In home senior care is one of America’s fastest-growing industries. That’s made in home care one of the top industries for franchising in recent years. But growing demand breeds competition, and some franchise systems are more competitive than others. So if you’re looking at in home care franchise opportunities like Visiting Angels^®, you should be asking yourself: How will I grow my business?

Within the home care sector, franchisors have varied growth strategies for franchises. Some franchise systems are focused solely on core services. They’re positioned to meet the rising need for basic care, but they aren’t positioned for other growth opportunities. As the market for home care diversifies, franchisees with these brands will be unable to serve clients with specialized needs.

Other in home care franchise opportunities are positioned for wider growth. Instead of focusing solely on their core service offerings, these franchisors see broader potential as the market for care scales upward.

Two Avenues to Growth for In Home Care Franchise Opportunities

STRATEGIES BASED ON VERTICAL CATEGORY GROWTH

Most in home care franchise opportunities are based around the promise of vertical category growth. As the number of seniors within the U.S. grows, demand for in home care will rise. Many franchisors treat “in home care” as a single service category. As demand for this service category grows, in home care franchises have an expanding market for their services.

In home care franchise opportunities can tap into vertical category growth by scaling their core service model. If an agency offers companion care and personal care services, a strategy based around vertical category growth involves scaling up these services. You hire more caregivers. You add more administrative staff. You structure your business to manage a higher workload.

This is what most entrepreneurs talk about when they’re discussing scalability. And for good reason: it works.

But as the market for senior care services expands, there are other growth opportunities for senior care franchises. If an in home care franchise opportunity is only built for vertical category growth, it won’t be able to seize these broader opportunities.

STRATEGIES BASED ON HORIZONTAL CATEGORY GROWTH

Fewer in home care franchise opportunities are built to accommodate horizontal category growth. This kind of growth strategy targets new product or service categories within a growing market segment. For home care providers, this means looking for new service opportunities within the broader segment of in home care and related service categories.

Before the Baby Boomer wave, agencies couldn’t afford to provide certain types of in home care. In most markets, demand simply wasn’t there to support these kinds of services, such as in home Alzheimer’s care, post-hospital transitional care, or fall prevention programs. But with more U.S. seniors, demand for these services has increased.

This has allowed providers to diversify their care offerings horizontally and vertically.

In doing so, these providers have further expanded their local markets for in home care. Once a tipping point is reached where these kinds of services are financially viable, the pool of potential care recipients grows. Seniors with specialized care needs now have access to high-quality care, while seniors with standard care needs continue to drive the overall market.

Providers also benefit from a give-and-take relationship between their core service offerings and these specialized programs. Clients who start with basic care services often require specialized care, like dementia care, in later years. Other clients start with specialized care, such as online technology assistance or fall prevention programs, but later graduate to companion care or personal care.

Growth Opportunities with a Visiting Angels In Home Care Franchise

At Visiting Angels, we believe in providing our franchisees with multi-faceted tools and multi-directional strategies for growing their businesses.

Like other in home care franchise opportunities, a Visiting Angels franchise offers extraordinary potential for vertical category growth in today’s rapidly growing home care market. But unlike many other home care franchisors, we also provide robust opportunity for horizontal category growth.

Over the past several years, we’ve expanded our care offerings to include specialized programs for memory care, transitional care, fall prevention, technology assistance, and more. Our franchisees can opt into the programs that make the most sense for their market and their business.

This allows new franchisees to focus on vertical category growth until they reach the point where they can support more service offerings. It also gives franchisees the option of tailoring their services to their market or their business plan. In doing so, they can meet the unique needs of their community or operate within a specific niche.

Learn more about in home care franchise opportunities with Visiting Angels by calling 800-365-4189 today or by requesting information online.