Care Management & Guardianship Business Seminar

When I started Bridge Builders, Ltd. over eight years ago I had no idea it would turn out to be such an adventure. I started with a business partner and we thought we had the tiger-by-the-tail. We believed everything we were told [actually by others who had no experience in this type of business] that all we had to do was hang out a "shingle" and we would have more business than we knew what to do with. NOT! Did we do any due diligence? No. We were starry-eyed and optimistic. I think that I can comfortably say that we made just about every mistake that could be made when starting and building this type of business. Some "mistakes" weren't really mistakes, we had to try ideas to see if they would work. Some did and some didn't. The partnership didn't last, which was traumatic. With hard work and a lot of determination I turned my business into a well-respected business, not only locally but statewide.

Recently, I was nominated for the Washington State Small Business Person of the Year Award for 2011 and was one of twenty-six finalists. Most of the other businesses were far larger and more established than my tiny business. I feel just a bit smug "rubbing elbows" with these "big leaguers."

I want to share what I've learned with others who want to start or who are struggling with similar Care Management and/or Guardianship businesses. I hope to help others avoid some of the pitfalls that I experienced. The industry of Care Management is really a very new concept and often misunderstood. A guardian is really just a "glorified" care manager as the only difference is that the guardian has decision-making ability [and a lot more paperwork!]. Lately, the media wants to make guardians villians and I'm afraid that care managers might come under fire as well. We all need to have high ethical standards in our business practices and stand up for our industry when it comes under attack by media who are only looking for articles that shock. In order to do this we care managers and guardians need to develop a close network with each other. I literally get calls from all over the country from people who have heard of Bridge Builders, Ltd and want to know if there is something similar where they live. It makes me and my referral look good if I can say "yes" and the care manager or guardian that I refer them to does a great job.

To this end I am sponsoring a seminar about this topic in August 2011. It is open to all who are interested and will provide difficult-to-find forms and "secrets" that the agencies we deal with don't volunteer and examples of how to fill out the forms; where to find the "go-to" people in your area; example business forms and where to find free business forms... and more!

Date: Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Place: Kitsap Conference Center, Bremerton, WA

Time: 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM

Cost: $250.00 (Breakfast and Lunch included)
***Early Bird Special of $225.00 of paid by June 30, 2011***

If you would like a brochure, please email bridgebuilders@olypen.com and put "Business Seminar" in the subject line. You may also call us at (360) 683-8334.

This seminar has been approved for continuing education credits for Certified Professional Guardians in Washington State and I am happy to provide whatever documentation is needed for other professional organizations.

Happenings...

I apologize for so much time passing between blogs. Between the Thanksgiving holiday, which was complicated by a freak snowstorm, first-of-the-month billings and an exciting event that also required a flurry of time-consuming activity. I just haven't gotten anything written.

My exciting news, though, is that I have been nominated for the Small Business Association's Small Business Person of the Year Award. I am so excited! Of course, these things are never just handed out without some work on the nominee's part. I spent a good portion of last weekend, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday getting a packet of information together. It had to be at the Seattle SBA office by Friday, December 10th. Evidently, 35 people statewide have been nominated. I was told that I will find out if I've won in early March 2011. If I win for Washington State, I will be invited to the SBA national celebration in Washington, DC in May. Just being nominated is a huge honor!

Building Bridge Builders, Ltd. into a viable business has been the hardest job I have ever had and it has been worth every minute. The services that we provide are so needed and there will be an increasing demand as the baby boomers age. It is a challenging business, though, and it takes a special person with a passion not only to serve our unique clientele but also to have the stamina to hang tough as this type of business is difficult to grow. While there are huge emotional payoffs when successfully helping clients to have an improved quality of life, the down side is that there are those who try to discredit this type of business. A business owner needs the fortitude to withstand those attacks, even though they might be infrequent. If you are considering starting a similar business, here are some suggestions:

1. Consult a business advisor - The SBA offers assistance for free. The advisor can assist you with the details of the business end because you could have the best idea in the world but if you don't pay attention to the business end of things, you will fail.
2. Don't believe people who say that all you need to do is hang out a shingle and you'll be swamped with work. This business needs time to establish credibility just like any other business. Bridge Builders, Ltd. is a great idea but we can have quite a challenge convincing prospective clients.
3. Realize that you need to develop yourself as an expert in the field and this takes time. I am at the end of eight years and only this year have I been receiving comments that indicate that my staff and I are considered experts. Eight years may seem like a long time if you're just starting but, believe me, the years fly by.
4. Watch your cash flow like a hawk. I only started tracking our cash flow on a weekly basis about two years ago. I wish I had started this at the beginning! I can now look back a couple of years to see if the cash flow is typical, better or worse. Also, if the cash flow is less than my target amount for the month, I tell my staff that they need to focus on tasks that generate billable time and/or it an employee would like to work a little less, now is the time. This can really made a difference at the end of the month.
5. Be careful with credit. Early on I was seduced by easy credit. When you start a business it seems like everyone wants to give you credit. While most businesses require having a certain amount of debt because cash flow isn't consistent, use credit cautiously and wisely. My brother is growing a business without debt, which is great and I am very proud of him, but it really slows down the growth doing it that way.
6. Charge what you are worth. That is a very difficult thing to do, especially in a business that provides services to people. But if you don't value your time, your client's or prospective clients won't either. Over the years, we periodically got calls from prospective clients who wanted something for nothing. After spending copious hours over the years trying to convince these people that we are worth what we charge, I just don't bother wasting my time anymore. If someone calls and, after discussing services and rates, says we're to expensive, I'm happy to give them some numbers where they might be able to piece the services together themselves. Sometimes these clients resurface later and sometimes they don't. I don't worry about it anymore.
7. Hire qualified staff. My business advisor told me once that the staff of an entrepreneurial business need to be pseudo-entrepreneurs. These are people with the experience you need who are willing to work for peanuts because they believe in what you are doing. It will take longer finding these people but it is well worth the wait. My bookkeeper, who has been with me from almost the first, was looking for a part-time job with some challenge that would be flexible and fun. She hasn't been disappointed and I have been the blessed with her knowledge over the years. All of my staff worked uncomplaining for years without raises because there was no money for raises. How did I find these people? Sometimes by networking and sometimes they would hear about my business and come to me. I've learned to be choosy, though. It pays off in the long run.

You need to realize that this is a business that you will be in for the long run. I've had people call me saying that they wanted to start this type of business, run it for ten years and then sell it at a profit. They think that the need is so great that they will be swamped with work out of the starting gate. When I explain that it isn't so easy and why, I don't hear from them again. You need to understand that this business is about serving people. People are not a commodity to be sold at whim. If you are named as Power of Attorney for clients, it is expensive for the clients to change this. Guardianships need to go through expensive court hearings. Your client depend on your to be there for them. That's a heavy responsibility for some people. I find it to be an honor.

Starting a Business Like Bridge Builders, Ltd.

What I love about this business is the day-to-day diversity of demands. Each of my clients is their own soap opera, as I suppose each one of our lives is. The difference between my "active" clients [clients who currently need assistance] and the world at large is that my clients cannot manage their lives without assistance. Sometimes they are willing to listen to advice and sometimes they will do things that I know will have unpleasant consequences. It is not my job to tell my clients what to do. It is my job to give my clients the available options, along with the consequences, good and bad, of each option and let my clients make their own decision. It is easy to tell someone what to do. It is far more challenging to respect a person's right to make a bad decision. My job then is to try to be a "safety net" for my client so that the consequences are not as serious as they might have been. I love the challenge.

I "boot strapped" my business. I learned through my journey of developing a business that banks, angel investors, etc., are not interested in bankrolling a social service business. In this business Angel Investors are in the form of friends and family [if they have money to loan]. The bank wants to secure everything you own against a loan for operating money and, in my opinion, are to be avoided.

I started with a somewhat vague business concept of helping the elderly and disabled and have honed it by trial and error through the years. It hasn't been easy but it is the most rewarding venture I have ever experienced. There will always be good times and bad, great cash flow and trickle cash flow, clients I love and clients I could be happier without. There will be the never ending battle to capture receivables [getting the unpaid invoices paid].

If you are afraid of risk, work for someone else.

When my [then] business partner and I started the business, our goal was to "bridge" the gaps between services available for the elderly and disabled. We did not want to duplicate services that were already available. Many people were skeptical when we opened our doors. I finally got someone to explain the skepticism. "Old-timers" could recount numerous businesses that would start up to assist the elderly and disabled, doing a good job. Then, they would disappear leaving all of the people they were helping without any support. It's great having a strong desire to help others, but if you cannot run an efficient business, you will end up closing up the shop.

I have received calls from people saying they want to start a similar business in their area. While talking to them I learn that they expect customers to come flocking them them when they open their doors and that they will build the business for 10-years, then sell it off making a nice, tidy financial profit. WRONG! #1 - Marketing this type of business takes a lot of networking and demonstrating successes. You don't get handed credibility on a platter and credentials only get you so far. #2 - It takes many years to develop a reputation within a community. I am coming to the end of my 8th year and this year we have been hearing that our good reputation extends far beyond the area we serve. It takes about 10 years to develop a reputation as an expert in a particular field. #3 - We are talking about people here, not hardware or some other commodity. You cannot just sell your client contracts to someone else and move on. When my business partner left, I witnessed the concern our clients experienced. Our clients were very worried about whether the business would survive my business partner leaving. I've even noticed how worried some of my clients can get when one of my employees leaves the business. These vulnerable adults depend on us for their quality of life and sometimes for their very lives. Please don't let them down!

If you are not in this business for the long haul, please don't start it. Ten years may seem like a long time when you're starting a business but the time flies amazingly quickly. Of course, you will want to start thinking about how you will phase out of the business as you get closer to retirement. There are ways to do it so that it doesn't traumatize your clients.

Still want to get started? Call your local Small Business Development Council and get a [free] business advisor assigned to you. I didn't start using a business advisor until year four. I would have avoided many problems if I had a business advisor from the beginning.