Duration: 14m 30s
Description
In 2013, David Bullard purchased two territories that covered the entire Bay Area in Northern California’s Santa Cruz and Monterey areas and chose Right at Home for its values-aligned approach to staff care. He had a background in health care and nonprofit work. In the beginning, he managed all operations, including taking shifts himself. David tells Jen Chaney, Vice President of Franchise Development about his journey and how he has transitioned to a managerial role, focusing on back-office tasks. He values the franchisor’s support in areas like marketing and operations, emphasizing the importance of Right at Home’s mission and in running a successful franchise.
Previous Background
Before purchasing his Right at Home franchise, David Bullard was involved in nonprofit work, development, and fundraising. Most of his career was in the health care field and medical diagnostic in territory sales and consulting. He did go back to school to receive his MBA and then moved into management consulting in the health care field. So the next step was to create something of his own.
Choosing Right at Home
When David started talking with Right at Home, it was a values match. In his own career, he knew how important it was to take care of your staff and your caregivers, and then the caregivers would in turn take care of the customers. He had worked for a lot of organizations prior to that whose focus was so much on the customer that they didn’t care what they did to their staff, and that seemed backwards. Right at Home was very much in line with that philosophy. David had also talked with other franchisors, and it was clear to him that they didn’t think it mattered.
Life as a New Franchisee
In the beginning, David said he was just trying to hire people and try to keep them around long enough to get a client that could keep them working. Caregivers want to work, so if you don’t have work for them, they are going to find it in other places. He did end up taking shifts at times because he didn’t have anybody he could send. He would get in his scrubs and off on the shift he went. It was definitely because we were a new territory and didn’t have the infrastructure already in place. Now, David has a general manager that operates the business day to day, and a staff of four in the office. He has been able to step back and do the back office work, payroll and billing, and some of the HR issues. He continues to set the tone for the office, implementing his values, helping his staff understand how to care and work with our caregivers, and encouraging and monitoring them to make sure they’re providing that care and understanding to the client.
Owner-Operator Model
Right at Home is an owner-operator model. David states that at the beginning he was doing a bit of everything. And even 12 years later, he is still doing all those things, but he has somebody who is overseeing the day-to-day operations. He felt that it was important to know how to do every piece of the business and feel comfortable. He was able to hire a staffing coordinator that was young, eager, and knew technology. He felt it was important to be the face of the business and know it from the ground up.
Most Valuable Support
David received his most valuable support from his Residence Week, where he came to Omaha for training. They helped him understand where the business comes from, and where he would get his referrals. The training provided him with a very good foundation. As far as ongoing support, he is more interested in providing care to his clients. He is excited to know that Right at Home corporate has teams who develop brochures and marketing materials, manage the website, and have researched the software on how to do scheduling, billing, and payroll. They provide the franchisees with options to use and that is huge. He gets to focus on the things that he wants to focus on and that he’s better at. It’s invaluable.
Advice to Prospective Owner
David states that the service that Right at Home provides is kind of a missional aspect. You’re providing a service and can make a very good income. But it comes with time. If there’s a missional aspect to your work, it gets you over the hardships. This is a growing market and a very good business opportunity, but if that is really all it is to you, you will probably struggle. The work is very meaningful and you’re involved with people in their lives who are going through a difficult time, but you can make a difference. And that’s wonderful!
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If you would like to listen to other franchise owners’ stories, click the links below:
Meet the Family | Lauren Miller
Meet the Family | Adam Reeback
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