(Replay) Ask the Home Care Expert LIVE Q&A

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:12):
All right, how's everybody doing. Welcome to the live broadcast.
Trying to see I'm not sure if we're actually live. Yes,
we are fantastic, all right, so thank you everyone for
joining us today. We are actually going to answer a

(00:34):
couple of questions that are that we're asking the comment
section to another video. All right, So first and foremost,
if you haven't already, don't forget here. Where are we?
We are here, hit the subscribe button and the notification bell.

(00:55):
Thank you for being here. So let's let's take a look. Okay,
so can you make a video regarding systems and dealing
with call offs? All right? Well this came from someone
who goes by the handle Crafting nurse. How's it going,

(01:16):
Crafting Nurse? So the if you're watching the replay, thanks
thanks for leaving the comment. So here is here's what
it comes down to. I will talk about systems today.
I already recorded the video for our ten minute homecare
training that gets published on Thursdays, and I specifically addressed

(01:42):
the call off issue that on that recording, So keep
an eye out for that. That'll be live tomorrow morning.
Let's see. I think this is better with the lights,
all right. So systems. We all need systems, Well, we

(02:03):
don't need them. We should have systems in place. Okay.
So this is what it comes down to when when
we're trying to create a system, what you need to
do is take a very good look at the overview
of what you're trying to accomplish. So let's say our
goal is open a home care comp agency. That's our
first goal over here. Okay, So our bigger goal, our

(02:26):
big picture goal, is create a business that will generate
four hundred thousand dollars worth of revenue under private pay
services within by the end of the first year. Great,
so now we have our goal. So now let's take
one step down from there. So here's our revenue goal

(02:49):
of four hundred thousand or yeah. Okay, So our next
goal is, well, what how are we going to get there?
That is our next question. Okay. So as we are
looking to see how we're going to get there, we're
going to break it down. Okay. So that means we

(03:10):
need to do recruiting, we need to do business development
in marketing, and we need to do operations. That those
are the three pillars that we have to build or
build upon in order to successfully have a business that

(03:32):
we'll make four hundred thousand. So now let's take each
one of those three pillars and break them down. We're
going to start with the most common one, and that
is going to be marketing and business development. So those
are actually in and of itself. We're now going to
do two separate pillars there, Okay. One for business development.

(03:52):
That is the stuff that we are going to work
on that is going to help grow our business through
organic word of mouth referrals. Okay, that that is where
somebody's gonna physically go and contact people that will refer
other people and end users to us. Okay, Then we're

(04:15):
going to take a look at the marketing piece. So
now here we are, let's go again. We have our
top goal of four hundred thousand revenue in year one. Okay,
then we have our three pillars, and now we're taking
each one down and now we're going to continue to
break these items down until till we get to the

(04:39):
specific activity. So now let's take the business development piece
and the marketing piece. So now let's look at the
marketing piece. Okay, So what needs to happen during marketing
in order for us to get clients? We have to
create content, We have to create ads, and we have
to get them up on the intern in strategic places. Okay,

(05:02):
so that's further down. Now, let's get it even Let's
get this down even more. What is going to be
our our strategy for social media? Okay, So now we've
we're just really making a tree and coming down and
getting down until we get to a specific set of tasks. Okay,

(05:23):
that needs to happen. So social media, that's that's where
we're gonna go. Okay, and this is where you start
building your system. How often do you need to post
to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram LinkedIn? What type of posts will
be created? Who is going to be responsible? Okay? It's

(05:47):
this is the process right here. So you start with
your big goal, you break it down to the simplest tasks,
and then step one, who's gonna do it? Ask yourself?
Who's going to do it? I don't care if you're
a one man show at this point. Could you could
be in one of the states like Ohio, Michigan, Arizona,

(06:12):
or a couple of other ones that you don't really
need a license to do private pay and you could
just sit there and say, Okay, today we are opening
up a home care business. I'm gonna hang out my
shingle right next to my mailbox that it's going to

(06:34):
be Julio's home care, and I am going to sit
down and say now it's time to do it. But
guess what. I hate creating social media ads. I hate
doing Facebook ads. Crap, What am I going to do now?
I'm just not gonna do it wrong. This is why
the first thing you need to do is decide who's

(06:57):
going to do it. Best advice I give all my
clients when it comes to when we start working with
them to plan with them, to help create a system
for how they're going to run their office is write
down everything you can think of that you would have
to do on a day to day basis in your business. Everything,

(07:17):
it doesn't matter if it's your activity somebody else's activity.
Everything from unlocking the door, setting the alarm, sweeping up, vacuuming,
taking the trash out, getting business, managing your caregivers, talking
to clients, all of it. All of this, everything you

(07:38):
can think of, make big categories for it. Then check
off everything you do not want to do, whatever you
hate to do that needs a system first. If you
don't want to do it yourself and you can't really
afford to hire somebody full time to do it, that's fine,
not a problem. There are a lot of companies out

(08:00):
there that will help you. You got fiver, upworks, Craigslist,
start putting ads, start putting out ads, just ads. There
you go. If you can't really afford to do it
that way, well barter go to go to like let's say,
let's say you need headshots or for whatever for a
nice professional, professional looking linked in, Well, go out there

(08:25):
and start talking to photographers. Hey, listen, you know do
your parents need home care? And barter with them. I
will give you x amount of hours. Don't ever discount
your price, but I will give you x amount of
hours worth of service at no cost in exchange for

(08:45):
a full battery of professional headshots and professional shots for
my business that I can use for social media advertising. Okay,
if you need flyers designed the A lot of photographers
do graphic design. If not, find another one that does.
And this is how you start working it. Find ways

(09:06):
to get the jobs done. Now. Again, I'm not advocating
for starting businesses on that type of a budget, especially
when it comes to businesses like this where you kind
of need that cash flow and need to understand how
cash flow goes. But I'm also not ignorant to the
fact that there's a lot of people that want to
start a business. They've lost their jobs, they're on a

(09:28):
limited budget, and this is a way around a lot
of this stuff. Just do it, get it done. But
even if you are outsourcing it, there needs to be
a system in place to do this. How is the
person that is doing the job going to understand what
your expectations are if you don't let them know. So,
if I want a Facebook ad created for me, I

(09:52):
need a graphic designer. If I want this to include
my image, I need the pictures. But what do I
want all of this to look like? Who is going
to do it? What time framed? Do I expect it
to get done? Eventually You're going to walk away from
this particular task, and then what Okay, Then once you

(10:14):
walked away from this particular task, somebody else is going
to be doing it, and that again adds a whole
other layer to this. And this is why the system
is important, because as you walk away from it, somebody
else needs to be able to step in and be
able to follow a manual. Okay, this is what it
looks like. This is what needs to look like. This
is the budget, this is the allocated time scent, and

(10:35):
this is how we have to make it happen. Okay.
And this is what systems are about. You have to
break that big goal down into all these tiny little
goals and then figure out how you're going to get
them done. Make sure that you understand clearly how you

(10:55):
want it done, and then make it so someone else
can replicate what you're doing. If your system is not clear,
if your system is not easy to follow, and if
your system is not easily understood and replicated by another person,
it is going to fail. Does not mean that you

(11:17):
can't adjust it along the way. It's just how it works.
I cannot expect you to do things one way and
Billy down the street to do it another way. If
I want the exact same results, I have to allow
or create certain guidelines that will allow these things to happen. Okay,

(11:40):
And this is what's going to eventually give you the
success you want, the profits you want, because you have
something that'll be replicable. You will have because I don't
know about anyone else, but I know me personally. I
went into business for myself because I just didn't want
to have to answer to somebody all the time. I

(12:01):
wanted to be able to make my own schedule and
want to be able to work with people and get
that satisfaction of knowing I'm helping others. I cannot do
this if I am following someone else's lead. So therefore
I was you know, I need to make sure that
I have things in place. Give me a moment. I

(12:27):
need to make sure that I have things in place
that will allow me that freedom to do it. So
when I'm not able to be in the office, I
have staff that I know will address the issues as
I need them addressed. Okay, I know that my staff
will arrive and open the office at a certain time.

(12:47):
I know that the alarm will be set. I know
that they that they will answer the phones in a
particular way. I know that when appointments come in and
intakes come in, that they'll be handled in a particular way.
That the follow up process that I have will be followed.
I know that the sales efforts from my marketers will
be followed in a particular way. I know that if

(13:09):
I am unable to go out and do marketing efforts
myself for whatever reason, that there are clear instructions on
how to do it and what the expectations is are
and what the expected results are. I have clear KPIs
in place, which KPIs for those of you that don't know,
are key performance indicators, so that I know what to do.

(13:33):
I also have my checks and balances in place, and
clear accountability for my staff. So if I am out
on vacation at Disney with my kids, I can just
very literally open up my laptop or my smartphone and
I can go into the back end of the systems
that I have and I can see what's going on.
I can hold a meeting from far away and I

(13:55):
can have my staff present the reports. Why because they
know what we're works to present and those are systems. Okay,
and that is your system. This is how it works.
You know. This is what makes the franchise model very successful. Okay,
And that's great. But when you're running an independent doesn't

(14:17):
mean you can't have one in place. It just means
you have to create one that is customer specific to
you and how you run things and how you expect
things to work. See, this is going to eliminate a
lot of things. Number one, it's going to reduce the
likelihood of your staff leaving and your business falling apart.
This is very common in home care especially. Yeah, people

(14:44):
put all their eggs in one basket. They'll have that
one person that becomes the face of the company, and
they get terrified. Oh, if X y Z leaves, what's
going to happen? My company is going to fall apart.
All no one else knows how to do it. How
they know. All you've done is you've created a business
partner without the profit share, I mean. And they're really

(15:04):
going to rake you over the calls anyway, because if,
for example, if I am your office manager, and I'm
the one doing your closings, and I'm the one doing
your business development, and I'm the one who puts out
fires with the clients, and I'm the one who puts
out fires with the caregivers, and that you know, and
I've ingrained myself in so many avenues of your business,

(15:26):
I already know that all I have to do is
go up to you and say, well, you either give
me twenty thousand dollars raise or I'll go find some
other work, or screw it. I'll just leave and sit home.
Who cares your business will fall apart without me? And
I won't be wrong. So I'm holding you hostage. Don't
let anyone else have that much control of your business.
Do not let your business fall apart if you're not there.

(15:47):
Do not become a slave to your agency, and understand
put systems in place. So that is our video for today.
I hope this information was very useful to you. You guys,
please don't forget to give this video thumbs up if
you enjoyed the information, and give us a like in
the comments section below, I will be adding in the

(16:11):
some information. Join our Facebook group. There'll be a link
in there also. And also, please, if you want to
submit a question, you can either leave it in the
comments so that we know and we'll address it on
our next live video. Or you can submit the form.
There's a form that I'll leave the link to. It's

(16:31):
a Google Documents form. You just go on there fill
it in. You can ask up three questions, be very specific,
and I will happily answer them for you on our
next live video. Also, if you want help on or
you kind of want a strategy session, I do book
three thirty minute discovery calls to see if we're a
good fit. I don't work with everybody, and I don't

(16:54):
expect everybody to want to work with me, so I
like to have a nice conversation first and figure out
if we're a good match. If we are, we do
offer strategy calls. I'm not sure if at the time
that you're watching this they'll still be on sale or not,
but they are at the time of the recording, and
you can just go on the website and take a

(17:15):
look at that. And we also offer different coaching and
consulting packages to help bring your business to the next level.
Just remember this is you know, the morning meeting is
brought to you by Brown's Consulting Group, which is my company,
and you know we're here to help you prepare, plan
and rebuild accordingly. All right, So until next time, thank
you all. You have a great day, stay safe out there,

(17:37):
and just remember business is actually supposed to be about
improving your life, not becoming a slave to your desk.
Take care of each other and enjoy your day.