Do you have strong business acumen and a desire to give back to others? If so, you may have considered starting a care home. If you’re after a little help starting a home care business, we have a quick-fire start-up guide for you.
Create A Care Home Business Plan
Assuming you’ve already found the property, the first thing to do is establish a careful and thorough business plan for your care home. What are your goals, objectives and mission for the home? If you’re yet to find a property, it’s wise to check that it’s close to good transport links so it’s easily accessible for visitors.
There’s also all the essential day to day elements you’ll need to consider, such as finding utility and insurance providers, working out how many residents you can house and how many staff members you’ll need (that’s care assistants, nurses, cooks, cleaners, office staff, etc).
Of course, you’ll also need to name the business and create a marketing plan to attract new residents over your competition. Make sure you have a plan for every little element of the business before opening so that you and your team are fully prepared.
Work Out Costs
There’s a lot of upfront cost that goes into setting up a care home, plus lots of regular outgoings once you do open. Based on your above business plan, you can start working out your costings and set pricing based on your profit margin and competition in the area. Be realistic in your planning and take your time to get it right.
Register with the CQC
In England, you must be registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to run a residential care home. There’s no registration fee, but you will need to pay an annual membership, which is something to consider in your costings. As well as approving your application, the CQC will regularly inspect your home to ensure it meets “fundamental standards of quality and safety” in areas such as person-centred care, dignity and respect, staffing, safety and more.
As part of the registration process and compliance requirements, you must appoint a CQC registered manager. This person in your business is the main point of contact for the CQC and is there to oversee both day-to-day and long-term management of your organisation’s regulatory and compliance areas.
Care 4 Quality. Ltd
We know that you’re setting out to open the very best care home possible, but it takes a lot of work to get the ‘outstanding’ CQC rating you want. That’s why our team are on hand to help with ongoing CQC support, ensuring your business remains compliant. We can establish a tailor-made plan for you, ranging from a full suite of policies and procedures to a mock CQC inspection. We’ll stay with you throughout your journey and even update your policies to meet regulation and requirement changes, to maintain those high standards you expect.
For more information about how we can assist you with the set-up of your care home an , get in touch with the Care 4 Quality. team today.
