By Stephen Tweed
What will the Home Care Industry look like in five years?
Over the past two decades I’ve been actively engaged in the Home Care Industry, and monitoring the Forces and Trends that are shaping the future of our industry. While much of the growth of Home Care is driven my the entrepreneurial spirit of leaders in the top tier of our industry, and shape of Home Care is heavily influenced by outside Forces and Trends.
Forces are those outside pressures that cause change, and Trends are the patterns of change that are caused by the forces. Over the years, I’ve maintained and updates a list of the Top Ten Trends that are affecting our future.
What Outside Trends are Hindering the Growth of Home Care companies?
In the fall of 2023, the leaders at AxisCare, the top rated Home Care software company asked me to work with them on a survey of the industry. They wanted to get some insights from leaders in the top tier of our industry to hear what they had to say about the factors affecting the future.
One of the questions was about the outside forces, and which of these forces would create the biggest hindrance to growing a successful Home Care company. We reached out to our contacts and 204 Home Care Agency leaders responded to our survey. Regarding these trends that are hindering growth, here are the Top 7. The number represent the percent of respondents who rated each item a “very big hindrance” or an “extreme hindrance.”
- The rising cost of staff, supplies, & services – 71%
- The increasing cost of Home Care to consumers – 68%
- Labor Market conditions – 66%
- The State of the Economy – 53%
- Increasing Competition – 34%
- Government Regulation at the State level – 34%
- Government Regulation at the Federal level – 32%
How do you Proactively Address these Outside Trends?
One of the questions that came out of our study was, “How do you as a Home Care Leader proactively address these outside trends? We have discussed this question with members of the Home Care CEO Forum Mastermind Groups. These are leaders of independent companies in the top tier of our industry. Here are some of their thoughts:
- Constantly follow industry news to see the developments in these trends
- Be actively involved with your State and Local Home Care Associations.
- Engage with friendly competitors in your local marketplace to learn their perspective on the trends and how to address them
- Educate your company leaders on these trends, and lead conversations about how we can best respond
- Learn from OPE – Other People’s Experience – and become part of a Home Care Mastermind Group.
Get a Copy of the Future of Home Care White Paper
AxisCare has published a White Paper giving the results of this industry leading research. As a Reader of Stephen Tweed’s Thursday Thoughts, or as a member of a Home Care CEO Mastermind group, you are invited to download a complimentary copy of the twelve page white paper.
Do You Qualify to Join a Mastermind Group?
If you would like to learn about the Future of Home Care and how to proactively respond to these forces and trends, you may want to become a member of a Home Care CEO Mastermind Group. Currently, as of May 2024, there are five Mastermind Groups with over 55 companies as members. The groups range is company size from $1.5 million annual revenue for our Strategic Growth Mastermind, to over $30 million in revenue in our Top 5% Mastermind Group.
If you are an independent Home Care company generating more than $1.5 million in revenue, and you would like to interact regularly with other company owners of similar sized companies who do not compete with you, then explore the Home Care CEO Forum.
