By Stephen Tweed
What do you think will happen with Honor? What about Home Team? Will they make it? Will they be a force in the home care industry? How will they affect my local marketplace?
These are the questions we are getting from readers, mastermind group members, field trip participants, and clients about the “digital disruptors” we’ve been writing about. We’ve been tracking this trend closely and talking with as many people as possible about what is happening with Honor, Home Hero, and Home Team.
In a recent note, our colleague Michelle Boasten, who is an entrepreneur and strategic thinker on the home care industry wrote, “I’ve been taking a closer look at the private pay online disruptors, meaning Honor, HomeTeam and HomeHero. I am starting to think that although they are getting lots of investor money on board, there is little to no evidence they are making inroads anywhere other than their current locations. When I study what happened to HomeJoy, I kind of think their investors will tire of waiting for the BIG MONEY RETURN they want to see.”
Who is HomeJoy? 
I was not familiar with what happened to HomeJoy, so I followed the link that Michelle sent to an article in Forbes – “What Killed HomeJoy? It Couldn’t Hold On to It’s Customers.” HomeJoy was a technology company that built an app to connect consumers with house cleaners. They started by offering deep discounted rates, and then raised their rates once they had a client. The attrition of clients combined with lawsuits on the misclassification of workers eventually killed the company. They eventually closed the company. However, the Vice President of the company and brother of the founder has started a new company, Homeaglow.
On the Other Hand …
On the other hand, there are readers who think the “digital disruptors” have a chance to succeed and can make a real difference in the home care industry. Alex Chamberlain is the CEO of Easy Living and Aging Wisely, and a member of our Strategic Growth Mastermind Group. Easy Living is a home care company in Clearwater FL and Aging Wisely is a Geriatric Care Management company.
Alex sent a link to some information on the most recent round of funding for Honor. We wrote about this new round of funding in a previous article, “Digital Disruptor Honor Raises Another $42 Million.”
Alex says of Honor and Home Team, “The investment just continues to prove the strength of our industry. I think they have a extremely high chance of becoming successful. They will come through the legislative hurdles when they come into heavily regulated states such as Florida, but with their volume driven plan and keeping overhead low by utilizing technology they can maintain margins.”
What Do YOU Think?
One of the questions I asked both Michelle and Alex is, “What evidence do you see that they are really getting traction?”
Michelle says, “I have found NO EVIDENCE of them being in the market, just press releases saying they are growing that market next.”
In talking with Alex and other CEOs in our Home Care Mastermind Groups, and our clients in California and New York, there is very little real evidence that these technology companies are gaining real traction in the industry. There are press releases, interviews, Facebook posts, and billboards. But none of the home care CEOs in the local markets targeted by the “digital disruptors” is seeing any impact on their own home care business.
What about you? What evidence do you see that suggests these “Ubers of Home Care” will make it? Do see any evidence that they are not gaining traction? Send us a note, or comment in our discussion group on LinkedIn – Leading Home Care Network. 
(If you are not yet a member of Leading Home Care Network on LinkedIn, request to Join.)
