The Visiting Angels Difference
Owning a business can be one of the most challenging and yet most rewarding experiences of your life. There is a real thrill that comes from knowing you are in charge of your own destiny. The harder you work the more you are likely to succeed. Knowing your future is in your hands is empowering, but it can also be frightening. Many entrepreneurs choose the path of franchise ownership because it combines the benefits of being a business owner with the assistance of experienced professionals.
However, even franchise ownership can come with challenges. At Visiting Angels, we want to minimize the difficulties our franchise owners face. We’ve compiled a list of some of the most common struggles of franchise ownership and how Visiting Angels meets those challenges.
Cost Prohibitive Startup Costs
The Visiting Angels Difference: Whether you’re opening your own business or purchasing a home care franchise, startup costs are always top of mind. Many entrepreneurs turn to franchising as a way to minimize startup costs. However, with average franchise startup costs running as high as $250,000, it can be shocking to realize how costly it is to open a franchise.
At Visiting Angels, we are proud to offer affordable startup fees that make owning one of our senior home care franchises possible. Compared to other franchise program’s single unit start up fees, ours is quite low.
Excessive Royalty Fees
The Visiting Angels Difference: Royalty fees shouldn’t cripple a franchisee or the location’s ability to be profitable. With a Visiting Angels home care franchise, your royalty fee is just 3.5%. As your volume of business increases, your royalty fee can drop as low as 2%.
Inexperienced Home Office Team
The Visiting Angels Difference: Visiting Angels has a strong leadership team with vast knowledge and experience in the home care industry. Each of our Directors has owned or owned and operated a home care agency. Our leadership team has decades of experience behind them. The Visiting Angels home office team is always happy to share their personal and professional experiences with owning a home care franchise. As part of the Visiting Angels family, you’ll have access to the knowledge, experience and the wisdom gained over as many as 30 years in the home care industry.
Encroachment
The Visiting Angels Difference: Every business faces competition within the market. What you shouldn’t face is competition from your own franchise system. Each Visiting Angels location enjoys a protected territory. The standard protected Visiting Angels territory includes a population of 200,000. Our home care franchisees are able to advertise and accept clients throughout their metro area without having to buy additional home care franchise locations.
Lack of Initial and/or Ongoing Training
The Visiting Angels Difference: As you vet home care franchise offerings, a training program may not be at the top of your must have list, but it should be. When you open your doors, you need to be ready to hit the ground running. A comprehensive initial training program can mean the difference between initial success and a struggling business.
As a Visiting Angels franchisee you will attend a full week of initial training program to get you started on the right foot. The initial training program is reinforced with a full year of continuing education with our exclusive Visiting Angels University program. And in addition, take advantage of one-on-one consultations with our Operations Team, regional group meetings, and our annual franchisee conference. With Visiting Angels, you’ll also have support from our experienced home office team and your fellow franchisees to help you grow your business.
Unproven Marketing Strategies
The Visiting Angels Difference: A less experienced franchise system may still be experimenting to find the right mix of advertising outlets to gain attention at the national and local levels. Visiting Angels has been serving the home care needs of seniors and the disabled since 1998. Our proven marketing plan ensures national brand recognition. As a home care franchise owner with Visiting Angels, you can take advantage of our solid internet presence, PR initiatives and Co-Op advertising programs.
Visiting Angels franchisees have access to our proprietary Marketing and Advertising Manual which provides a blueprint for marketing and advertising their location and home care services. You won’t be left to develop your own creative marketing pieces; the tools you need for success are already in place. New and updated marketing pieces are regularly released to ensure you have the professional advantage you need to compete locally.
Lack of Support from Home Office
The Visiting Angels Difference: One of the advantages of owning a home care franchise is that you can build on the knowledge and successes of those who came before you. Visiting Angels franchisees enjoy the benefits of working with a supportive home office. Our experienced leadership team is available to answer questions and trouble shoot challenges. The Operations team is available for one-on-one support and leads regular regional group meetings where franchisees can share successes and look to their peers for advice.
Difficulty Generating Viable Leads
The Visiting Angels Difference: Generating viable leads is a challenge every business faces. Our national advertising program is designed to capture leads from across the country which are then distributed to our home care franchise owners. Leads are generated via our website, national public relations campaigns, and national advertising initiatives. We operate a national call center that processes incoming calls 24/7. Those leads are distributed to the nearest Visiting Angels franchise location. Combine our national marketing initiatives with your own local efforts for a wealth of leads that you can convert into new customers.
Choosing the home care franchise that is best for you is a very personal decision. We encourage you to carefully consider all your options before choosing a home care franchise. Talk to the leadership team and call and visit current franchisees before making your decision.
