One of the things that stands out to me when I reflect on the last 11-plus years in business as a consultant to the home care industry is that too many agency owners stay in this business longer than they should. I understand why they do. There’s fear of the unknown. There’s the thought process of, “I’m making good money. Why should I do something else?” There is, “I don’t have the energy to start over with something new.” And then there is the thought, “My business is supposed to be my retirement. If I sell my company today, I won’t have enough money for me to live the rest of my life.” All of these reasons are good reasons. However, if you answer yes to any of the 3 questions below, you seriously need to consider selling your business now.
Do I Hate Caregivers?
First, if you hate caregivers, you need to exit immediately! It sounds like hate is a strong word. However, I can tell you one of the things that has been more eye-opening and disheartening as a consultant to this industry is the number of business owners I have spoken to whose behaviors indicate that they hate caregivers. If you hear yourself always blaming caregivers for the reasons why you can’t do something, if you are constantly complaining about caregivers and the challenges they bring, then this business simply is not the right business for you.
It’s also important to notice if you hear it in your staff’s language. If they are constantly complaining about caregivers, that is probably because they have heard it from you. Our staff follow the direction we are leading them. Business owners who value and appreciate caregivers often have staff that do so as well. I’ve been on the phone with many business owners over the years where I’ve spoken to them, and they’ve told me about their disdain for caregivers. I’ve said to them, “I don’t think you should be in this business anymore because if you don’t love the people doing the work for you, then you should do something else.”
There are other things that you can do if you don’t love the workforce, but in order to be successful in this business, you have to love caregivers. And that means dealing with all of the challenges that they bring. I know caregivers have flaws, (don’t we all?) but for every caregiver that drives us crazy, four other caregivers are reliable, dependent, care about their patients, take their jobs seriously, and want to do a good job. You have to love those people and weed through all of the bad ones to find them. But if you find yourself in a situation where you really cannot stand caregivers any longer, you cannot take the excuses and the challenges that come with managing them, the call-outs, no-shows, the disappearing, if you’re frustrated with that and you’ve reached a boiling point where you cannot think of anything positive about caregivers, that’s when it’s time for you to move on.
Am I Burnt Out?
The next one is when you have burned out from all of the constant changes in this industry. Change is a constant in this industry. Every month, every quarter, there’s a new way to do things. Technology is advancing so fast that we are signing up for recruitment services, marketing lead generators, and artificial intelligence. We have so much technology that we don’t even know how to use the technology that we have. And the good old ways that we used to do things, we seem to have forgotten. I’ve seen business owners who are tired. I’ve seen business owners who just cannot adapt any longer. This is a very difficult business. It is not for the burned out.
If you find that you cannot go on a vacation and enjoy yourself. Or If you find that you take that extended trip, return to your office, and within a few days, you are already stressed out again. That’s the sign that it’s time to part ways. When people remain in this business while burned out, it often leads to a downward spiral in how we provide care, the patient census lowers, and ultimately the business will begin to fail. That will also greatly reduce the value of your business, and you will get far less than what you expect (or need). Get out NOW before this happens.
Have I Forgotten Why I Started This Company?
The final point of when it’s time to walk away is when you forget why you’re doing this. I will never forget very early in my career as a consultant in 2013 when I was on the phone with a client and this client was complaining about her patients. She was talking about all of the issues that they were bringing. She complained about all of the things that her caregivers did. The lack of money. The late-night phone calls. Constant complaints! Well, after about 15 minutes of letting her vent, I concluded (as this was becoming a weekly theme with her). My advice to her as her consultant was, “I’m going to let you out of your contract with me. You owe me no more money. Forget about my advice on how to run this business. My final tip to you as your consultant is that you should exit this business right now. Because you do not love patients, you do not want to provide care for people. You are in the wrong business.” She was an exception because most people that I work with love their patients.
That is a very extreme case, but if you find yourself day in and day out focusing too much on the business. If you’re overly worried about the finances and covering payroll. If you’re focusing too much on the caregivers and their challenges, your office staff and their challenges, you forget that the business that you’re in is taking care of patients! If you forget that a patient is someone’s mother, someone’s uncle, a grandparent, or even if that patient has no one, and you forget that the patient signed an agreement with you to provide them care, then it is time for you to walk away from your business. It is time for you to sell your company.
Closing Thoughts
The biggest reason people don’t exit is fear of the unknown. People fear change. I understand that. But when you look back on your life, recognize that since the day of your birth, the one constant in life is things are going to change. One day, you will not own your home care business. One day, eventually, you will sell your company. If you are reading this and answering yes to any or all of these 3 questions, then I want you to think long and hard about selling and remember this. You have grown your business to a point where it is valuable enough to be sold. You did that! You grew your business! You scaled it! You developed it to a point where it is ready to be sold, for someone else to take on and continue the legacy! Remember that!
You are intelligent. You are motivating. You can do great things. There are other business opportunities out there. In the USA, there are about 27 million small businesses. Less than one and a half million of those are generating over 1 million in revenue every single year. If you’re doing that now (or more), that puts you in the top 5% of all small business owners. Let that knowledge make you confident in yourself that you will land on your feet with what you make in selling this business. You will be able to figure out what’s next on the horizon for you. If you want to have a discussion about selling your business, reach out to me at Steve@homecareevolution.com and let’s talk because I can help you exit and make it a reality.