March 28, 2024 • 27 mins
#051 Have you ever considered a leap into franchise ownership? That's exactly what Ian Klaes did, transforming from a fresh PT graduate to a vice president of a thriving senior care franchise. Join us as Ian shares how he got to be a franchise owner, offering inspiration and guidance for professionals considering a similar leap.
The episode begins with Ian entering the professional world as a PT graduate. His first real job at a sports med clinic seemed aligned with his interests, but it was just the starting point of an uncharted career trajectory. We navigate through the mechanics of becoming a franchisee, and the multifaceted roles that come with this job, from mastering unexpected skills like sales to personal development strides.
For those weighing the prospects of operating a franchise versus an independent business, our episode sheds light on the subtle distinction of these entrepreneurial landscapes, emphasizing the power of a proven business model and the growth that comes with being part of a supportive franchise community. Don't miss this journey.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Intro (00:01):
Welcome to the Rehab Rebels podcast.
Are you a rehab professionalready to transition to an
alternative career?
Hear inspiring stories fromothers just like you and learn
the best ways to bridge yourcareer gap.
This podcast has you covered.
Now here's your host, doctor ofphysical therapy and podcaster,
tanner Welsh.
Tanner Welsch (00:21):
I'm really excited to have you come on the
show and hear about your journeyand your story as a vice
president, franchise division ofcarrying senior service.
We'd love to hear your journeyand how you got there.
But first what we'll do as wedo with all the guests that come
on is I'll have you introduceyourself, maybe where you went
(00:41):
to PT school, what you're doingnow, and then we'll lead and
fill in the gaps with how yougot there.
Ian Klaes (00:49):
Okay, ian Claes, I went to PT school at UTMB, so
the University of Texas MedicalBranch, in Galveston.
The program had recentlyconverted to master's degree, so
I was there from 95 to 98.
From there I went on this weirdjourney to end up in the
franchising world.
Tanner Welsch (01:10):
Yeah, it's so wild.
I think this episode three orfour there was a PTA who did the
same thing.
She branched off and did a hotworks franchise, I think with
some support from her husband.
But this franchise that you'rein is it's a senior care
facility and we'll get into thedetails of that here in a little
bit.
(01:30):
But how did you go fromgraduating from a PT school and
then eventually finding your wayinto where you are today?
Normally what I'll ask peopleis what made them shift or
change their job or their career.
They knew something wasn'tright and we dive into that.
So let's start with you fromthe beginning.
Can you talk a little bit aboutwhat you were doing right out
(01:53):
of PT school and then we'll leadup into how you got where you
are now?
Ian Klaes (01:58):
Sure, I sort of stumbled into my first real job
in PT.
I've played rugby for a verylong time and had some teammates
back in El Paso Texas where I'moriginally from who were on the
rugby team and also happen tobe PT's.
And one of them had an openingat a sports med clinic that he
(02:19):
was managing.
He had a need for somepart-time help and I jumped on
him because I've always beeninterested in, participated in
various athletics and felt thatI wanted to do sports med or at
least an ortho focus, and sothis was a great opportunity for
me to get my first real job.
Of course it wasn't enoughhours, it was part of a larger
(02:42):
system, so I was able to workpart-time there and then also
part-time at another outpatientclinic that the system had.
I eventually transitioned tothe hospital setting, also
within the same system, and fromthere it was a cool experience.
There was three PT's and threePTA's and we rotated floors
(03:02):
within the hospital.
So one month I'd be on in thegeneral hospital, the acute
setting.
They had a sniff in thehospital, so one month I'd work
in the sniff and then one monthI'd work in their outpatient
clinic, which was very heavywound care work.
It was a really greatexperience for me.
I got to you know, even thoughI was in the same building.
I got to work in a lot ofdifferent settings, different
(03:24):
patient populations.
From there I moved to SanAntonio, worked outpatient
clinics, got married, moved tovery northern California
actually on the border of Oregonit was Crescent City,
california and there I wasworking for a company that
staffed sniffs with the rehabdepartments.
My role there was rehabdirector for a sniff in
(03:46):
California.
I went in Oregon, so now I'm sofar away from sports med, but
I'm loving it.
I'm learning so much.
The patients were awesome.
They were just super gratefulthat I and the people I was
working with gave them so muchattention and that they were
hard workers.
They wouldn't mess around and itwas really fun.
But I was as the rehab director.
We had to optimize all theacuity levels for our patients
(04:10):
and make sure we were maximizingthe dollars for the sniff,
which wasn't too terrible.
But I was working a lot 50, 60hour weeks on the regular.
I was still enjoying it.
It wasn't terrible, but I wasbeginning during that time to
think, man, if I'm going to workso hard, I might as well work
hard for my own business.
(04:31):
That's where the franchiseopportunity, or dream, first
started percolating.
Tanner Welsch (04:37):
For sure.
So what page?
You decide to take that role,that director role in the
northern part of California andmanage the sniffs and all that?
What was the initial backstoryor reason behind making that
decision?
Ian Klaes (04:51):
The guy that recruited me was a neighbor of
my aunt and uncle in California.
This company was based, I thinkthey were based in Portland, so
they had contracts along thenorthwest coast.
But really it was for theadventure.
I'd been born and raised inTexas, spent all my time there,
and why don't I go to the oceanand the redwoods and try it out?
(05:12):
It was also a new opportunity,a more higher level management
position.
I use management looselybecause I worked with some great
therapists and really they justgave me their schedule and I
just tried to optimize that, soI wasn't doing anything.
Super amazing management style.
But really it was for theadventure.
Tanner Welsch (05:33):
Okay, that's fair .
I love that.
So, from there, what was thenext step to getting to where
you are now?
Ian Klaes (05:40):
We came back for a holiday vacation and while we
were here I knew that caringsenior service was headquartered
here.
I had made arrangements, letthem know that I had an interest
in learning more about theirfranchise opportunity and that I
wanted to come in and see them,and so I was able to arrange
really a day where theleadership here were able to
(06:03):
walk me through what the heck itwas that they were doing,
because I knew it was care inthe home, but it was non-medical
and there wasn't insuranceinvolved, and that was about the
extent of it.
I didn't really know many ofthe details as to what they were
doing.
Tanner Welsch (06:17):
Before we dive into that, what exactly they do
do in their services.
How did you even hear aboutthem in the first place?
Ian Klaes (06:24):
That was through rugby.
Tanner Welsch (06:25):
You and your rugby man.
Ian Klaes (06:27):
Me and my rugby.
It's like beer the cause of,and solution to all the life's
problems.
Rugby is also the cause of andsolution to many of life's
problems.
But yeah, actually the CEO andfounder of Caring Senior Service
was on my rugby team and hispartner, the one that really
helped establish the franchisecomponent, was also on the rugby
(06:47):
team.
I knew that they were doingsomething in home care.
It wasn't home health.
That's how I knew to reach outto them and shame on me, I
didn't look at any otherfranchise opportunities because
there were a few others in ourspace.
Obviously, I was comfortablewith them, but also, as I
learned more and did my studyingup on it, I became comfortable
(07:08):
with what the business was.
Tanner Welsch (07:09):
And it helps, without a doubt, that you
already have rapport or anyconnection with the founder and
the partner.
That totally makes sense.
What exactly are the servicesthat they provide?
And it's still not insurance atall.
It's not Medicare or Part A orPart B.
Let's dive into that.
What exactly do they offer anddon't they offer?
Ian Klaes (07:32):
It's assisted living support services, but in our
clients' homes, wherever home is.
We do provide caregiverservices to our clients who
might reside in a SNF, or theymight reside in an assisted
living facility, or they mightbe in a hospital for some amount
of time.
But it's support for all thetasks that one might need help
(07:57):
with in order to be able to stayhome and stay home safely.
We do an assessment with aclient and their family members
to try to determine where theirpain points might be, what
challenges they might havecurrently and what fears they
might have.
Of course, falling and fear offalling is an epidemic really.
(08:18):
But our caregivers then aregoing into the home and they're
helping with whichever of thosechallenges we've uncovered.
So it might be hands-onassistance for bathing, dressing
, grooming, transferring in andout of a bed, in and out of the
restroom.
Then, throughout the day wehelp keep the home neat and tidy
(08:39):
, make meals, make sure that ourclients are getting the
nutritional requirements metthrough food and water.
We can assist withtransportation-type services, so
either running errands for ourclient or ideally, if they want
to and are able to, helping themget out in the community and go
(08:59):
about their business.
And then the companionshipcomponent.
Many of our folks are alone fora majority of the time, and so
having the ability to get a goodmatch with a caregiver that
they like is a really cool thing.
Tanner Welsch (09:12):
That is very cool .
I don't know y'all did so much.
That's great.
Ian Klaes (09:16):
Yeah, I mean there are some nurse-delegated tasks
that we can do when appropriateand when state licensing
regulations allow, so we canassist with G2 care, feeding
components.
We're pretty limited on themedication side of things and
it's more about reminders andmaking sure that they're taking
(09:37):
them, but it's a pretty widerange of things that we are able
to help with.
Tanner Welsch (09:42):
For sure.
What would you say is maybe themain source that this gets paid
through?
Do people have some sort oflong-term care insurance or
something that mostly coversthis, or is it mostly out of
pocket?
How are your services paid forusually?
Ian Klaes (09:59):
85, 90% are probably all private pay.
So out of the clients' fundsthat they've saved over their
lifetime, long-term careinsurance does cover our service
, which is great.
It's just not tons of peoplethat have that.
For you and all your listeners,get it while you can, because
our care is super expensive.
(10:20):
I mean, I still don't know howour clients accumulated enough
wealth to be able to cover theservices, but two years ago
Medicare allowed their Advantageplans to start covering the
service.
The problem with that is thatit's very limited in the
reimbursement rate as well asthe hours that they authorize,
(10:41):
so it's still not a viable payresource to really go after
Playing with Medicaid.
They do cover provider-typeservices, but they for the most
part have pretty poorreimbursement rates and low
authorization of hours.
So we do really focus on ourprivate pay clients, including
those with long-term careinsurance, and then a lot of us
(11:03):
will work with VA as well.
They've gone through a lot ofchanges in the last three to
five years that have made themmuch better to work with,
because, I mean, our clients aresuper neat to take care of and
learn from and spend time with,but there's just a little extra
when they're a vet.
They're just a little kookier,I think.
Tanner Welsch (11:22):
Definitely, definitely Nice way to say it
yeah, so let's talk about whatwas the process of basically
getting signed up, so to speak,and starting the initial process
, and then how did you get to bethe vice president of the
franchise division?
Ian Klaes (11:37):
The process that I went through, that really anyone
who's interested in anyfranchise opportunity, whether
that's a caring senior serviceor a McDonald's.
There's a pretty standardprocess of initial conversations
with the franchisor.
It should be a two-wayqualification type process
because you know a franchisorwants to make sure that you have
(12:00):
the various qualifications thatthey're looking for, whether
that's, you know, a specificexperience in your career or, in
the McDonald's example, theyrequire a pretty hefty initial
investment.
So the ability to fund thatthing is part of the
qualification process.
But for you as a potentialfranchisee, you want to learn
all you can about the franchiseor company.
(12:22):
You know what their trainingprocess is like, how they
support their franchisees in theinitial startup, but also in
years three and three and beyond.
And then it's really importantto understand what the real
day-to-day is like in thatfranchise system.
The example where you love golfand you want to make a career
(12:44):
out of golf and so you open agolf retail store and then you
learn, oh no, I can't golfanymore because I got to, my
store needs to be open duringgolfing hours.
So there's certain things thatyou need to really understand
about the day-to-day to see howit fits with what you like to do
and how you want to spend yourtime.
Tanner Welsch (13:03):
Absolutely.
That's really great insight.
The best way to find that outis connecting with the franchise
that you're doing research on.
He thinks a good fit and thenI'm assuming the franchise will
also allow you to contact someof those individuals that are
franchise owners and talk alittle bit about their
experience and you can maybe doa Q&A or something with them and
(13:25):
get some feedback.
Ian Klaes (13:27):
Definitely, and I skipped a really big, important
part, which is the franchisedisclosure document, which is
really two parts.
First part is, in plain English, a lot of the background on the
franchise that you're speakingwith, and then the second part
is the actual franchiseagreement, and so within that
document you can learn about thefees, what is the cost to get
(13:48):
into this thing and then whatongoing fees might I encounter.
There's information on thebackground of the franchise or
what specific people areinvolved in it and what their
roles might be.
Every franchise system willhave specific requirements in
order to be part of that system.
And then also within thedocument is the list of all the
(14:08):
franchise owners, their contactinformation.
So franchise or will often tryto connect you or at least
assist in that connection, soyou can speak with the other
owners.
But you'll also have theability to just go down the list
and start calling folks.
Tanner Welsch (14:22):
I knew with a lot of them there was an initial
investment and or you have tohave a certain amount of assets
to be able to qualify because,again, the franchise owner wants
to make sure if, for whateverreason, this would fail, you
would be able to back up, beingable to get out of it and come
out okay.
But I didn't realize some ofthese other things where, with
(14:44):
the agreement that you'retalking about and they want to
connect you with other people,and the different fees
associated with differentfranchises and seeing the pros
and cons there a lot to diveinto and do some research on
what would you say your day today is like.
Ian Klaes (15:00):
I'll start with what it was like as a franchisee,
because that's how I first gotinto this.
Our system has very specificjob duties and roles that need
to be fulfilled.
They can be fulfilled byemployees, but often, when
you're first getting up andrunning, you're the owner and
you're filling one of those jobs.
(15:21):
My job was to be basically thesalesperson, which is not my cup
of tea.
I don't wake up in the morningand say, oh, I got to go do some
networking and sell some things.
I do enjoy being with peopleand talking with people.
I just had to get over my years,I guess, of just walking in and
starting to talk to.
Referral sources is who we getthe majority of our clients from
(15:45):
, people like a hospitaldischarge planner or intake
coordinator at a home healthagency.
Obviously, I was taught by thefranchise or how to do it, what
things they say, what questionsto ask.
You're just going to startshowing up basically on a weekly
basis and you're going to workto build a relationship with
these potential referral sourcesand then, of course, once they
(16:07):
refer someone to you, you got todeliver One.
I did, of course, want tosucceed, but I was really driven
by a fear of failure.
I don't know what I'm going todo, but I'm going to keep going
because I cannot make it.
Tanner Welsch (16:21):
So what were some things, I guess, at that time
that were really helpful for youfor getting through that
initial fears and stage ofreally doing something that you
really didn't have experiencedoing and you weren't initially
comfortable with because you'venever done it before.
What were some resources thathelped you get through that?
Ian Klaes (16:39):
Really, for the majority of it came from the
franchisor reviewing my effortsto try to generate referrals
from the community in El Paso.
They came to El Paso on twodifferent occasions to ride
along with me and help mefurther those relationships and
in those visits there we're ableto give constructive feedback
(17:02):
on really it's so much as askingquestions.
When you're first starting, ittakes time to be skilled enough
to be at the point where you canstill have that goal in mind
but you're also open to listenand truly hear what that
individual is speaking about.
Aside from being a businessowner and having the flexibility
(17:24):
that provides and the income,all the money opportunities, the
learning has been really thegreatest thing that I've gotten
from joining this system,because when you become a
franchise owner or really anysmall business owner, you have
to learn everything about allthe stuff that's involved in
running one of these things.
It's daunting but it's alsoreally cool from selling to how
(17:50):
to use different softwares, toHR, how to interview people, how
to manage but also lead socialmedia.
It goes on and on all thedifferent stuff.
So how did you?
Tanner Welsch (18:02):
go from there to getting to where you are now.
What was the process there?
What was the journey?
Ian Klaes (18:10):
So I got tricked there.
Tanner Welsch (18:11):
I got that tricked.
Ian Klaes (18:14):
I fell for it big time.
No, around month 10 and 11, wewere doing well, we really felt,
okay, I know how this thingworks now and I can do more of
it in other places.
So reached out to Jeff and histeam here at the franchise or
and said I want to add anotherlocation.
(18:35):
It was during thoseconversations that they said
essentially no, why don't youcome work with us?
And really, if I'm being honest, they didn't want me.
They wanted my wife to comejoin the team because we she and
I had done this franchisetogether.
So they recruited her to comebe in a general manager type
(18:57):
role to oversee corporate-ownedlocations, because she's really
strong operationally and greatat getting stuff done.
And they said we'll findsomething for you to do.
Sounds awesome.
Well, that sounds pretty wildand we fell for it, yeah for
sure.
Tanner Welsch (19:16):
So you had your first franchise for almost the
whole year talking 10, 11 monthsin, and they want you guys to
fit into the overall, I guess,corporate structure a little bit
differently.
Where did they end up puttingyou?
We know you weren't cleaning upthe toilets in the back office,
so where did you end up going?
Ian Klaes (19:36):
So it was actually a pretty good setup because we
opened in August and our son wasborn in October when we moved
to San Antonio.
He's still a baby, really, andso I got to spend two months
with him as we got settled inand found daycare and all that
stuff.
But the company was reallylooking to pursue its own
(19:57):
expansion, meaning not so muchfranchising but more opening
company locations andspecifically looking to do that
in partnership with home healthagencies, because home health
agencies to this day they all Ishouldn't say all many of them
want to or think that they canprovide this same service
(20:17):
because they're already seeingthese patients and they're
already seeing them in theirhome.
The problem is they typicallywill not adjust their business
model to what is needed.
They're used to working one tomany model where one skilled
individual goes and seesmultiple patients throughout a
day, whereas for us, everyclient needs at least one
caregiver and sometimes, ifthey're 24 hours a day, seven
(20:40):
days a week client of ours,they're going to need five to
seven different caregivers andso that's an entirely different
demand on the business and it'ssomething that a lot of home
health agencies fail at.
Tanner Welsch (20:53):
That's interesting.
I never thought about that.
I do have experience working inhome health and I will say,
usually the services that youguys provide often the home
health company doesn't provideand usually there's another
third party or somebody likeyour guys' self that comes in
and does those services.
Ian Klaes (21:11):
So that's what we knew that home health companies
wanted to do home care and theywere not good at it and so we
were going to target thosecompanies and try to form even
formal partnerships within.
Where you focus on the skilledcare that's what you're awesome
at Let us open a caring seniorservice home care agency.
You send your referrals to usand we'll also look to generate
(21:35):
additional clients from otherreferral sources.
Tanner Welsch (21:38):
It completely makes sense.
It's like a really greatpartnership, right.
Ian Klaes (21:42):
Every patient that receives care in the home should
at least have the opportunityto talk with a company like ours
, but especially for home health, and even more so today, where
they're financially penalizedfor any hospital readmission.
We're not going to stop all ofthose, but we can definitely
help eliminate some of them justthrough basic stuff making sure
their patient makes doctor'sappointments, making sure they
(22:05):
eat well and drink water andtake their meds on time.
I'm really basic things.
That was my first role and thenjust over time, we had an
opportunity to partner morespecifically on opening
additional locations, Jeff andmyself and then, as I proved
myself and as we worked moretogether, it just came to the
(22:26):
point where I'm now a minoritypartner in the franchise or a
company and he and I share a lotof the just overall leadership
components of running ourfranchise company.
Tanner Welsch (22:40):
If somebody is interested, if a listener is
interested in venturing off andstarting their own business, who
do you think will be good at,or good for, the franchise route
Open up a franchise and who doyou think would be good for not
doing the franchise and doingtheir own business without a
franchise?
Ian Klaes (22:58):
Both sides need to have that entrepreneurial spirit
and drive and willingness totake risks but also be self
starters and accountable to tothemselves, the folks that do
best in franchising.
They have that, and when theysee a business model that works
and are trained on it, theyimplement it and execute it.
(23:20):
When results don't come out asexpected, they don't necessarily
say the way you're doing thisis wrong.
They first say let me evaluatehow I went about this and see if
there was something that that Icould have done differently.
If you're going to invest in afranchise, exert all your effort
and energy and learning all youcan about it and how to do it
(23:43):
and what the folks that arethriving at it are doing, and
exert your effort there, becauseyou still will have opportunity
to try different things.
It's just making sure you talkthrough those different things
with the folks that have beenthere before you so you don't
make those the same mistakesthey make.
Tanner Welsch (24:01):
I've heard what you're saying similar from the
guy that we interviewed Kerry,from three, I think.
If so, three or four, I'll haveto put it in the show notes.
But it was instead of having togo out and figure everything
out on your own and discoverwhat business models work, what
doesn't, and trial and error Ifyou're starting something new
that maybe nobody's done, thefranchise route allows you to.
(24:23):
There's already support builtin.
There's already a bunch ofthings that are there to help
you succeed and help you be asuccess.
That goes with the franchisebackground.
They got everything alreadyfigured out for the business All
the legal documents, anythingthat you could probably think of
.
They have already done and have.
(24:44):
It's really just what you saidabout finding the right one for
you and learning what it is thatthey do, the business models
and then figuring out how tobest implement it and learning
those new skills to make ithappen.
Ian Klaes (24:55):
Franchising is such a there's been some bad ones out
there and I'm sure there's stillgoing to be more bad ones, but
when you're in a good systemit's so cool.
I could spend all my timetrying to figure out how to
build out these forms, or I canspend my time doing the value
add work, which, in our field,is spending time with your
clients, obviously, but alsospending time with your
(25:17):
caregivers and your referralsources.
The more that we can physicallyinteract with these people, the
bigger difference we'll make,both in their lives but also for
the business.
Then you have the support ofthe franchise, or that's, make
it as efficient as possible andeliminate as much of the
headaches as possible, so youcan do those things.
Tanner Welsch (25:38):
For sure, Absolutely.
What would you say is anopen-ended question.
What have you realized fromthis journey?
You're graduating from PTschool.
They're getting where you aretoday.
What have you realized that youdidn't know before?
Ian Klaes (25:52):
I think it's mostly that, even though I feel I'll be
contradicting because I've beentalking this whole time but the
more you can ask questions andlisten and learn from folks, the
better things will be.
Both personally andprofessionally, learning to
really be a great listener ispriceless.
Tanner Welsch (26:11):
For sure.
Do you have any bookrecommendations for listeners?
That can be how to start yourown business, or maybe something
about franchises or life ormanaging people.
It's open-ended, whatever.
If you don't have anything,that's okay.
Ian Klaes (26:26):
I've read a lot of the business specific books and
there's nuggets and all those.
Simon Sinek's Start With thewhy I think is a really good
book and it gets to justspeaking about listening but
then also speaking to thosethings that really matter to
people as opposed to what youthink might matter.
(26:46):
I thought that was a prettypowerful book For sure.
Tanner Welsch (26:50):
Ian, thank you so much for taking time to come on
and talk and show your journey.
Really appreciate it.
Thank you so much.
Ian Klaes (26:58):
Thank you, that was awesome.
Thanks for leading me Anytime.
Intro (27:02):
Thank you for listening to the Rehab Rebels podcast.
If this podcast was useful,make sure to hit that subscribe
button and leave a review.
For more information abouttransitioning to alternative
careers, head to rehabrebelsorgor follow us on Instagram at
Rehab Rebels podcast.
We'll see you next time.
Welcome to the Rehab Rebels podcast.
Are you a rehab professionalready to transition to an
alternative career?
Hear inspiring stories fromothers just like you and learn
the best ways to bridge yourcareer gap.
This podcast has you covered.
Now here's your host, doctor ofphysical therapy and podcaster,
tanner Welsh.
Tanner Welsch (00:21):
I'm really excited to have you come on the
show and hear about your journeyand your story as a vice
president, franchise division ofcarrying senior service.
We'd love to hear your journeyand how you got there.
But first what we'll do as wedo with all the guests that come
on is I'll have you introduceyourself, maybe where you went
(00:41):
to PT school, what you're doingnow, and then we'll lead and
fill in the gaps with how yougot there.
Ian Klaes (00:49):
Okay, ian Claes, I went to PT school at UTMB, so
the University of Texas MedicalBranch, in Galveston.
The program had recentlyconverted to master's degree, so
I was there from 95 to 98.
From there I went on this weirdjourney to end up in the
franchising world.
Tanner Welsch (01:10):
Yeah, it's so wild.
I think this episode three orfour there was a PTA who did the
same thing.
She branched off and did a hotworks franchise, I think with
some support from her husband.
But this franchise that you'rein is it's a senior care
facility and we'll get into thedetails of that here in a little
bit.
(01:30):
But how did you go fromgraduating from a PT school and
then eventually finding your wayinto where you are today?
Normally what I'll ask peopleis what made them shift or
change their job or their career.
They knew something wasn'tright and we dive into that.
So let's start with you fromthe beginning.
Can you talk a little bit aboutwhat you were doing right out
(01:53):
of PT school and then we'll leadup into how you got where you
are now?
Ian Klaes (01:58):
Sure, I sort of stumbled into my first real job
in PT.
I've played rugby for a verylong time and had some teammates
back in El Paso Texas where I'moriginally from who were on the
rugby team and also happen tobe PT's.
And one of them had an openingat a sports med clinic that he
(02:19):
was managing.
He had a need for somepart-time help and I jumped on
him because I've always beeninterested in, participated in
various athletics and felt thatI wanted to do sports med or at
least an ortho focus, and sothis was a great opportunity for
me to get my first real job.
Of course it wasn't enoughhours, it was part of a larger
(02:42):
system, so I was able to workpart-time there and then also
part-time at another outpatientclinic that the system had.
I eventually transitioned tothe hospital setting, also
within the same system, and fromthere it was a cool experience.
There was three PT's and threePTA's and we rotated floors
(03:02):
within the hospital.
So one month I'd be on in thegeneral hospital, the acute
setting.
They had a sniff in thehospital, so one month I'd work
in the sniff and then one monthI'd work in their outpatient
clinic, which was very heavywound care work.
It was a really greatexperience for me.
I got to you know, even thoughI was in the same building.
I got to work in a lot ofdifferent settings, different
(03:24):
patient populations.
From there I moved to SanAntonio, worked outpatient
clinics, got married, moved tovery northern California
actually on the border of Oregonit was Crescent City,
california and there I wasworking for a company that
staffed sniffs with the rehabdepartments.
My role there was rehabdirector for a sniff in
(03:46):
California.
I went in Oregon, so now I'm sofar away from sports med, but
I'm loving it.
I'm learning so much.
The patients were awesome.
They were just super gratefulthat I and the people I was
working with gave them so muchattention and that they were
hard workers.
They wouldn't mess around and itwas really fun.
But I was as the rehab director.
We had to optimize all theacuity levels for our patients
(04:10):
and make sure we were maximizingthe dollars for the sniff,
which wasn't too terrible.
But I was working a lot 50, 60hour weeks on the regular.
I was still enjoying it.
It wasn't terrible, but I wasbeginning during that time to
think, man, if I'm going to workso hard, I might as well work
hard for my own business.
(04:31):
That's where the franchiseopportunity, or dream, first
started percolating.
Tanner Welsch (04:37):
For sure.
So what page?
You decide to take that role,that director role in the
northern part of California andmanage the sniffs and all that?
What was the initial backstoryor reason behind making that
decision?
Ian Klaes (04:51):
The guy that recruited me was a neighbor of
my aunt and uncle in California.
This company was based, I thinkthey were based in Portland, so
they had contracts along thenorthwest coast.
But really it was for theadventure.
I'd been born and raised inTexas, spent all my time there,
and why don't I go to the oceanand the redwoods and try it out?
(05:12):
It was also a new opportunity,a more higher level management
position.
I use management looselybecause I worked with some great
therapists and really they justgave me their schedule and I
just tried to optimize that, soI wasn't doing anything.
Super amazing management style.
But really it was for theadventure.
Tanner Welsch (05:33):
Okay, that's fair .
I love that.
So, from there, what was thenext step to getting to where
you are now?
Ian Klaes (05:40):
We came back for a holiday vacation and while we
were here I knew that caringsenior service was headquartered
here.
I had made arrangements, letthem know that I had an interest
in learning more about theirfranchise opportunity and that I
wanted to come in and see them,and so I was able to arrange
really a day where theleadership here were able to
(06:03):
walk me through what the heck itwas that they were doing,
because I knew it was care inthe home, but it was non-medical
and there wasn't insuranceinvolved, and that was about the
extent of it.
I didn't really know many ofthe details as to what they were
doing.
Tanner Welsch (06:17):
Before we dive into that, what exactly they do
do in their services.
How did you even hear aboutthem in the first place?
Ian Klaes (06:24):
That was through rugby.
Tanner Welsch (06:25):
You and your rugby man.
Ian Klaes (06:27):
Me and my rugby.
It's like beer the cause of,and solution to all the life's
problems.
Rugby is also the cause of andsolution to many of life's
problems.
But yeah, actually the CEO andfounder of Caring Senior Service
was on my rugby team and hispartner, the one that really
helped establish the franchisecomponent, was also on the rugby
(06:47):
team.
I knew that they were doingsomething in home care.
It wasn't home health.
That's how I knew to reach outto them and shame on me, I
didn't look at any otherfranchise opportunities because
there were a few others in ourspace.
Obviously, I was comfortablewith them, but also, as I
learned more and did my studyingup on it, I became comfortable
(07:08):
with what the business was.
Tanner Welsch (07:09):
And it helps, without a doubt, that you
already have rapport or anyconnection with the founder and
the partner.
That totally makes sense.
What exactly are the servicesthat they provide?
And it's still not insurance atall.
It's not Medicare or Part A orPart B.
Let's dive into that.
What exactly do they offer anddon't they offer?
Ian Klaes (07:32):
It's assisted living support services, but in our
clients' homes, wherever home is.
We do provide caregiverservices to our clients who
might reside in a SNF, or theymight reside in an assisted
living facility, or they mightbe in a hospital for some amount
of time.
But it's support for all thetasks that one might need help
(07:57):
with in order to be able to stayhome and stay home safely.
We do an assessment with aclient and their family members
to try to determine where theirpain points might be, what
challenges they might havecurrently and what fears they
might have.
Of course, falling and fear offalling is an epidemic really.
(08:18):
But our caregivers then aregoing into the home and they're
helping with whichever of thosechallenges we've uncovered.
So it might be hands-onassistance for bathing, dressing
, grooming, transferring in andout of a bed, in and out of the
restroom.
Then, throughout the day wehelp keep the home neat and tidy
(08:39):
, make meals, make sure that ourclients are getting the
nutritional requirements metthrough food and water.
We can assist withtransportation-type services, so
either running errands for ourclient or ideally, if they want
to and are able to, helping themget out in the community and go
(08:59):
about their business.
And then the companionshipcomponent.
Many of our folks are alone fora majority of the time, and so
having the ability to get a goodmatch with a caregiver that
they like is a really cool thing.
Tanner Welsch (09:12):
That is very cool .
I don't know y'all did so much.
That's great.
Ian Klaes (09:16):
Yeah, I mean there are some nurse-delegated tasks
that we can do when appropriateand when state licensing
regulations allow, so we canassist with G2 care, feeding
components.
We're pretty limited on themedication side of things and
it's more about reminders andmaking sure that they're taking
(09:37):
them, but it's a pretty widerange of things that we are able
to help with.
Tanner Welsch (09:42):
For sure.
What would you say is maybe themain source that this gets paid
through?
Do people have some sort oflong-term care insurance or
something that mostly coversthis, or is it mostly out of
pocket?
How are your services paid forusually?
Ian Klaes (09:59):
85, 90% are probably all private pay.
So out of the clients' fundsthat they've saved over their
lifetime, long-term careinsurance does cover our service
, which is great.
It's just not tons of peoplethat have that.
For you and all your listeners,get it while you can, because
our care is super expensive.
(10:20):
I mean, I still don't know howour clients accumulated enough
wealth to be able to cover theservices, but two years ago
Medicare allowed their Advantageplans to start covering the
service.
The problem with that is thatit's very limited in the
reimbursement rate as well asthe hours that they authorize,
(10:41):
so it's still not a viable payresource to really go after
Playing with Medicaid.
They do cover provider-typeservices, but they for the most
part have pretty poorreimbursement rates and low
authorization of hours.
So we do really focus on ourprivate pay clients, including
those with long-term careinsurance, and then a lot of us
(11:03):
will work with VA as well.
They've gone through a lot ofchanges in the last three to
five years that have made themmuch better to work with,
because, I mean, our clients aresuper neat to take care of and
learn from and spend time with,but there's just a little extra
when they're a vet.
They're just a little kookier,I think.
Tanner Welsch (11:22):
Definitely, definitely Nice way to say it
yeah, so let's talk about whatwas the process of basically
getting signed up, so to speak,and starting the initial process
, and then how did you get to bethe vice president of the
franchise division?
Ian Klaes (11:37):
The process that I went through, that really anyone
who's interested in anyfranchise opportunity, whether
that's a caring senior serviceor a McDonald's.
There's a pretty standardprocess of initial conversations
with the franchisor.
It should be a two-wayqualification type process
because you know a franchisorwants to make sure that you have
(12:00):
the various qualifications thatthey're looking for, whether
that's, you know, a specificexperience in your career or, in
the McDonald's example, theyrequire a pretty hefty initial
investment.
So the ability to fund thatthing is part of the
qualification process.
But for you as a potentialfranchisee, you want to learn
all you can about the franchiseor company.
(12:22):
You know what their trainingprocess is like, how they
support their franchisees in theinitial startup, but also in
years three and three and beyond.
And then it's really importantto understand what the real
day-to-day is like in thatfranchise system.
The example where you love golfand you want to make a career
(12:44):
out of golf and so you open agolf retail store and then you
learn, oh no, I can't golfanymore because I got to, my
store needs to be open duringgolfing hours.
So there's certain things thatyou need to really understand
about the day-to-day to see howit fits with what you like to do
and how you want to spend yourtime.
Tanner Welsch (13:03):
Absolutely.
That's really great insight.
The best way to find that outis connecting with the franchise
that you're doing research on.
He thinks a good fit and thenI'm assuming the franchise will
also allow you to contact someof those individuals that are
franchise owners and talk alittle bit about their
experience and you can maybe doa Q&A or something with them and
(13:25):
get some feedback.
Ian Klaes (13:27):
Definitely, and I skipped a really big, important
part, which is the franchisedisclosure document, which is
really two parts.
First part is, in plain English, a lot of the background on the
franchise that you're speakingwith, and then the second part
is the actual franchiseagreement, and so within that
document you can learn about thefees, what is the cost to get
(13:48):
into this thing and then whatongoing fees might I encounter.
There's information on thebackground of the franchise or
what specific people areinvolved in it and what their
roles might be.
Every franchise system willhave specific requirements in
order to be part of that system.
And then also within thedocument is the list of all the
(14:08):
franchise owners, their contactinformation.
So franchise or will often tryto connect you or at least
assist in that connection, soyou can speak with the other
owners.
But you'll also have theability to just go down the list
and start calling folks.
Tanner Welsch (14:22):
I knew with a lot of them there was an initial
investment and or you have tohave a certain amount of assets
to be able to qualify because,again, the franchise owner wants
to make sure if, for whateverreason, this would fail, you
would be able to back up, beingable to get out of it and come
out okay.
But I didn't realize some ofthese other things where, with
(14:44):
the agreement that you'retalking about and they want to
connect you with other people,and the different fees
associated with differentfranchises and seeing the pros
and cons there a lot to diveinto and do some research on
what would you say your day today is like.
Ian Klaes (15:00):
I'll start with what it was like as a franchisee,
because that's how I first gotinto this.
Our system has very specificjob duties and roles that need
to be fulfilled.
They can be fulfilled byemployees, but often, when
you're first getting up andrunning, you're the owner and
you're filling one of those jobs.
(15:21):
My job was to be basically thesalesperson, which is not my cup
of tea.
I don't wake up in the morningand say, oh, I got to go do some
networking and sell some things.
I do enjoy being with peopleand talking with people.
I just had to get over my years,I guess, of just walking in and
starting to talk to.
Referral sources is who we getthe majority of our clients from
(15:45):
, people like a hospitaldischarge planner or intake
coordinator at a home healthagency.
Obviously, I was taught by thefranchise or how to do it, what
things they say, what questionsto ask.
You're just going to startshowing up basically on a weekly
basis and you're going to workto build a relationship with
these potential referral sourcesand then, of course, once they
(16:07):
refer someone to you, you got todeliver One.
I did, of course, want tosucceed, but I was really driven
by a fear of failure.
I don't know what I'm going todo, but I'm going to keep going
because I cannot make it.
Tanner Welsch (16:21):
So what were some things, I guess, at that time
that were really helpful for youfor getting through that
initial fears and stage ofreally doing something that you
really didn't have experiencedoing and you weren't initially
comfortable with because you'venever done it before.
What were some resources thathelped you get through that?
Ian Klaes (16:39):
Really, for the majority of it came from the
franchisor reviewing my effortsto try to generate referrals
from the community in El Paso.
They came to El Paso on twodifferent occasions to ride
along with me and help mefurther those relationships and
in those visits there we're ableto give constructive feedback
(17:02):
on really it's so much as askingquestions.
When you're first starting, ittakes time to be skilled enough
to be at the point where you canstill have that goal in mind
but you're also open to listenand truly hear what that
individual is speaking about.
Aside from being a businessowner and having the flexibility
(17:24):
that provides and the income,all the money opportunities, the
learning has been really thegreatest thing that I've gotten
from joining this system,because when you become a
franchise owner or really anysmall business owner, you have
to learn everything about allthe stuff that's involved in
running one of these things.
It's daunting but it's alsoreally cool from selling to how
(17:50):
to use different softwares, toHR, how to interview people, how
to manage but also lead socialmedia.
It goes on and on all thedifferent stuff.
So how did you?
Tanner Welsch (18:02):
go from there to getting to where you are now.
What was the process there?
What was the journey?
Ian Klaes (18:10):
So I got tricked there.
Tanner Welsch (18:11):
I got that tricked.
Ian Klaes (18:14):
I fell for it big time.
No, around month 10 and 11, wewere doing well, we really felt,
okay, I know how this thingworks now and I can do more of
it in other places.
So reached out to Jeff and histeam here at the franchise or
and said I want to add anotherlocation.
(18:35):
It was during thoseconversations that they said
essentially no, why don't youcome work with us?
And really, if I'm being honest, they didn't want me.
They wanted my wife to comejoin the team because we she and
I had done this franchisetogether.
So they recruited her to comebe in a general manager type
(18:57):
role to oversee corporate-ownedlocations, because she's really
strong operationally and greatat getting stuff done.
And they said we'll findsomething for you to do.
Sounds awesome.
Well, that sounds pretty wildand we fell for it, yeah for
sure.
Tanner Welsch (19:16):
So you had your first franchise for almost the
whole year talking 10, 11 monthsin, and they want you guys to
fit into the overall, I guess,corporate structure a little bit
differently.
Where did they end up puttingyou?
We know you weren't cleaning upthe toilets in the back office,
so where did you end up going?
Ian Klaes (19:36):
So it was actually a pretty good setup because we
opened in August and our son wasborn in October when we moved
to San Antonio.
He's still a baby, really, andso I got to spend two months
with him as we got settled inand found daycare and all that
stuff.
But the company was reallylooking to pursue its own
(19:57):
expansion, meaning not so muchfranchising but more opening
company locations andspecifically looking to do that
in partnership with home healthagencies, because home health
agencies to this day they all Ishouldn't say all many of them
want to or think that they canprovide this same service
(20:17):
because they're already seeingthese patients and they're
already seeing them in theirhome.
The problem is they typicallywill not adjust their business
model to what is needed.
They're used to working one tomany model where one skilled
individual goes and seesmultiple patients throughout a
day, whereas for us, everyclient needs at least one
caregiver and sometimes, ifthey're 24 hours a day, seven
(20:40):
days a week client of ours,they're going to need five to
seven different caregivers andso that's an entirely different
demand on the business and it'ssomething that a lot of home
health agencies fail at.
Tanner Welsch (20:53):
That's interesting.
I never thought about that.
I do have experience working inhome health and I will say,
usually the services that youguys provide often the home
health company doesn't provideand usually there's another
third party or somebody likeyour guys' self that comes in
and does those services.
Ian Klaes (21:11):
So that's what we knew that home health companies
wanted to do home care and theywere not good at it and so we
were going to target thosecompanies and try to form even
formal partnerships within.
Where you focus on the skilledcare that's what you're awesome
at Let us open a caring seniorservice home care agency.
You send your referrals to usand we'll also look to generate
(21:35):
additional clients from otherreferral sources.
Tanner Welsch (21:38):
It completely makes sense.
It's like a really greatpartnership, right.
Ian Klaes (21:42):
Every patient that receives care in the home should
at least have the opportunityto talk with a company like ours
, but especially for home health, and even more so today, where
they're financially penalizedfor any hospital readmission.
We're not going to stop all ofthose, but we can definitely
help eliminate some of them justthrough basic stuff making sure
their patient makes doctor'sappointments, making sure they
(22:05):
eat well and drink water andtake their meds on time.
I'm really basic things.
That was my first role and thenjust over time, we had an
opportunity to partner morespecifically on opening
additional locations, Jeff andmyself and then, as I proved
myself and as we worked moretogether, it just came to the
(22:26):
point where I'm now a minoritypartner in the franchise or a
company and he and I share a lotof the just overall leadership
components of running ourfranchise company.
Tanner Welsch (22:40):
If somebody is interested, if a listener is
interested in venturing off andstarting their own business, who
do you think will be good at,or good for, the franchise route
Open up a franchise and who doyou think would be good for not
doing the franchise and doingtheir own business without a
franchise?
Ian Klaes (22:58):
Both sides need to have that entrepreneurial spirit
and drive and willingness totake risks but also be self
starters and accountable to tothemselves, the folks that do
best in franchising.
They have that, and when theysee a business model that works
and are trained on it, theyimplement it and execute it.
(23:20):
When results don't come out asexpected, they don't necessarily
say the way you're doing thisis wrong.
They first say let me evaluatehow I went about this and see if
there was something that that Icould have done differently.
If you're going to invest in afranchise, exert all your effort
and energy and learning all youcan about it and how to do it
(23:43):
and what the folks that arethriving at it are doing, and
exert your effort there, becauseyou still will have opportunity
to try different things.
It's just making sure you talkthrough those different things
with the folks that have beenthere before you so you don't
make those the same mistakesthey make.
Tanner Welsch (24:01):
I've heard what you're saying similar from the
guy that we interviewed Kerry,from three, I think.
If so, three or four, I'll haveto put it in the show notes.
But it was instead of having togo out and figure everything
out on your own and discoverwhat business models work, what
doesn't, and trial and error Ifyou're starting something new
that maybe nobody's done, thefranchise route allows you to.
(24:23):
There's already support builtin.
There's already a bunch ofthings that are there to help
you succeed and help you be asuccess.
That goes with the franchisebackground.
They got everything alreadyfigured out for the business All
the legal documents, anythingthat you could probably think of
.
They have already done and have.
(24:44):
It's really just what you saidabout finding the right one for
you and learning what it is thatthey do, the business models
and then figuring out how tobest implement it and learning
those new skills to make ithappen.
Ian Klaes (24:55):
Franchising is such a there's been some bad ones out
there and I'm sure there's stillgoing to be more bad ones, but
when you're in a good systemit's so cool.
I could spend all my timetrying to figure out how to
build out these forms, or I canspend my time doing the value
add work, which, in our field,is spending time with your
clients, obviously, but alsospending time with your
(25:17):
caregivers and your referralsources.
The more that we can physicallyinteract with these people, the
bigger difference we'll make,both in their lives but also for
the business.
Then you have the support ofthe franchise, or that's, make
it as efficient as possible andeliminate as much of the
headaches as possible, so youcan do those things.
Tanner Welsch (25:38):
For sure, Absolutely.
What would you say is anopen-ended question.
What have you realized fromthis journey?
You're graduating from PTschool.
They're getting where you aretoday.
What have you realized that youdidn't know before?
Ian Klaes (25:52):
I think it's mostly that, even though I feel I'll be
contradicting because I've beentalking this whole time but the
more you can ask questions andlisten and learn from folks, the
better things will be.
Both personally andprofessionally, learning to
really be a great listener ispriceless.
Tanner Welsch (26:11):
For sure.
Do you have any bookrecommendations for listeners?
That can be how to start yourown business, or maybe something
about franchises or life ormanaging people.
It's open-ended, whatever.
If you don't have anything,that's okay.
Ian Klaes (26:26):
I've read a lot of the business specific books and
there's nuggets and all those.
Simon Sinek's Start With thewhy I think is a really good
book and it gets to justspeaking about listening but
then also speaking to thosethings that really matter to
people as opposed to what youthink might matter.
(26:46):
I thought that was a prettypowerful book For sure.
Tanner Welsch (26:50):
Ian, thank you so much for taking time to come on
and talk and show your journey.
Really appreciate it.
Thank you so much.
Ian Klaes (26:58):
Thank you, that was awesome.
Thanks for leading me Anytime.
Intro (27:02):
Thank you for listening to the Rehab Rebels podcast.
If this podcast was useful,make sure to hit that subscribe
button and leave a review.
For more information abouttransitioning to alternative
careers, head to rehabrebelsorgor follow us on Instagram at
Rehab Rebels podcast.
We'll see you next time.
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