Drafting a domiciliary care agency business plan

Before you start attempting to write your domiciliary care agency business plan you will have to do some research into the qualifications required to run a care agency. If you are to be the Registered Manager of your care agency, you will need the QCF Level 5 Diploma in Leadership for Health and Social Care. As there are several pathways to choose from, you will have to decide which best suits your needs as a care professional. If you don’t have the qualification you should hire a manager who does. Courses can be delivered online or in local educational establishments and should be accredited by ATHE (Awards for Training and Higher Education), an Ofqual-regulated awarding body.

To be accepted onto these level 5 courses you need to have at least 5 GCSEs at grade C. The higher your qualifications, the more chance you have of being accepted onto a course.

If you, as owner of the agency, have the appropriate qualifications, you could take on the role of Registered Manager.

All staff should be suitably qualified for their roles.

Note that the manager and responsible individual can be the same person.

Writing a domiciliary care agency business plan is time-consuming and needs much careful thought before you start writing it. The plan is basically a statement of intent. You need to explain how you mean to run your agency and outline what services you intend to provide.

You will need to detail precisely how your agency will be managed and you will need to do a SWOT analysis so that you can assure a lender, or potential investors that your plan is viable and can make them money in the short and long term. Writing a domiciliary care agency business plan shows that you have done your homework and are confident of making a success of the business.

Your SWOT analysis will outline your strengths and weaknesses as well as opportunities that you can take advantage of. Apart from that you will need to assess threats to the business, particularly from other care agencies. Analyse the possible threats to the business and offer suggestions as to how these may be overcome.

You will need to do some thorough research into the need for more care agencies in your area. Give the ageing population of the UK and its growth, thanks to those prolific Baby Boomers of the period between 1946 and 1964, the ageing population is continually growing. Use local statistics to show that the trend is continuing. These figures will be useful for your market analysis.

The ageing population is the fastest growing of all groups in the UK and the US. In the UK the number of people aged 65 plus is expected to grow by 20.4% between the years 2014 and 2024. That means that given the current state of the National Health Service and the threats to it, private home care agencies should be able to turn a considerable profit. However, you will need a comprehensive domiciliary care agency business plan if you are to succeed.

In your domiciliary care agency business plan, you will need to specify the service you could offer. These may include: -

• home medication management
• personal assistance services
• availability of nursing aides
• mental health counsellors, and
• highly-trained medical staff

When you have worked out what services you will offer, you should then think about how to start your business. There are several things that you need to do before you open for business. Think carefully about them before you make your domiciliary care agency business plan.

• To begin with you will need to apply for a Disclosure Barring Service (DBS) check. This should be your very first step. The checks should be carried out for all employees as well as for yourself.
• You need to supply references that can be verified, and these should include one from your very last employer and one from your GP.
• Make sure that you fill in the correct registration form. There are forms for individuals to fill in, and others for an organisation, and others if you are setting up your business with a partner.
• Another form that must be submitted is the Registered Manager application.
• You will also need to have a detailed statement of purpose. This has to detail your aims and objectives and give your contact details. Also, be certain to include the services you intend to supply.
• When you have received your green copy of the all the DBSs, and done everything specified above, then, and only then, is your application ready to submit. Submit it by email preferably, although it is also acceptable to send it by post.
• Decide whether you will register your business as a limited company, a sole trader or a partnership.