Meet the Family | Dr. Michelle Rankine

Duration: 15m 11s

Description:  Dr. Michelle Rankine talks with Jessica Cornelius, Franchise Development Director at Right at Home.  Dr. Rankine provides her thoughts and experiences on what it is like to be a franchise owner in the Right at Home network.

With three territories in Texas, Dr. Michelle Rankine is an experienced and successful franchise owner with Right at Home. She has been with the Right at Home network since September 2013, and owns three territories in Lewisville, Texas.

Prior to Right at Home, Michelle was in the process of completing her PhD, working for the United States Olympic Committee as a high performance director. Dr. Rankine’s brother was involved in a car accident and was paralyzed. A hospital social worker recommended home care. She didn’t know much about home care, but saw a Right at Home advertisement in a Southwest flight magazine. That’s when she started researching.

Michelle states a typical day now versus nine years ago is very different. When she started it was 24/7. Now she has a great team in place and can focus on offering a great workplace for caregivers, so they can offer great care for their clients. Michelle is able to delegate work to her team and considers herself the chief cheerleader. She handles the majority of the C-Suite marketing and contracts, but they all work together as a team. There are four office staff, and they specifically like to have think box and vision boards. Michelle plans to work on the Think Tank options for the team.

Michelle notes she purchased a resale territory at first. It was very fast paced, and the learning curve was high with regards to compliance, and rapidly learning all the new clients. The first year was just trying to figure out how you want to run your business. It is important to know that how you run your office may differ from how your neighbor or mentor runs their office. Your market is different than any other territory. You need to do your own research, spend time connecting with the community, figure out how you want to tailor your niche. It is also important to find your own strengths, Michelle thought she wanted to handle operations, but then discovered she really enjoyed the marketing aspect, meeting people, and telling them the story. Once Michelle fixed her niche, she would work Monday through Friday, in the office from 9 to 10:30 and then go out and market, back around 3 to huddle up with her team. Michelle did not have any marketing or sales background, just research experience.

Michelle notes the most valuable support received was the training. Her research showed her that many of the competitors only trained a couple of days, but Right at Home was a week. That set the foundation for her. She also met new franchisees at training, and her coach. Everyone is always a phone call away and willing to provide support. They provide real answers, and will teach how to do it, too. Michelle says it’s not a matter of just giving an answer, but they will provide options so you can make your own decision.

When asked to compare the franchise journey she’s taken to if she had started her own business, Michelle said that it would be upside down, Adding, because you need someone that knows your struggles everyday to understand what you’re going through. My other Right at Home franchise owners are able to give critical feedback, brainstorm together, cry together, or congratulate each other on our wins.

Michelle’s advice to any prospective franchisee, “Be patient. When starting a business and being an entrepreneur, you want everything to just work. Just be patient and be okay. There are going to be some days where it just doesn’t work. Just accept that everyday there is a purpose and there is a win. Remember to be positive, and there is a win with every person we are helping. Keep your head up, keep going. Don’t be afraid.”

Asked if she would choose Right at Home again, Michelle says “hands down, I would make it again.” She loves being a resource, and everyone in your family is going to have this need. We have so much knowledge now to just help other people whether they are with Right at Home or not. I enjoy being that resource in the community.

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