Why This Senior Care Service Industry Expert Added TruBlue Total House Care to His Portfolio

TruBlue Total House Care, the 80-plus unit home maintenance and handyman franchise, is seeing significant growth as the demand for aging in place among seniors booms following the COVID-19 pandemic. TruBlue believes that aging in place starts with a safe home, and the company offers ongoing in-home support to help seniors remain at home for as long as possible. With this, the brand fills a major gap in the senior care industry, which is why more and more senior care business owners recognize TruBlue as a valuable add-on to their existing senior care portfolio. 

TruBlue owner Jeff Pittman, for example, came from an entrepreneurial background in the senior care industry. After graduating from culinary school, Pittman started working in assisted living and long-term care facilities, helping them with their dietary departments. He continued this path for 15 years before deciding it was time for something new. 

“I was in a lot of meetings with people from the senior care industry, and I started to notice there was a real shortage of transportation options to get residents to and from appointments,” said Pittman. “I decided to do something about it myself and started a non-emergency medical transport company that would move residents from facilities to appointments via wheelchair and ambulatory.” 

Pittman grew his senior care business, called Carolina Mobile Transport, to about 10 vehicles and contracted with multiple hospitals in the area to provide patient transportation. When COVID-19 hit, Pittman says his business dropped as the clientele weren’t regularly leaving the facility to attend in-person appointments anymore. 

“We went from about 50 to 60 transports a day to only four or five,” said Pittman. “That gave me time to think about moving in a different direction, but I still wanted to stay in the field of helping seniors.”

While researching other senior care business opportunities, Pittman came across TruBlue. “It had everything I was looking for and seemed like the perfect fit because of my background in long-term senior care,” he said. “We heard a lot about the house maintenance seniors needed to be able to continue to age safely and comfortably at home. I was thinking about taking on that need by myself when I found TruBlue. Our community is having a huge building boom, especially for retirees, and TruBlue allows me to help them enjoy those homes for as long as possible.”

Pittman officially opened his TruBlue business in July of 2021. And as someone who had experience starting a senior care business from scratch, he says he immediately recognized the benefits of investing in a franchise concept. 

“It was already set up with a proven business model,” Pittman said. “I’ve had the business for a little over a year, and I know that if I didn’t go the franchise route, I would still be trying to get myself off the ground. The support is there for you, and I was able to establish myself quickly in my community.”

Now, Pittman says the past year has been great, and he is excited to continue growing alongside the TruBlue brand. “Every day, the TruBlue team is adding vendors and partnerships to help make those programs work, and we are seeing the result of it as we receive more calls,” he said. “Just in the past few weeks, I’ve had double the calls I would normally have.”

Although Pittman has sold his transportation business to focus on growing TruBlue, he can still leverage his existing team and infrastructure in the Wilmington senior community. The ease at which existing senior care operators can add TruBlue to their portfolio and bring a much-needed service to their clientele is part of the reason why many established senior care business owners like Pittman are deciding to sign on with the franchise. 

Looking ahead, TruBlue is actively seeking new franchise owners in markets across the country and has identified Orlando, Miami, Jacksonville and Naples, Florida, as well as Dallas, Houston and Austin, Texas, as key development markets.

The total investment estimate for a TruBlue Total House Care franchise ranges from $65,050–$91,400. To learn more about franchising with TruBlue, please visit https://trubluefranchise.com/.