Duration: 7m 47s
Description
Jim Gall started his Right at Home franchise in 2012. Today, he oversees an expansive seven-county territory that stretches across the Great Lakes Bay and Mid-Michigan regions. With more than a decade under his belt, Jim has seen firsthand just how much the Right as Home system has evolved in that time.
“The level of support that Right at Home offers… it was great then and really helped me to get off the ground running,” Jim says, “but the support now that corporate offers to existing and new franchisees is off the charts.”
Chemical Reaction
So what was it like when Jim Gall just became a new franchisee? Let’s turn back the clock for just a moment. The move into home care was a major career transformation. Jim began working as a lab tech for Dow Chemical in 1985. A few years later, he added an MBA from Michigan State to his CV.
Jim always felt positive about the work he did with Dow, but when his job landed on the chopping block during an organizational shakeup, he saw it as an opportunity.
“I had my second chance at a career,” he recalls, “and I wanted to do something that was going to be fulfilling as well as rewarding.”
Forging a New Path
Not only was Jim seeking a rewarding outlet for his energy, but after 27 years working for a big corporation, Jim had his sights set on running his own business.
“I created lots of business and service opportunities for Dow,” says Jim, “and it was something that I thought I really knew how to do, and I thought maybe I could do it for myself.”
But where exactly could he merge these two ambitions–business ownership and the chance to do something meaningful?
Jim remembers that he was approached by a variety of individuals with interesting business ideas and promising franchising opportunities. But ultimately, the conversation kept coming back to the same topic–senior care.
“The whole area of senior care kept coming up,” Jim tells us. “And as I started to learn more about senior care and the opportunity there to help others, I thought it was a really nice match with my new personal mission statement–feeling good about what I do at the end of the day.”
Building a Team
So, how exactly have things changed for Jim in the 12 years since? The short answer is–a lot!
“When you get in and start your own business, you’re wearing all the hats. You’re hiring, you’re scheduling, you’re trying to promote your business. It was myself and another person for quite a long time. So you did whatever you needed to do.”
But over time, Jim grew his franchise around excellent hires and strong retention. From schedulers and bookkeepers to hiring managers and the caregivers themselves, Jim built a trusted and dedicated team. In fact, Jim assembled such a strong team that he now has the freedom to focus on the big picture stuff.
“I have an administrator, and she runs the day to day for my business,” Jim explains, “and I help with accounting and bookkeeping as well as setting goals, working for on improvement projects and doing more community-based networking to help us fulfill our vision of becoming the most recognized and trusted home care company in the area.”
The Right at Home Advantage
Jim acknowledges that being a part of the Right at Home system has played a major role in advancing this vision. Right at Home puts people first on its list of priorities. As Jim explains, corporate has a really strong understanding of just how important caregiver recruitment and retention are to the long-term growth of a franchise.
Jim observes that “the real key to success in this industry is being able to attract and retain those caregivers, and Right at Home has done an amazing job aligning us with additional tools and resources to do that.”
These tools and resources, as well as the highly personalized level of ongoing support from corporate, translate into what Jim calls a “a really competitive and sustainable advantage.”
Leaning Into the Network
If you truly wish to succeed though, Jim strongly advises making full use of everything the Right at Home system has to offer its franchisees. There’s an incredible wealth of knowledge and real-world experience contained within the broader network.
“You gain a lot of information from other people who have tried many things over the years and decades that Right at Home has been franchising,” Jim points out. “You bought into a franchise system for a reason, and that’s to also buy into the knowledge part of it.”
Not only that, Jim notes, but Right at Home creates plenty of curated opportunities for you to become an active part of the network. It’s simply up to you to get involved.
Jim urges new franchisees to “Tap into the system. Be active. Go to Home Improvement, join a Performance Group, because you’re going to learn the most from other owners that are already in the system.”
The True Mark of Success
For Jim, the ultimate mark of his franchise’s success is its growing ability to positively impact the communities he serves even beyond the core home care mission. He cites the franchise’s membership in the local Chamber of Commerce and its annual participation in the area’s Alzheimer’s Disease charity walk as examples.
“What we do in our community is very valuable to us–to grow and sustain our business and become that perceived leader in the industry,” says Jim, “So I’m very proud of what we do.”
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Meet the Family | Rosaleen Doherty
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