Q&A: Seniors Helping Seniors Franchise Partner Shares His Experience Entering Home Care

After a career in technology consulting, Dadong Wan has found a greater sense of purpose as a franchise partner.

In a previous story, HealthLeaders reported on the growth that Seniors Helping Seniors, a home care franchise, has experience so far this year. The key to this growth has been finding potential partners who are passionate and energized to deliver high-quality care to seniors, according to Dave Wagner, franchise consultant.

HealthLeaders spoke with one such franchise partner, Dadong Wan, about his experience entering the home care sector thus far and the process for becoming a franchise partner for Seniors Helping Seniors.

The following transcript has been edited for brevity and clarity.

HealthLeaders: What drew you to home health care, specifically Seniors Helping Seniors?

Dadong Wan: I had a family situation where I had to take care of a relative. I went through the process of finding a caregiver for them, while I moved from Chicago to Dallas, and it turned out to be a pretty challenging situation.

Also, I did a project for my previous employer where I looked at aging in place. I know the general trend and demographics with baby boomers and how our healthcare system is ill prepared for this—the silver tsunami. There's just a huge increase of demand.

I wanted to move away from technology, really focusing on human connections and just happened to be working with a business coach. I shared with him what I was looking for and the project I did, and he said, "Well, have you heard of Seniors Helping Seniors?"

I thought that the name sounded interesting, and then he recounted the story about our founder and that just blew me away. I'd love to be part of a community that is compassionate and caring about the most vulnerable part of our population.

HL: When did you open your location?

Wan: I signed the contract at the end of January and it took me about three to four weeks for me to get a state license from the state of Texas. I got it in early March and then began ownership training. I was ready to hire caregivers in April, and I just signed a third client.

HL: How many caregivers do you have on staff?

Wan: I have around 15 or so caregivers. I'm very happy about where we are. Most are seniors themselves, retired teachers and nurses.

Since it's "seniors helping seniors," meaning that we are hiring seniors, most of them are retired themselves. If we look at the demographics, as an industry, homecare has shortages because they're looking for younger caregivers and they are in short supply.

But if you look at people who are near the retirement age, they are underemployed and they are the ones who have time.

HL: What was the process for joining the franchise?

Wan: Once I decided on Seniors Helping Seniors, my business coach directed me to a marketing company that represents it and other franchises. There was a process called “discovery,” where I had multiple calls with existing franchise partners and some of their management team to understand their business model.

It took about a month to give me insight into the business, and then if I felt comfortable I'd sign the franchise agreement. From that point onward I just had to go through the state business licensing process.

That's the beauty of the franchise system. They have the formula, which has been proven to work, so we don't have to reinvent the wheel.

HL: How often do you communicate with corporate now that your location is up and running?

Wan: We get assigned a coach from the corporate level. Every week we have a session where I can get guidance, advice about what needs to be done and how to course correct. There are different things we see while working, so the corporate coach makes sure that we're doing the right things and making progress, meeting our goals.

I can call anyone at the corporate level, from the president to the CEO, any time.

HL: What has been the most rewarding part of your experience, so far?

Wan: Hiring my first caregiver and getting our first client. Our first caregiver is a retired teacher and our first client is a retired artist who came to us because she needed someone to help her while gardening for a few hours at a time. The caregiver lives 10 minutes away from her, so it was a great match.

We had them meet and they were able to develop a connection like normal friends, and that just blew me away. The three of us took a picture together, and it was just the most rewarding thing. The best reward.

HL: What's your advice for someone considering becoming a home care franchise partner?

Wan: First, as a business owner, if you want to open a business in this space, make sure you find the right franchise system that has the right model.

Find something that resonates at your heart level. Not because your demographic translators show there's money to be made. The financial part will take care of itself. The important thing is that you care about the lives you touch.