Forward by Brett Schmidt:
The past eight years have been full of chaos and fun. It started with lots of phone calls in the middle of the night about caregivers not showing up for their shifts and now lots of opportunities as a reward for hard work. My mom is a fast-moving woman; you either get on and enjoy the ride or get left behind. When she asked my nine-year-old self if we should go on a trip to London or start a company, I can only assume that she was not expecting the latter. So, then she took off. Everyone knows when you put Franny and Stacey together, things get done. They quickly built an intensely successful company and reaped the rewards. (I also indulge in the rewards in the form of retail therapy.) Aside from the enjoyable parts of my mother being a successful businesswoman, I have also learned much from the less-than-good parts. If you want something, work hard to get it. Making sacrifices is worth it. If someone says you cannot do something, it is because they are scared of what will happen when you do. Anything can be done in heels. Our relationship is far from traditional, but she is my best role model, my biggest supporter, and most importantly, my best friend.
The Home Care Agency Owner – Transforming Your Business
Stacey Tabor and I started Touching Hearts at Home – Denver Metro in the spring of 2014 and were licensed by the state of Colorado in October. We did not have any prior professional healthcare experience. Still, we knew non-medical home care was a growing opportunity with the onset of the “Silver Tsunami,” and we wanted to provide meaningful work in the communities where we lived and where our children were growing up. Our business development and marketing careers – both in technology – allowed us to understand how vital process development is to a new business. We took a small business loan and a giant leap of faith.
2014 – 2015
The first year of our business felt like we had been hit by a Tsunami. We had set a very high monthly revenue target for the 12-month end. In addition to the typical challenges of starting an agency – getting that first caregiver hired, getting that first client signed, marketing like crazy, and basic agency operations – we spent a considerable amount of time reviewing our business systems and technologies. The scheduling software we initially used was clunky and very costly; it was based on telephony charges where the caregivers had to call to clock in and out. Communicating client information and schedules was difficult, which presented a challenge in this ever-changing environment. We utilized a caregiving profile system to determine the likelihood someone would work out for our team, which slowed our ability to hire employees. We quickly moved to cloud-based scheduling software and dropped the profiling system, relying on our experienced office team (ok, it was just Stacey and me) to make the determination.
To date, we’ve gone through 3 payroll companies! We continue to demo, evaluate, try, and quit new systems and technologies as a normal business process.
2015-2018
We were experiencing exponential growth and had hired several office employees with our growing team. Sometimes mistakes were made. Often trying to fit a square peg in a round hole or put out a fire. Mid-year 2017, we engaged with Steve and Hurricane Marketing Enterprises. Steve and his coaches had a solid program for how to develop relationships with important referral partners and how to convert the incoming inquiry calls. Side note – we ended up joining his Elite Academy group (formerly known as Mastermind) a year or so later and have been grateful for the collaboration with the other owners.
Although we were running full steam ahead with our marketing efforts, it was also important that we focused on the development and, more importantly, the documentation of the process for every aspect of our business. Much of what we had was in our heads and needed to be shared in a manner that someone coming in off the street could understand and follow. So, we documented, and documented, and documented. This can cause its own “scope creep” or, in our case, “Google Drive creep,” but that’s another story.
As a practice, we regularly review our processes. This includes state regulations and compliance, our employee handbooks and caregiving guides, and our own internal policies and procedures and quality management program. We are always looking for a better way to do business.
COVID-19
I don’t know where to begin.
Anyone in our position understands the challenges and the heartbreak COVID-19 presents to our business and the families and clients we serve. I’m sharing what we did early on, perhaps differently, to grow during this time. We got creative, we streamlined, and we doubled down. When families weren’t allowed to visit their loved ones in a community, we hired and trained them as caregivers, so they became essential workers and were allowed in. We reviewed every caregiver and client schedule to eliminate any potential cross-over from client to client. This exercise was beneficial as it uncovered that we could do a better job minimizing client team members. We temporarily put on-hold clients who were not meeting our newly implemented minimum weekly hours requirement. (We hate the “minimum” word and share instead “part-time schedule of 20 hours a week”). Our goal was to prevent caregivers from seeing several different clients a week and keeping our families safe. We were fortunate to get a sizeable PPP loan and applied every penny and then some to hiring caregivers and paying caregivers while out sick. Initially, it was a hit to our margin, but we immediately raised caregiver pay and offered hazard pay for those willing to serve a COVID-positive client. Clients were moving out of AL and back home or forgoing a typical rehab stay to be home and accessible to their families. Our census grew, and we raised rates.
2021 and Beyond
The right people make all the difference. I believe this is the greatest transformation a business can make. I wrote mistakes previously made in hiring. We accept there will always be turnover in our organization (and sometimes a need to replace team members on the bus to hire for a different skill set as we grow) and use this as a learning opportunity. Our focus as a mature agency is to engage and develop the right team for where our business is now and where we want to take our business in the future. Stacey and I can now take time off, knowing the agency will run smoothly in our absence. We are working less in the business and more on the company strategically planning for the next five years. We recently started a non-profit organization as a legacy to our daughters, Katherine Grace Tabor and Brett Hannah Schmidt. The Grace Hannah Family Foundation will provide funds for our employees looking to further their healthcare education through CNA and nursing schools. We are grateful we took the leap and the opportunity to serve many in our community. The transformation will continue, and growth will follow.
Franny Schmidt
Touching Hearts at Home – Denver Metro is locally owned and operated, combining the experience of owners Stacey Tabor and Franny Schmidt with the resources of a national home care company that has been providing non-medical companionship, caregiving, and homemaking services to seniors, adults with disabilities, and families battling illness since 1996. Our mission is to help seniors and people with disabilities enhance their quality of life and remain in their own homes for as long as possible. We do that by providing companionship, personal care services, assistance with daily living activities and homemaking services. We are committed to training our caregivers and providing the best in care to those affected by Alzheimer’s Disease and all forms of Dementia. We are proud to be one of the Alzheimer’s Association of Colorado’s Leaders in Dementia Care. Leaders in Dementia Care recognizes a commitment to training staff in order to better care for those affected by Alzheimer’s Disease. Stacey and Franny have lived in Colorado for over 15 years and feel privileged to serve families in Denver, Douglas, Adams and Arapahoe Counties. After spending a number of years in the technology industry, Franny and Stacey started Touching Hearts at Home with a desire to do meaningful work in their communities and enrich the lives of others. Both have witnessed first-hand the incredible benefit that caregiving and companionship can provide to those battling illness and to their families.