Duration: 12m 55s
Tammy McMinn knows a thing or two about adversity.
“My first day as an owner with Right at Home was the first day of lockdown for Covid,” she recalls. “So that was a great trial-by-fire situation.”
That may not seem like an amazing recipe for success, but six years later, Tammy and her partner, Van Andrews, run three thriving territories in the greater Indianapolis area. She credits the incredible support she received from the Right at Home network for her survival in those difficult early days and highlights the role this network continues to play for her business even today.
But before we get to that, let’s take a step back and find out how Tammy got involved with Right at Home in the first place.
Home Care Far Away From Home
Tammy notes that she lived overseas for 20 years in a country with socialized medicine. It was there that she first witnessed the power of home care. The country she lived in “had something called district nursing, and their goal was to do what they called hospital at home,” Tammy explains.
“I saw that in action, and thought it was really fabulous,” says Tammy. “My background is medical, and then I saw firsthand how home care in a different country was working really well.”
When Tammy came home to the U.S. for Christmas in 2019, she also saw the incredible difference that home care was making in the lives of two family members. She decided this was the kind of difference she wanted to make. A friend connected her with Van, who already owned two franchises.
“We hit it off and decided to join forces,” says Tammy. She traveled to Indianapolis – a city she’d never been to before – and the rest is history.
Steading Steering in Rough Waters
Speaking of history, Tammy picked a pretty crazy time to get started. As we mentioned, she literally launched her partnership on the day that the COVID-19 crisis arrived in the U.S. For a business owner going solo, this could have been a disastrous time. Instead, Tammy quickly discovered just how remarkable the Right at Home network is.
“I felt so blessed at that point that I was part of a franchise like Right at Home. None of us in the entire world knew what was going to happen. We had information coming at us – left, right and center,” says Tammy.
“But Right at Home, and particularly (President and CEO) Margaret (Haynes), did an amazing job communicating with franchisees on a daily basis,” Tammy says. “I felt like I had somebody who was watching my back and helping me every day.”
What could have been a discouraging time to open a business actually proved an inspiring and empowering moment for Tammy.
Tapping Into A Wealth of Resources
In addition to having access to people who were truly invested in her success, Tammy notes that Right at Home also puts a number of invaluable resources at the fingertips of its franchisees. These resources include the state-specific, legal forms available through Posh, business management tools through the new Zoho library, and in particular, the marketing brand folder developed at corporate.
These tools make it extremely easy for a new or continuing business to leverage the knowledge and experience accumulated at Corporate and tailor it to their own business needs.
“Nebraska (corporate headquarters) has done all the hard work,” says Tammy. “All I need to do is put some localized information in there. So that’s wonderful.”
Comprehensive Marketing Support
Corporate provides the same high level of direct support when it comes to social media. This is an important part of the strategy for new and continuing business owners. Right at Home recognizes this importance by making it easy for owners to balance both national and local content.
“They’re always putting posts on our social media. We put out local content as well, but we know that if we’re not putting out local content, that that content will be put on there for us,” says Tammy.
This support also extends to web development and maintenance. “We have great support with our marketing specialist around our website,” says Tammy, “and that is everything. If people can’t find you online, you’re not going to get the business. So we appreciate that support.”
Building a Team You Can Trust
This type of support allowed Tammy to evolve in her own leadership role.
“I always joke around and say that they keep me in the back office. I don’t have the client-facing role, so I’m more the operations – making sure we know what’s going on, because there’s always lots of new information coming out on a state level, on a national level, and then just through Right at Home as well.”
But as she evolved into this back office leadership role Tammy had to assemble a reliable team of professionals to handle day to day operations.
“Today,” says Tammy, “We have a couple of folks that are out in the field doing referral source work, as well as an office manager and a VP of operations. So we have quite a good team of people around us that know their roles.”
This makes it possible for both Tammy and Van to spend more time working “on the business” rather than “in the business.” This time has clearly been well-spent. After a few years in business together, the Van and Tammy were able to expand their footprint by adding a third territory to their portfolio.
Being a Part of Something Bigger
For those who might be considering home care franchise ownership, Tammy offers a glowing recommendation on behalf of Right at Home.
“I’ll tell you what I always say over and over and over again,” says Tammy. “The support that we got in particular during COVID – I don’t feel like I could have personally survived without that. It just meant so much, and it continues to mean so much.”
“If you’re looking to join a franchise,” Tammy says, “the support you will get at Right at Home is just exceptional.”
Learn more about the francising with Right at Home by visiting https://rightathomefranchise.com/. To learn more about support systems provided to franchises and opportunities for owners, visit https://rightathomefranchise.com/forc/franchisee-interviews/.