[00:00:06] Speaker A: Hello, everybody, and welcome to another episode of All Things Considered Franchising. I am your host and founder of all Things Considered franchising, Scotty Milas. All things considered franchising is powered by ScottmylasFranchisecoach.com. At all Things Considered franchising, we focus, focus in on the entrepreneur. People who are interested in getting into business ownership, concentrating on franchise opportunities. We step outside the box every once in a while. ScottmylasFranchisecoach.com is a consulting organization that I founded about seven, eight years ago that helps people develop that roadmap and introducing them to opportunities that fit the services, guidance, and education that we provide both at all things considered franchising and Scott Milo's franchise coach are absolutely at no cost to our, you know, I have been around the block for a long time in this industry, and there are certain people you come across that are really kind of under the radar, but that have really put a significant impact into franchising. And I want to welcome to the show Jeff Beavis, Certified Franchise executive. And also right now he is the chief Operating Officer over caring senior service. And Jeff and I have kind of a similar background because we both started in this industry in operations. Although Jeff was the smart one, he continued in operations and I went into development. So, Jeff, welcome to the show. Scotty, thanks for having know you have an interesting background. Like I said, it's kind of similar to me is the operational side. And I think know I have found with my clients and why I kind of stress with my clients as they kind of go through that validation. A lot of people want to focus in on the validation as a numbers thing. How much can I sell or how much is the item 19 I going to sell? And what I try to do is educate to my clients that, yes, numbers are important, but it's really the operational side of a franchise. The operational support marketing falls under there. So your expertise is appreciated today. So tell us a little bit about caring service and your background in the industry, and then we'll kind of go from there.
[00:02:22] Speaker B: Sure. Thank you. So, caring senior service. We have 61 territories in 17 states today. Been franchising for 21 years, Scotty. So an established brand, but never really gave the franchising focus. So been operating for 33 years. So we were building the brand without franchising for twelve or 13 years. First, I've been in franchising for 38 years.
[00:02:51] Speaker A: That's, wow.
[00:02:52] Speaker B: Hard to say because I feel like I shouldn't be 29, but 38 years, seven different brands, five different industries, started, as you mentioned, at Ops in the truck rental and car rental world.
[00:03:06] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:03:07] Speaker B: Franchise.
[00:03:07] Speaker A: Interesting. Wow.
You have also spent some time helping people guidance research. On the consulting side, I'd imagine you're still in it. As potential franchisees come in to research the brand, our listening audience is a good percentage of people who are contemplating whether to come into franchising. Do I want to be a business owner? If I want to be a business owner, do I want to get into franchising? I mean, a lot of people think of franchising. They think of McDonald's and Subway. So there's a lot outside that box. So kind of putting your thoughts, your experiences together. If somebody is considering franchising, investing in a franchise, obviously there are many benefits. What are the advantages right now and continue to be in the senior care market.
It's a booming industry.
The population continues to age even as we come out of the baby boom industry. Baby boomer time frame. So tell us a little bit about the industry and what you're seeing in the senior care market.
[00:04:21] Speaker B: Absolutely. So I have been in the home care industry, the franchise world, the last 21 years. So I have seen a lot of change. And to your point, Scotty? Yes, the industry is booming, no pun intended.
But this next 20 years, it's actually slated to grow even faster. So we've experienced tremendous growth these last 20 years. But because of the aging populatioN, because of the desire for people to stay in their own homes as long as they possibly can and to keep it more affordable, those are some of the key, key drivers. We've got demographics at our back. Aging baby boomers at our back are all wins that are really helping drive this entire industry. Folks may think it's saturated or, gosh, there's a lot of different brands. It's not even close to saturation. In fact, we're having a hard time keeping up with the demand itself.
That's interesting because there are so many potential clients.
[00:05:19] Speaker A: That is interesting that you're keeping up with demand.
I try to educate my clients that having a high demand and even touching on a saturated market is a good thing. As an owner, you just have to be a little bit better than everybody else or the people that you're competing against.
One of the things that I like to focus in on with my clients is a need, not a want. And senior care, home care comes into that need category.
Your organization focuses on non evasive type programs for seniors. Tell us a little bit more about those programs and services that you offer.
[00:06:01] Speaker B: So the home care industry, Scotty is kind of divided into home health, which is skilled care with nurses and home care like us at caring senior service that does non medical, or as you said, non invasive services. So we're providing meal preparation, errands, lighthousekeeping, companionship, also what's called personal care. So helping with bathing, feeding, grooming and continents care, but all non invasive. So these are not nurses, these are caregivers, home care aides, certified nursing assistants, but it's much longer time frames. So where nurses go in for 15, 30, 45 minutes at a time, we're in for hours every day or hours every single week. So big, big difference. And I think because of that, the market, the overall demand just continues to increase as well, because everybody, when they reach a point in age, really wants or needs that type of additional assistance.
[00:07:03] Speaker A: That's interesting. Your franchisees, you mentioned 61 territories, 17 states. Pretty good achievement over the time frame as you start to really aggressively start offering franchising. But where are you seeing your franchisees coming from? The characteristics of your franchisees? Any similarities between franchisees in those 61 territories? I mean, if somebody is listening to us today and they're saying, hey, I don't know if this fits in, where are you seeing the background? What kind of franchisee are you looking for at the organization to bring on board to award a franchise?
[00:07:48] Speaker B: Well, I think, first of all, there's a common thread that many of our franchisees have experienced the need for this type of care themselves, for a mother, father, grandparent, aunt, uncle, family member. And that oftentimes enables them to discover our industry, if you will.
So that's one common thread. The other common thread is really, there's no single or even small group of occupations, Scotty, we've got teachers, telecom, banking, engineering, sales and marketing HR backgrounds. So it's really a business where if you have strong management skills, great organizational skills, presentation skills, communication skills, which can come, as you know, from any real business, and you want to give back to the community, you want to create and have a purpose driven service, this is a great, great business. So it really encompasses many, many different backgrounds and just those core skills that people can bring from almost any prior experience.
[00:08:55] Speaker A: One of the common questions that I get in any organization or franchise that has what we call w two employees or contractors is how to go about getting labor today.
Again, I think a lot of this is blown up, in my personal opinion, but it is a question, and I'm sure it's a question some people that are listening to this are saying to themselves, okay, well, great. It sounds. Yeah, I get the need part, but how do I find the people to bring under my umbrella to work with me and not with somebody else? Maybe talk a little bit about that component and if what services that you're providing as an organization, that operational support that helps people with the hiring, whether it's w two hour league, some contractors, sure.
[00:09:46] Speaker B: This is the big, big area for us because as we mentioned earlier, Scotty, the demand is there. Our biggest challenge as an industry is labor. And it's not really quantity, it's quality. Having enough quality caregivers. All of our caregivers are all direct employees, so they're all w two of the franchisees, no. 1099 or contract employees. And that's just to make sure the quality of the person going into the home to help the senior or the disabled population has had a background criminal credit check and is very reliable. Overall, we find our caregivers through what we call more grassroots recruiting. We do use job boards, but as you probably know or have seen the stats, the job board turnover numbers are pretty horrific, 80%. So we see grassroots recruiting as being the key and that's how we've been successful. So going into local markets, churches, nursing schools, community colleges, those are the big drivers of really trying to keep up with the quality caregivers. Overall. We do provide a great service that's very unique to caring. It's called our hub services, where we will field incoming inquiries, email or phone for the franchisees on behalf of recruiting or even services. So we try to take that off the franchise owner's plate.
[00:11:14] Speaker A: Interesting. A couple last questions here. In regarding the brand itself, a lot of people today are looking to get in involved in businesses that are work from home. From my understanding of the home care category, that most states require some type of remote office so that files can be locked up, those confidential files. As far as employees, is that still the case with your organization?
[00:11:47] Speaker B: Yes, it is. And it's also for interviewing purposes primarily. I mean, you're exactly right on the file side. But also when you're interviewing caregivers, it's pretty tough to do that from a private address. So just having a small storefront doesn't have to be retail space, typically 800 to 1000 sqft. It's more for interviewing and training.
[00:12:11] Speaker A: So it could be kind of a workspace share rent. The workspace share? Absolutely. Not necessarily going there every day maybe, but at least being able to conduct the interviews and the other requirements that states may have that certain practices be done in an office and not in a good, good. We're talking with Jeff Beavis, who is a certified franchise executive, CFE, also chief operating officer of caring senior service franchise opportunity. I'm Scotty Miles, the host of All Things Considered franchising. Jeff, let's switch gears a little bit.
You have a lot of expertise in the franchising industry. You've seen a lot of changes in the franchising industry, the labor movement. We've all seen that. What's been going on in California. But we touched on this earlier in the conversation that franchising is still a very strong option for people who are looking to get into business or even to diversify a portfolio. I mean, I work with a lot of people that are multi brand operators. Where are you seeing the industry today? Where are you seeing its strengths?
Are you still a believer that this is a strong, viable option for the entrepreneur? And if somebody is considering what kind of skill sets or mindset should someone have coming into the investigative process?
[00:13:41] Speaker B: This is absolutely still a vibrant industry. And I think franchising as a whole is still very much a great opportunity for the right, as you said, the right mindset and what people are really looking for. I think we would both agree, Scotty, it's not for everybody. If you're looking to follow a system, follow a proven model, be part of a brand, be part of a network, have a lot of peer to peer best practice sharing, that's exactly the wheelhouse for a franchise, or especially a successful franchise or.
But again, it's not for everybody. So if somebody really wants to go it on their own, build it their way, build it from scratch, which you and I both probably know takes actually more time.
[00:14:26] Speaker A: Oh, yeah.
[00:14:28] Speaker B: Then franchising is not for that person. But most of the people we talk to at caring senior service understand that, or at least quickly in our initial conversations, we're able to reinforce the fact if that's really the benefit of franchise versus independent, our industry, just as an aside, the home care industry, we're still, almost half of our industry is mom and pop independence. So just again, based on keeping up with increasing demand. But we do think those independents are opportunities to potentially convert, to become.
[00:15:04] Speaker A: That's what I was saying. So you would consider a conversion, somebody that has an independent business in the services that you provide, that would be looking for a little bit stronger support, guidance, that marketing plan, that operational support that we had touched on, that is a viable option for people?
[00:15:22] Speaker B: Yes, because it's really a matter in the franchising world. You're in business for yourself, not by yourself. Right. So if you're an independent. You're out there on your own, so you have to go find your own resources. I think, again, that's one of the many benefits of being part of a franchise system, is you're not in it alone. You're able to work with your fellow owners, work with the franchise, or get all that added support.
[00:15:47] Speaker A: Yeah, I kind of chuckle every once in a while when I have that conversation with a client who says the reason I don't want to consider a franchise is because of the royalties. And I go, well, do you think if you owned your own business as an independent, you're not paying royalties? Well, no, I'm not. I said, you're right, you're not paying royalties, but you're paying that royalty another way. You still need to spend your time, money and energy and efforts developing your systems, and you're going to need somebody to pay somebody to manage those systems and best practices in a royalty. That's what the franchiseor is doing it. So it's kind of give and take. Do you want to sit behind your desk developing everything, or do you want to sit behind your desk and manage and delegate the business and build the business? So it's an interesting topic, Jeff, if somebody was interested to learning more about the organization, is there a website that they can go to, someone they can contact? I mean, obviously they can reach out to me directly, but anywhere they should go. I mean, LinkedIn website, anything you want to share with us at this point?
[00:16:56] Speaker B: Yes, thank you. So they would absolutely go to caringsniorservice.com. Would be one source. Scotty, we also have caring senior service franchise.
I would be happy to speak with anybody myself. I'm at JBeavus Bevis at Caringinc, Inc. As in I N C.com. We also have Del Salinas, who is our director of franchise development at
[email protected]. And we both have, again, strong LinkedIn presence. So we welcome the fact of just having conversations, whether it be email or phone or video call, just to try to help candidates who are trying to figure out is franchising right for me? If so, is there a sector, an industry, a brand? Because you know as well as I do that's really nine tenths of the battle, is trying to make sure that we help people find the right fit, the right match of what they're looking for. That fits their actual background too.
[00:17:57] Speaker A: Right? And I always tell my clients, put yourself in a position to educate yourself, come from a position of strength to make a sound and validated decision. By educating yourself, it's okay to say no.
A lot of people think that once you start talking to a franchise development person or recruiter, sometimes they're known as development or someone like me, that there's going to be this strong armed tactics.
Do you want red or white, and do you want it on Wednesday or Thursday? Well, most people don't understand that it could take 90 to 120 days before someone can come to a validated decision. And of course, the brand deciding, a lot of people have to remember that franchises are awarded.
Just because you have the financial means doesn't mean that you're going to be accepted or awarded a franchise. Jeff, I appreciate your time. We hope we can get you back six months from now and get us caught up on the brand. But any closing statements, anything you'd like to share before we sign off here?
[00:19:02] Speaker B: Scotty, it's been my pleasure, my honor, to join you today. Maybe just one parting comment to tail on to. What you just said is, again, if people just take the time to find the right fit, it is oftentimes the item 19, the financials and numbers, but it's also culture and leadership and operational platform, operational support, and just make sure that they are finding the right fit for them based on the industry and the brand.
[00:19:33] Speaker A: That's great advice. And it's really funny because I just got done doing an analytical report with my clients over the last 24 months, and I've been doing this a lot longer than 24 months. But 78% of my clients who I started with that thought they wanted X ended up investing in something in Y, totally outside of what they thought they wanted. And after building that model, that roadmap, and really taking a deeper dive, and surprisingly, some of those people went into senior care and they didn't think it. So you're absolutely right. Take the time to research and learn about the organization. Don't worry about the numbers. The numbers will come. I always tell people, make believe. You're walking into a bar and you're sitting next to somebody, and the first question they ask you is, well, how much money do you make? Well, you'll probably get up and go to the other side of the bar. Well, it's the same, so. But anyway, Jeff, we appreciate your time. Like I said, I hope we get you back. We've been talking to Jeff Beavis, certified franchise executive and chief operating office over at Karen's senior service. I am your host, Scotty Milas, of all things considered, franchising and owner and CEO of ScottMilosFranchisecoach.com if anybody is interested in reaching out to me, feel free to check me out on LinkedIn. You can email me.
[email protected] and of course, check out all the episodes and podcasts that we have on allthingsconideredfranchising.com. This is Scotty Milas. Until next time, make it a great day.
