How Right at Home ‘Spun On A Dime’ to Provide Franchisees Clarity, Security and a Ton of Masks and Gloves Amid a Pandemic Crisis

When the COVID-19 outbreak became a pandemic in mid-March, in-home care for seniors and adults with disabilities franchise Right at Home had a tough decision to make: wait for things to go back to “normal,” or start figuring out how to make their business work during the Great Pandemic.

“We were in the same boat as literally every other business and company across the globe,” Right at Home Senior Director of Franchise Development Jen Chaney said. “We faced something nobody saw coming, that had never been experienced before. It’s been a learning curve.”

Facing the unknown, Chaney and the Right at Home team could either wait for federal and local governments to tell them how to respond to a rapidly-changing health care business, or plot their own course.

“They spun on a dime,” franchise owner Renee Concialdi said of Right at Home. Concialdi said the corporate office had always been responsive, but under the intense pressure of the looming pandemic and global shutdown the brand’s leadership really started to shine.

“We made 100% sure we put our franchisees first,” said Chaney. “The first thing we did was deploy a COVID-19 task force of executive team members as well as other department team members. They met twice a day, every single day, as well as once over the weekend, taking only one day off a week. That lasted for weeks.”

As a way to be fully transparent and keep its franchisees informed about the state of the brand, Right at Home created a series of weekly town hall meetings and separate state and regional meetings for franchisees to network, share best practices and understand how corporate would continue to support them.

Additionally, Right at Home launched a series of webinars with experts in medicine and law, and created an online resource center filled with resources and tools to assist franchise owners with COVID-19 best practices. Corporate also launched four Facebook groups where franchisees could share information and tips while monitoring local and state-level developments.

While the CDC and WHO were still publicly debating whether or not Americans needed to mask up, Right at Home corporate was sourcing masks, gloves and other personal protective equipment to franchisees,  caregivers, and clients who came to view each other as family.

“Corporate usually doesn’t provide us with supplies, but because personal protective equipment (PPE) was so hard to find, not only did they go out and buy masks and gloves and send them out, they created an extensive Excel sheet of resources. Corporate did all the sourcing for us,” said Concialdi.

For Right at Home’s leadership, providing the PPE was a matter of duty, not dollars.

“We didn’t want our franchisees to exhaust all their time and energy sourcing PPE,” said Chaney. “With economies of scale, we were able to get our hands on enough PPE to provide this resource directly to our owners.”

During a time when many Americans could scarcely find disinfectant wipes or hand sanitizer in stores, Right at Homemade sure their caregivers would “never be without proper PPE.”

Overall, the pandemic forced Right at Home to innovate and raise corporate communications to a level unheard of before COVID-19. “Never let a crisis go to waste,” said Chaney.

When business took a hit as a result of the pandemic, Concialdi estimated anywhere between a 15–30% decline in demand as seniors fearing the virus opted to go without in-home care. Right at Home supported the franchisees by suspending brand and royalty fees at the height of the crisis.

Later, when Congress eventually acted to make Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans available, Right at Home brought in an expert to help franchisees like Concialdi grab ahold of this lifeline. By immersing herself in the programs offered by corporate, Concialdi quickly broke out as a star franchisee, a resource for her employees, fellow franchisees and her local community.

“I could be in a vacuum very easily if not for the network provided by Right at Home,” said Concialdi. “But I have this very large, successful, high-value, high-ethics company helping me to understand where I fit in the scheme of the whole system.”

Not satisfied with simply putting out fires, Right at Home’s corporate team came up with several out-of-the-box solutions to the downturn in business and regulatory confusion. The business development team explored getting Right at Home staffers to work at big box retailers. The team planned to have Right at Home workers clock paid hours providing COVID-19 screenings at the door for big box retail stores that were screening customers upon entry.

Furthermore, Right at Home’s CEO Brian Petranick used his presence in the Home Care Association of America to lobby local lawmakers for favorable legislation and to help franchisees predict what may happen with pending legislation and regulations. 

The business of providing at-home care for seniors and adults with disabilities bonds caregivers to customers in a way that mirrors family. In its tireless efforts to provide for its franchisees, employees and customers, Right at Home has shown every bit of the urgency and duty you would expect from family members.

“A majority of retail type businesses usually close when faced with downturn and hardships like the pandemic,” said Concialdi. “But it’s all about business health, being smart and working really closely with the corporate office — feeding them every idea and question to help them help us. And they’re always very positive and encouraging with those questions.”

After the herculean effort to provide clarity and protection in a time of confusion and danger, Chaney said she’s “very proud to be working for Right at Home.”

“Everything we did internally was through the lens of putting our franchise owners first: making sure they’re educated, up to speed, and that we’re openly communicating,” she said.