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These past few years have been challenging to say the least...but amidst the challenges, there is a group of entrepreneurs who are adapting, transforming, and thriving! Members have seen growth in several areas of their home care businesses despite the shutdowns because they have access to insider strategies, training, and a collaborative environment designed to help them and provide support.

Home Care Evolution Daily is specifically designed to help home care businesses. Membership benefits include: • Exclusive Training Videos • Strategies designed to help build your business and get more clients • Templates (making it simple to implement and get results) • Proven Marketing Methods, tested by 100’s of home care businesses • Monthly Private Webinar – keeping you up to date on what’s working NOW • Private Facebook Discussion Group to give you support, accountability, and a direct line of access to get your questions answered • Weekly Marketing Tips direct from the best in the business You have the opportunity to gain instant access to the same level of support, training, and strategies that all our members have been using to continue evolving, growing, and generating revenue… And I want to make it so affordable and easy to access that saying ‘no’ is nearly impossible. You won’t believe how much value we are sharing! Let’s make 2022 your BEST year ever (with the right help). Home Care Evolution Daily is designed to fast track your growth, give you specific support, and help you generate sales to get more clients.

for only $97 per month and start YOUR evolution!

www.HomeCareEvolution.com/daily Or call us with your questions at 848-444-9865

Welcome Hey everyone, thank you so much for subscribing to our Home Care Evolution Quarterly Magazine. This is our first issue of the magazine and we couldn’t be more excited. As you know, there has been an incredible amount of stress, changes, and challenges thrown your way as a Home Care Business Owner. This magazine is all about evolving your business so that you can adapt to all of the changing circumstances you are dealing with. By adapting this will allow you to transform your business so that it looks very different from what it is today. Therefore, in the future you will be able to thrive for many years to come. This magazine is a quarterly magazine, so we hope you enjoy it. We look forward to seeing you again in quarter two for the 2nd issue. Till then, be safe and God bless.

Steve Weiss

Steve “The Hurricane” Weiss Owner Home Care Evolution 848-444-9865 steve@homecareevolution.com www.homecareevolution.com

Contents 05

“Home Care: A Growth Sector Opportunity Not to be Overlooked” (Elite Academy & CEO of Touching Hearts at Home) by Aaron Stromley

“Client Perspective on Running an Agency” (Elite Academy Member, Client of Home Care Evolution) by Tom Najjar

The Great Resignation Or The Great Retention? You Choose by Kelly Szwed

The Road To $10 Million, Part 1 by Steve Weiss

Your Best Ambassadors? Your Caregivers! by Anne-Lise Gere, SPHR

5 Essential Steps in Creating an Operations Manual for your Business by Nicole Peretti

Thinking about selling your business? Take steps to maximize your price! by Holt Vaughn

Home Care A Growth Sector Opportunity Not to be Overlooked

Aaron Stromley is the CEO of Touching Hearts at Home Corporate. Aaron has 5 years of experience running a successful home care agency. He was born and raised in Minnesota, loves golfing, traveling, and being outdoors/ camping with his wife and three daughters. Fun Facts: 1) I have completed a Triathlon 2) I own season tickets to the Minnesota Vikings 3) We decided to get a puppy last October, his name is Colt, he is a mini sheepadoodle.

eing in the right place at the right time is always an advantageous underlying theme of business success. Today home care is a burgeoning service niche that lends itself well to entrepreneurs or executives looking for new start-up business opportunities. So why is 2022 an opportune time to launch a home care agency?

SUPPLY AND DEMAND

ADVANCES IN TECHNOLOGY

The stats tell the story… In 2004, there were 36.3 million people 65+ in the U.S., or 12 percent of the population. By 2030, this number is expected to top 20 percent, or about 71.5 million. Every day, upwards of 10,000 Baby Boomers retire in the U.S. This ‘Silver Tsunami’ is expected to peak in 1015 years. Home care is the preferred care choice for 95% of seniors recently polled by AARP, so the demand for home care services is ever increasing.

Technology is certainly playing a role in enhancing eldercare at home. Telehealth service management, electronic medical records, and a variety of assistive technologies can all improve service levels. For example, a nurse using telehealth equipment can potentially make up to 15 visits a day rather than the standard 5. Sensors can be placed around the home to remotely monitor a senior’s activities and movement. A.I. robots can detect movement and falls, hand household items to a semi-mobile senior and even assist in dispensing medications.

In my opinion, a more collaborative health care model is today evolving between hospitals and home care. In the near future it may be possible to arrange at-home doctor visits, order an in-home nursing service online, review pricing of varied health services prior to making a choice, even have basic procedures done at home that previously required an outpatient clinic visit. The pandemic has shown the risks of overburdening hospitals by viewing them as the sole fulcrum point of care. As the demand for senior care grows, more and more senior living facilities, assisted living sites, independent living communities and dedicated memory care houses are being built. But even these will not provide enough bandwidth to meet the upcoming market. Seniors will have to stay in place at home and be attended to there.

LEARNING THE ROPES There are a lot of resources available to help you succeed when setting up a home care agency. Consulting firms specialize in guiding you through licensing requirements that vary from state to state. Franchises already operating in the marketplace offer a tried and true business model. State agencies keep you up to date on industry regulations and trends. You still have to do your own research and build your business one client at a time, but word-of-mouth referrals abound in home care and establishing a reputation as a reliable service provider generates organic business momentum. You don’t really need to come from a healthcare background to launch a home care agency. Instead

you have to have a willingness to learn, an ability in building an experienced team around you and an interest in offering a one-on-one relationshipdriven service. BREADTH OF CLIENTELE While seniors are the most prevalent home care service niche, there are many other types of customer needs. Some agencies specialize in pediatric care, others work with the individuals with physical or intellectual disabilities. Patients with Parkinson’s, Multiple Sclerosis, ALS, Cerebral Palsy or Muscular Dystrophy all benefit from care by in-home nurses and aides. As skilled nursing services such as infusions, injections and wound care become more commonplace in the home, many types of recovery from illness or injury can be accomplished in the home. Hospice care is also a growing specialty. Among its many benefits, home care saves taxpayer money by being a viable alternative to more costly care at in-patient facilities. It’s been proven to prevent unnecessary or prolonged ‘revolving door’ hospital stays and emergency room visits for those recuperating from illness or surgery. Now that hospital reimbursements are dependent on low rates of return stays, hospital administrators are working handinhand with home care agencies to develop tailored care plans that help patients achieve positive outcomes.

PROFITABILITY Typical franchise costs to purchase a home care territory can range from $30,000 to $100,000. But because the brand is already known, the sales model already proven and best practices already modeled, it is possible to achieve a robust return on investment in a reasonable amount of time. The option of building an independent startup may entail lower initial investments. The bottom line is that growth opportunities are abundantly available, you just have to execute a high level of service with consistency and focus. To scale your business, it is also doable to set up sister locations near each other. Home care is a relatively new industry, yet in 2020 overall revenue was estimated to be $96.9 billion dollars. Currently 15 million patients are served by more than 600 million home visits. Insurance companies, such as

Aetna, Blue Cross/Blue Shield and HealthPartners, are covering more home care costs. Most significantly, the federal government has begun to recognize home care as a Medicare benefit. Home care is an expanding business opportunity that supports families with both acute healthcare crises and ongoing healthcare maintenance. It’s an essential serviceoffering in the current healthcare paradigm, and will play an even more dominant role in ensuing years. If you’re looking for a new business venture with assured growth potential, you may well conclude there’s no place like home. Aaron Stromley is CEO of Touching Hearts at Home, a national franchise providing Private Duty home care services for seniors and adults with varying medical conditions or disabilities. For further info, please visit www.touchinghearts.com.

Client Perspective on Running an Agency

Haytham (Tom) Najjar Founder & President Tom graduated from Florida State University with a business degree in Hospitality Administration and spent several years working in hotels and managing various restaurants in the D.C. metro area. Using his hospitality experience, he embarked on a new career working in the elder care community. Tom saw the need for reasonably priced, quality service that adds a touch of personalized care to each of his client’s unique needs. As a result, he launched CarePlus Home Health in 1995. Tom had the opportunity to personally utilize his agency’s caregivers when his own father needed care in his last months of life, before succumbing to cancer. Tom brings to CarePlus a higher standard of customer service.

It is our honor to author this article, in the first edition of what is destined to be among the most revered magazines, The Home Care Evolution Quarterly. Our homecare agency, CarePlus Home Health, was founded nearly 27 years ago by its CEO, Haytham Najjar. Shortly thereafter, his wife, Heather, joined Haytham’s life and CarePlus, as the Director of Clinical Services. Both partners in life and in business, Haytham and Heather have combined their individual expertise; Haytham in business/hospitality (BA in hospitality management) and Heather in medical/clinical (DNP). Together, we created a progressive and always evolving family and business. In doing so, we wove the thread of loyalty, ethics, innovation and throughout the fabric of CarePlus.

With the bulk of the Baby Boomer generation reaching their golden years, the homecare industry has become one of the fastest growing and most valued personal care services. By applying our loyalty and dedication for one another and our business alike, together, we passionately own and operate CarePlus, treating each client, their families, referral source, staff, and caregiver, as if they were part of our own family. We have found that operating CarePlus is, in fact, similar to managing the rest of our life together as well. Both can be incredibly challenging, while tremendously rewarding, requiring the will to observe, adapt, and continue to evolve. Some of the obstacles we have encountered at CarePlus remain the copious local, state, and federal regulations, the occasional client dissatisfaction, and most recently, the universal difficulties associated with traversing the trials of the COVID-19 pandemic. These challenges have never become insurmountable, as long as we maintain our personal and business tenants of loyalty, ethics, and mutual commitment that we have incorporated into the culture of

CarePlus. Without fail, this increases the valuation and esteem of our caregivers, staff, clients, and referral sources. While owning and operating CarePlus does include some difficulties, the benefits and shared joy of seeing the fruits of our labor are the most rewarding to us. With our shared principles loyalty, ethics, and fastening CarePlus into one, we are able to recognize the most valuable asset; our caregivers. Through them, we are invited into our client’s lives, oftentimes while they are experiencing tremendous adversity regarding their health and independence. We take pride by knowing that our dedicated caregivers provide excellence in service, flexibility, and warm, compassionate care.

the business in local, state, and national professional associations and organizations, by encouraging caregivers, staff, and owners to represent CarePlus in each. Finally, our most sound advice, which has benefitted us both personally and professionally, during the worst and best of times, is to establish and maintain our ethos. Ours, loyalty, ethics, and commitment, are fundamental to the successes we have accomplished through compassion, teamwork, and respect. By authentically abiding by our principles, the caregivers, staff, clients, and referral sources have been woven into the fabric of CarePlus.

Some advice while progressing into an even more profitable and successful homecare agency includes incorporating a systemization of operations, routinely and consistently. Unparalleled training and continually leveling up our skills and knowledge is also critical for growth, through routine observation, adaptation, and evolution. It is also crucial to embed

The Great Resignation or the Great Retention? You Choose

Kelly Szwed is a tenured Business Coach of 7 years with Hurricane Marketing Enterprises. She holds two professional certifications as a Certified Business and Life Coach, as well as a Certified Organizational Development Coach. Kelly is a lifelong New Jersey resident, and in her spare time, she enjoys competitive board game nights with family and friends, her four-legged fur babies, and all things that sparkle!

he last twenty-four months have given rise to what experts are calling The Great Resignation. The healthcare industry has taken one of the biggest hits to its workforce, and private duty home care is not exempt. In November 2021, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released job numbers showing that healthcare is among the top three industries cited in a 3% rise in the monthly “quits rate.” The numbers coincide with an already strapped healthcare staffing market. Shortages and burnout among healthcare staff have long been documented, according to www.healthcarefinancenews.com. If you are a business owner, an HR Manager, or Executive Director, your concerns about a dwindling workforce are valid. Your antennae should be all the way up!

Too often, home care organizations focus on recruitment, rather than retention. Often, they are so busy bringing people into their organization, but they aren’t thinking about the people who are already there. Leaders within the private duty home care arena need to get to the bottom of their current employees’ biggest pain points. If employees don’t feel safe within an office or organization's culture, they may hesitate to share innovative ideas. When they don’t trust their manager, that mistrust can seep into their work. Furthermore, when these people can’t show up 100%, chances are your business won’t achieve 100%, either. THE 3 KEY INGREDIENTS TO THE GREAT RETENTION 1. Communication 2. Clarity 3. Culture Communication. As a leader how often do you both assess and communicate your strengths? Sometimes leaders can’t see the forest through the trees and become tone-deaf to what’s going on. Consider ways to avoid this trap by first empowering others to be resourceful. Think about how you are empowering your team. Are they problem solvers and solution providers, or have you stuck them in a world of "can't be done"? As a leader, you must listen outside the bubble. Clarity. Clarity is key for setting your team, your leaders, AND your organization up for success. How can we see things from a clear lens? First,

identify the situation, thoughts, and feelings of those involved. Second, take a step back and look at what unhealthy thinking style you or they may be getting into. And third, challenge your thoughts by asking probing questions. Finally, reconsider other approaches. The way we look at situations both personally and professionally is very important because it guides how we feel and what we do. Ask yourself how often you intentionally work on your thoughts to help you see more clearly.

doing so, you can uncover gaps and amplify strengths, while also signaling to each employee that their perspective matters. RETENTION STARTS WITH ATTENTION TO PEOPLE

Employees are telling companies what they value most. Psychological safety is often just as important as physical safety. Those values include but are not limited to flexible work schedules where befitting, remote work options (if applicable), access to mental Culture. For leaders, the time is now health resources, investment in to look to create a culture where their professional development, employees feel valued, engaged, and a company culture that reflect and inspired to commit to their their own values. Employers that work. Could your company’s leaders fail to recognize this will flail in their benefit from understanding their retention efforts. Jackie Dube, people’s behavioral drives, and how VP of People Operations at The those drives play out within a team Predictive Index noted, “As the of like-minded or even contrasting nature of work evolves, so does the behaviors? The answer is YES. In nature of engagement, motivation,

and productivity. Key to everything is flexibility." If agency owners and leadership teams can carry one lesson forward from the COVID work-era, let it be this, people drive your business, and unhappy people can just as easily grind it to a halt.

The Road to $10 Million, Part 1

Steve “The Hurricane” Weiss, President & CEO of Home Care Evolution Steve “The Hurricane” Weiss is a dynamic and entertaining public speaker, known for his expert knowledge in all things sales and marketing. From a young age, Steve has been driven to succeed and excelled across vastly different industries. Steve founded Hurricane Marketing Enterprises in 2012 with a goal to help other business owners around the globe. Steve’s passion is to lead business owners on the path to find people in need of their services and convert these prospects into clients. His company’s mission statement is to help business owners increase their census, revenue, and profits. Through his programs and presentations, he has guided thousands of individuals to grow their organizations and continues to help them blow away the competition. With his dedication and hard work, Steve has developed a foolproof program that enables start-up companies to quickly get ahead of the competition while helping existing businesses experience an explosive transformation. Many of his clients double and even triple annual revenue in as little as 6 months.

n 8 figure a year business. This milestone is one that few business owners achieve. It takes grit, intensity, focus, vision, execution, money, and time. It also takes a more corporate style approach as to the traditional “Mom and Pop” agency. In a recent Home Care Pulse Benchmark study, it showed that more than 50% of the Masters (Businesses doing over $5 Million annually) had at least 3 locations. As the revenue increased, so did the number of locations. Therefore, fastest way to get there, is through multiple locations. In knowing this, Part 1 will focus on creating a regional business, using a Base Of Operations with several Satellites to support. Here’s the blue print: BASES A Base location would be the equivalent of a Capital to a State. This location will serve as your primary location where all of the billing, scheduling, and corporate officers will operate from. The Base should be centrally located in your respective territory and should have the largest population density. Make sure that the location for the base serves at least 1 million people. Anything less and it becomes increasingly difficult to scale over $10 Million annually. Ideally, your Base should also be near a hospital (or several hospitals) making it easier to attract the patients with the greatest immediate need. This Base should be able to manage at least 50 patients on its census and generate

more than $4 Million annually. When starting out, the business owner should open the Base first. SATELLITES Satellite locations should be a small office used for recruiting purposes and a place to house supplies needed for providing care and marketing. Each Satellite should be about 3045 minutes drive away from the Base. Ideally, the Base should have a Satellite to the North, East, South, and West. Each Satellite should have a Branch Manager initially who: Markets, Recruits, and Manages the patients servicing that area. As the satellite grows its patient census, add recruiters to help with the need to fill the demand. The Satellite should be maintaining around 20 patients on its census and generating over $1 Million annually. If the business happens to be in a location where there are requirements for each physical location to have its own license to operate, a “work around” would be to create a separate business entity for the sole purpose of recruiting caregivers. Then all caregivers recruited can be sent to work for the Base business and be managed accordingly. In this instance, all patients and management over these caregivers must operate out of the Base.

took more than 10 years to get to this size, with the second window of time being 7-10 years. Using the model shown in this article, however, should greatly reduce the time to reach, if executed properly! With a heavy focus on recruiting and marketing initially, the Base should reach the $3 Million mark with in its first 3 years. During the 4th year of operation, plan to open 2 of the 4 Satellites, and then 2 more during the 5th year of operation. This is achieved relatively quickly because each Satellite only requires 1 employee to launch. With all this said, the savvy and well trained business owner who manages their finances properly (ensuring an annual profit of 15-20% or greater) should be able to scale to over $10 Million inside 5-6 years. There are many additional factors not mentioned here, but this will give enough detail to serve as a starting point for the journey. In the next issue of “Home Care Evolution Quarterly” we will discuss the corporate structure, laying out the positions of need, and responsibilities associated with.

TIMING While there isn’t a specific timeline for growth to this size, the Home Care Pulse Benchmark Study does note that most of these businesses

Your Best Ambassadors? YOUR CAREGIVERS!

Anne-Lise Gere, SPHR

Anne-Lise Gere, SPHR is an HR consultant with deep expertise in home care. Her firm Gere Consulting Associates LLC was established in 2011. She works with home care agencies across the country to improve caregiver recruitment and retention, step up their office teams and support agency owners as a trusted advisor. For more about HR support with Gere Consulting check out www.gereconsulting.com.

nvolving caregivers in promoting your agency has multiple benefits for your agency. If you have not done it yet, consider it for the new year. It’s a great way to build up your caregiver workforce, elevate them, and encourage engagement. Ultimately it will help with caregiver retention too.

HOW TO GET CAREGIVERS TO BE YOUR AMBASSADORS

Train your caregivers so they feel invested in promoting the agency. It Feeling ambivalent about using will also build their confidence that caregivers to promote your agency? they can do a good job. It will help The truth is caregivers are already them be successful. Don’t assume your ambassador in the community. your caregivers know the language They wear your logo-ed shirts. They of caregiving. Make sure they talk about their work with family understand the difference between and friends. When caregivers feel home care (non-skilled care) and good about their work and like their home health (skilled care). The agency, they spread positive vibes on difference between Medicare and your behalf. Medicaid is often misunderstood. Consider all the words and acronyms Caregivers can be terrific used at your agency. Include those ambassadors at job fairs and in the training so caregivers become community events. Many caregivers fluent in the lingo of home care. will love to be asked to be part Encourage role playing of of the team and share what they interactions caregivers might know about the work of caregiving encounter when they go out at and their workplace. It also builds events, job fairs and in every day loyalty towards the agency. Having encounters. Have them practice caregivers represent your agency what to say (in their own words) in the community puts face to the when are asked about care your agency provides. When their work and their caregivers make a good impression, it agency. It will go a reflects positively on your agency. long way to build their confidence and project TRAIN YOUR CAREGIVER this confidence to AMBASSADORS FOR prospective candidates. SUCCESS REWARD THE Most people don’t feel GOOD WORK OF spontaneously comfortable YOUR CAREGIVER representing their employer in the AMBASSADORS community. Take a soft approach. Don’t come out all guns blazing Reward referrals when asking caregivers to become they happen. “Make “marketers” or “sell” the agency. a big deal, go over the Instead put the focus on building top when caregivers relationships with prospective clients bring potential clients and caregivers in your area. even if they don’t

become clients” recommends Cheryl Hammons of Veterans Care Coordination. “It might seem silly the first time but it will make an impact and caregivers will do it again.” When we make a big deal out of it, employees will come to understand that it is a big deal and will continue doing it. We have come to understand the need to elevate caregivers to a profession rather than a disposable resource. By involving caregivers in promoting your agency, you create a sense of responsibility and a stake in its success. This increases caregivers’ job satisfaction and improve retention. Because of the training you provide before sending them out, caregivers will see this as an investment in their career. In an environment where recruitment is so challenging and high turnover is too high, investing in caregivers is a necessity.

5 Steps

Essential

in Creating an Operations Manual for your Business

Nicole Peretti Nicole Peretti is the Executive Director of Hurricane Marketing Enterprises, and co-founder of the nonprofit The Institute for Dignity and Grace. She graduated from Rowan University with a degree in Business Administration, with a specialization in Marketing. She oversees all day-to-day operations of both businesses, ensuring they are run properly. Nicole is also a business coach, and has worked one-on-one with many clients, who are typically home care business owners, all over the country. She works closely with them to ensure they are using best practices and operating their companies with integrity and a focus on proper patient care. Nicole lives in New Jersey with her two cats and enjoys drinking her morning coffee outside in her beautiful back yard. She loves reading, watching crime dramas on TV, spending time with family, and taking naps on weekends. While still in college, she started her sales career with Cutco Cutlery. Nicole has since managed sales teams for companies in several industries, but her favorite job is what she is doing now. Her passion and talent is in managing people, and that transfers into the work she does with her clients, teaching them how they can best interact with the people they meet and work with daily. She has personal experience with home care for her own family, as well as years of shared knowledge through her clients. She truly cares about helping others, and that shows in all she does.

anaging people is one of the most challenging aspects of running a small business. People are unpredictable and often have personalities, motivations, and desires completely different from one another. People can also have diverse work styles and learn at various speeds and levels. One helpful tool you can create for your business is a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) manual. People crave processes and teams thrive when everyone is trained properly and knows the expectations. This is, by far, one of the most frequently discussed topics with our clients and I believe that this can be a game changer in many ways for your organization. Get the whole team to help! Whether you have just one person (yourself) at the start of your business, or you have a full staff of people who have been with you for years, it’s never too late or too early to begin this process.

STEP 1 – INVENTORY ALL THE TASKS Ask each person on your team, yourself included, to write a list of all the things they do at work and be as specific as possible. For example, don’t write “recruiting” as a task, instead list out each component to that role such as, placing ads, reviewing applications, calling candidates, scheduling interviews, conducting interviews, hiring, on-boarding paperwork, scheduling training, etc. Each item is a separate task and necessary to completing the overall job of recruiting for your organization. The bulk of the list will be written out quickly with an initial brain dump but give everyone a week or two to get this completed. Some tasks aren’t done daily or even weekly, and they may not come to mind immediately. We are looking for a thorough list here, as complete as possible. STEP 2 – ORGANIZE AND

PRIORITIZE TASKS Once each person has their lists completed, review them as a team and look for overlap. This will help you to understand what everyone does and knows how to do. Ask each person to identify the top 3-5 tasks they do that are essential to the business. They may be the only person on the team who knows how to do this task, or it could be the first in a chain of other consequential tasks that only can be done once this first task is completed. As an additional step, ask everyone to mark tasks they dread or are very challenging for them, and also the tasks they truly enjoy and look forward to doing. STEP 3 – WRITE A GUIDE FOR EACH TASK Begin with the top few tasks identified and each person chooses ONE to write a detailed guide. Give them a week to complete this first guide. It is imperative that they are extremely specific with the steps.

The objective is to write something that any person off the street could pick up and follow to complete the task. I like to include a list of required materials at the top of the page for each task, such as a pen, a new file folder, the website address and login credentials, and a calculator. These will overlap for many tasks, but they will create clarity and a format for each write-up. You can include pictures and screen shots in these guides as well. Again, it is essential to give as much helpful detail as possible when writing these guides. “Click continue” is not as clear as “click the blue box labeled ‘continue’ located in the top right corner of the screen.” These details are important. Step 4 –TEST THE GUIDES AND MODIFY IF NECESSARY Now that everyone has created their first guide, it’s important to test them out before moving onto the next. Have each person swap

with someone else on the team and try to follow the steps as written to complete the task. If there are questions on what to do anywhere in the process, another step or clarification may be needed. Once all are tested, modified, and finalized, it’s time to move onto the next task and create another guide. Step 5 – Repeat Steps 2 Through 4 Continue with the most essential

tasks for the first few weeks of this process, but then begin to round things out with tasks that may be more “fun” to write about. For example, someone may want to write a “how to use the office coffee pot” or “how to water the plants.” These may not be as important, but they are still necessary things that are done in the workplace and there can be a standard way of doing them. Tasks like sorting the mail, ordering supplies, decorating for holidays, and rewarding the caregiver of the

month are all great examples of additional tasks that need processes documented. It takes about a month to get this going, but if you stick to it, after about 3-6 months you can have an incredible tool to help you train new employees, standardize procedures, create good habits, cross train your existing team, and contribute to the culture of your organization. Good luck and enjoy the process!

Thinking About

Selling Your Business? Take Steps to Maximize Your Price!

Holt Vaughn is a partner with TobinLeff, www.tobinleff.com, an M&A advisory and exit planning consulting firm that helps owners of service businesses sell to strategic buyers and private equity groups. You can reach him at hvaughn@tobinleff.com.

uilding a home care company is challenging and exciting. The rewards are both financial and deeply meaningful as you invest personally in the lives of your employees and clients. Home care offers a unique opportunity not only to make a great living, but also to be part of a very hands-on and positive impact in your community’s health.

When it comes time to sell your business, it’s likely to be the most important transaction of your life. As hard as you’ve worked to build it, you’ll want to work just as hard to exit from a position of strength.

Let’s look at some of the steps and strategies you can employ to maximize the selling price and your net worth. Some of these include preparation, crystallizing your value proposition, having a go-to-market strategy, negotiating terms early in the process, having a fallback position, and staying true to your values. PREPARATION Selling your business can be a roller coaster of emotions. You have to be realistic, commit to the process, and take stock in what you have to offer. Most people think their business is worth more than it is. It’s important to be objective. That’s one of the places where a trusted advisor can help. Ideally, you’ll begin your preparations a few years in advance of your target exit date. Work on the value drivers that can impact the price and terms you can command—profit margins, business systems, and management team, just to name a few. How many caregivers do you effectively have on your roster? Are they well trained, happy and well compensated? Are your management team,

marketing program and bookkeeping strong and easy to showcase to prospective buyers? Are you in compliance and upto-date with regulations? What are the opportunities for growth? Anticipate the questions potential buyers are likely to ask such as: • Why do you want to sell? • How dependent is the business on you? • How scalable is your company? • How sustainable is the business? CRYSTALLIZE YOUR VISION & VALUE PROPOSITION Buyers may pay premiums if they see growth opportunities and/or your company provides strategic opportunities. What is special about your home care business that could not easily be built or bought elsewhere? Put your value proposition out there with passion and conviction. DECIDE ON YOUR GO-TOMARKET STRATEGY An important strategic decision you will have to make is whether to negotiate a deal with one or a few buyers, or to direct your M&A team to initiate a broader

“auction type” process. In most situations, it will serve you well to have multiple offers to consider from qualified buyers. Assemble your advisory team It’s hard to try to sell a business on your own -- especially if you don’t have the experience -- while running the company. Take time to interview true M&A advisors. Do they have experience in your industry with companies of your size? Do your current business attorney and CPA have experience in M&A work, or do you need to find a specialist? NEGOTIATE TERMS EARLY IN THE PROCESS Before signing a letter of intent, negotiate as many terms as possible. This isn’t only about the multiple or the price. There are other important deal elements— like the working capital target, funding details, and whether you will be personally liable for any of the representations you make. Of course, the letter of intent requires the involvement of your attorney, as well as your M&A advisor. HAVE A FALLBACK POSITION

Your fallback position is your “Plan B,” and you should have one. A fallback position ensures that if you or the buyer decides to terminate the deal, you’ll be left with options. This might involve maintaining the controlling interest while instituting incentives for others to run the company. It might mean you have a framework for a management buy-out plan, or that you have investors you can turn to. STAY TRUE TO YOUR VALUES One of the most important considerations in navigating the sale of your company is to remain true to your values. As noted, this is an intense, emotional process. Staying true to your values can mean listening to what your gut tells you. If the deal somehow doesn’t feel right, chances are it isn’t. Put time, energy, and thought into planning now for your exit in the future. Prepare in advance for one of the most important transactions in your life to ensure that you approach the sale of your company from a position of strength.

3 Things You Don’t Know About

Holt Vaughn Holt has been in business since his teens. Starting with about two hundred dollars, he grew a consortium of multimedia, packaging, and marketing communications companies that included a spin-off brand providing organizational and strategic growth consulting, including exit and succession planning, for the faith-based industry. His production facility was honored in Mix Magazine’s prestigious Class of 2008 as one of the world’s hottest new audio/video/multimedia recording studios. Holt has overseen countless multimedia, branding, marketing communications projects, and strategic plans for small businesses, Fortune 500 companies, rock and pop stars, NY Times best-selling authors and leading nonprofits. As a co‐writer, he once hit the Amazon best sellers list. He is also an accomplished recording artist, having released four albums – his latest including Grammy and Dove Award musicians. Holt successfully sold his business interests in 2016 using TobinLeff’s predecessor, The Tobin Group, as an M&A advisor. Since that time, in addition to working with TobinLeff, he has been directing a think tank and providing independent consulting services. Holt has served on various boards and committees, and has led workshops as diverse as organizational and business development, branding/marketing, product development, and theology and the arts.

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