What Makes a Great Right at Home Franchisee: Adaptability, Care, and Commitment

Right at Home, the in-home care franchise with over 700 units across the United States and  five other countries, has built a strong network of dedicated owners and caregivers. For many, their work in the industry is a calling, and they feel driven to consistently improve through relationship building, adaptable support, and a commitment to knowing and treating their clients like family. This is the case for two of the brand's most successful franchisees, Beau Green, who owns locations in Kentucky, Alabama, and Tennessee, and Paul Blom, who has established a robust network of caregivers in Minnesota.

In a business as personal as in-home care, it is important that each caregiver, leader, administrative employee and any other members of the support team recognize the value of their impact and truly care about the people they serve. This is the standard among Right at Home owners and employees, and the commitment to quality care shines through in every conversation.

“After looking at a number of different franchises, Right at Home just had the right people,” said Green. “When I spoke with franchisees in the validation process, it was always a person I could be friends with and listen to. People that I called about the business are now people that I call my dearest friends. We’ve been really tenacious in the business, and I’ve loved it.”

A Career Shift for Caring Hearts

Right at Home franchisees come from a variety of backgrounds and bring diverse life experiences to the business. While there is no single profession that sets a new franchisee up to succeed, there is a common trait: genuine care and interest in the business and its purpose. For many owners, this comes in the form of an impactful personal experience with a need for in-home care.

Blom’s experience of care was shaped heavily by the passing of his grandmother in his early childhood. Though he pursued multiple different positions in his teen and young adult years, including running a newspaper route and mowing lawns, the community care aspect always crept back in.

“I started a lawn mowing business and mowed elderly people’s lawns,” explained Blom. “I had clients with which that job kind of morphed from just mowing the lawn to mowing the lawn and going to pick up groceries or mowing the lawn and vacuuming the living room — I was doing all kinds of other things.”

Blom’s willingness to help out when needed has been a consistent trait in his career development, even before he owned a business focused on such service.

After completing his degree, Blom and his husband moved to a neighborhood that was heavily saturated with elderly neighbors. Blom rekindled his love for supporting others, and his husband became a valuable part of the team, too. 

Very quickly, the pair’s willingness to lend a hand was noticed. Blom joked that neighbors would come knocking on the door asking, “Boys, are you home? I brought cookies!” “Bringing cookies was the tell that they needed us to do something, but we didn’t mind,” he added. Soon, his mother-in-law took note of the trend and suggested the pair look into going into business in an official capacity. After inquiring with Right at Home and feeling immediately welcomed, Blom and his husband purchased their Minnesota territory. They were the third franchisees to join Right at Home and have spent more than 20 years growing their business and helping their community.

The pair illustrates the power of having a deep connection to the Right at Home mission and the people it serves. Whether you’ve experienced in-home care needs within your family or simply always find yourself jumping in to help, a servant spirit is a key component to succeeding with Right at Home.

Green has a similar transition story with a background that lies in the intersection of healthcare, technology, and relationships. Though he long thought he’d like to find himself in healthcare, not being a clinician meant he would need to take a bit of an alternate route. At just 30 years old, he began his search for a franchise and found Right at Home. 

“It was the right people with the right feel,” said Green, “and I decided to start with my first location in Birmingham, Alabama.”

Green put an emphasis on strong training, systems, and relationships — both internally and externally — early in the process to ensure he was priming the company to scale in line with his dreams. In just 12 years, he has scaled to 10 franchise territories that serve a one-hour radius surrounding the Nashville, Birmingham, Tuscaloosa, Huntsville, and Montgomery areas.

For Green, success comes from having the right people and clearly communicating the right expectations. With this, he creates a level of consumer confidence that allows families to feel comfortable welcoming the team into their homes and relying on each caregiver. In an important industry where clients’ needs can be ever-changing, it is important that owners are able to communicate clearly and adapt on short notice to overcome any hurdles.

“We talk to every caregiver every single day,” said Green. “By having those conversations, what we're trying to create is a level of consumer confidence that starts internally. If our caregivers have confidence in the care plan and what they’re providing, they enter a client’s home educated and fully understanding what is needed from them for the client to be adequately cared for. Without the right people, you can’t expand the business.”

Finding Success with Commitment to Quality Care 

After a combined decades spent in the Right at Home business, Blom and Green have been able to determine both what works best for their own businesses and watch as fellow franchisees differentiate themselves through service. Through the experience and observation, both men have determined that a true commitment to quality care, no matter what that looks like, and a willingness and ability to build a strong, nimble team allow Right at Home teams to serve their clients while driving the business forward.

“One of the themes I see in terms of people who are successful in this business is a balance between business acumen and wanting to do this because you want to do the right thing — because you really have a heart for helping families navigate this,” explained Blom. “I think the people who are the most successful will spend as much time on the phone talking to a family that will never end up using their services as they do talking to someone who does. The mindset is, ‘I’m here to help you, whether that’s with my service or by connecting you with a colleague in the industry who would be better suited to help your family.’ That’s a really, really big part of it.”

Notably, being in the business for an extended period of time also lends itself to franchisees needing to adapt. Just as the needs of a specific client can change at any moment, the needs and demands of the larger industry are not static. Using a GPS for real-time directions and route updates rather than an antiquated, static map, Green explained, keeps the team up to date and prepared to tackle any challenges

“We communicate the routine and pillars of the business with our caregivers, but it’s not a one-time print-out that says ‘Here’s the plan,’” added Green. “What we’re doing collectively — as a system, with peers, with the corporate team, with coaches, and with the strategic council — is functioning as a GPS that is always rerouting. With this business model, we have the vehicle, tires, and gas we need to move forward. That positions us well in healthcare, but we have to leverage that GPS to make sure we get to where we’re going, regardless of new or unexpected circumstances.”

If you're interested in taking the next step in making a difference in your community as a Right at Home franchisee, visit https://rightathomefranchise.com/