allen Hager founded it. It’s the right size to give proper infrastructure and support, but also provides owners enough freedom to succeed. When an opportunity to work with Right at Home appeared in my area, I knew I had to do it. The existing territory I purchased had been around for about five years, but no one promoted its existence in the past couple of years. Regardless, it was still doing pretty good business, and I thought it could only go up from there with the right leadership.
How has your experience prepared you for business ownership?
My responsibilities working in the Corporate American healthcare sector prepared me pretty well for the nitty-gritty aspects of owning a business, like how to pay close attention to details, especially cost and expense planning. I’ve also had experience managing difficult customers, being a sales manager, and being a director of national corporate accounts. In those positions, I essentially dealt with problems, and being a problem solver is a great skill to have. Third, I’ve been a manager of people for the past 13–14 years. Now, it’s a different employee, but knowing how to manage and work with people is universally transferrable.
ABOUT RIGHT AT HOME
Right at Home was founded in 1995 by Allen Hager in Omaha, Nebraska. Unlike any other home care franchisor, Allen’s background was in hospital administration. He witnessed older patients check out of the hospital, struggle with the recovery process while at home, and then be readmitted to the hospital. Seeing the need, he created a way to provide ongoing assistance for clients who are aging or have disabilities in the comfort of their homes. After spending five years fine-tuning the business model, the Right at Home franchise was born! For more information on Right at Home, visit About Right at Home at https://www.rightathome.net/about-us