How to Run and Manage a Care Home in Australia

As life expectancy continues to increase rapidly due to advances in healthcare, the demand for more care homes is also on the rise to accommodate the older generation. If you consider yourself to be a compassionate individual with a good business brain, there’s no reason why you can’t buy and manage a care home for your new business venture.

It goes without saying that running such an establishment is extremely rewarding, but also requires a great deal of time and dedication on your part. It will also require you to be responsible and you’ll need to put in hard graft to see results.

If you think that running and managing a care home may be for you, what do you need to consider?

Who should run a care home?

Running a care home shouldn’t be a business venture you choose to take on flippantly. Looking after the elderly as they reach the end of their lives can be challenging and often-hard-hitting, so you need to be an individual who can cope with such situations, while also being able to show compassion and provide a high level of care to patients.

If you are wishing to get into the care sector for the sake of money,it’s unlikely you’ll succeed long-term, as you need to have agenuine inner passion to give the best experience to the residents who are reliant on you for their quality of life. This attitude should also be one your staff members have too.

How can you get the knowledge you need?

Once you have decided that the home care sector is definitely for you, it’s important you get the correct qualifications to work in the field. It would be wise to enrol in one of the aged care courses as these will teach youhow to care in residential settings, client homes and in community-based environments. Typically, courses last for twelve months and oncequalified, you’ll be able to deliver complex care needs and individualised care.

Write up a business plan

All businesses need to have a well-drafted business plan that determines the company’s mission, objectives and any expenditures that are likely. When securing funding, a business plan ultimately gives lenders an oversight into the risks and the likelihood of success, while allowing you to see what will work and what won’t.

Think about the start-up costs

Many businesses don’t require a lot of initial expenditures, which helps to keep the costs down in the early stages. However, when it comes to running a home care business, there are many huge costs that need to be considered. One of the first aspects you need to look at is finding a suitable building in a relevant location.

You will also need to think about the costs of furniture, equipment and hiring enough staff to ensure each patient receives the best level of care. The ongoing costs of running a care home are also going to be high too; especially energy bills, so it’s always worth shopping around to see if you can get a good deal.

Invest in HR

When running your business, you may come to the realisation that you’re in need of some serious help, which is why you may need to invest in a HR manager. However, during the early days, office managers or even general staff, may be able to take on some HR tasks until you have enough income to hire a specialist.

Please note: there are sometimes legal obligations to adhere to, which means you need to hire a HR manager by law; one of which is when your workplace has over fifteen employees. If you’re running a large care home, you’ll definitely have more than fifteen care givers, not taking into consideration other staff.

HR is an essential aspect of the care home sector, as people management is a major aspect that needs to be carefully considered. Having to manage this task when you have so many other errands to run can slow down the efficiency of any business, but this is especially true in care.

Staff training

Once you have hired a workforce, it’s important you have employees that are resident-focused and dedicated to their jobs. They will need to share your values and goals, which is why it may be a good idea to enrol them onto a training course to ensure they’re equipped with the appropriate knowledge. By enrolling your staff onto the appropriate training courses, you’ll create a workforce to be proud of.

Be involved

As the care home manager, you’re ultimately the face of the business, so it’s essential you greet all of your residents regularly so they know you care for their wellbeing. Although you might not think it’s the most proactive activity in a business sense, being hands-on with residentsproves to them that they are a valued member of your establishment.