Today, the home care sector in thriving in Britain. There are many reasons to choose a home care franchise, both personal and business-wise. Home care businesses provide a valuable service for communities, helping to support those who cannot fend for themselves. They are also quite profitable, as the number of people who need home care services is constantly growing.
Britain’s Social Investment Tax Relief (SITR) is another reason to consider a home care franchise.
The tax scheme originally excluded nursing homes and residential care homes, but they are now eligible to apply for an accreditation. The tax relief is aimed at assisting organisations like charities and non-profits that have clear community benefits.
Eligibility, as defined on the UK’s official government site is as follows: “Organisations must have a defined and regulated social purpose. Charities, community interest companies or community benefit societies carrying out a qualifying trade, with fewer than 500 employees and gross assets of no more than £15 million may be eligible.” The guidelines for applying can be found here.
The relief programme is expected to save organisations £20 million in the next three years.
The home care industry in the UK was estimated to be worth £7.8 billion in 2016, and this incentive could help it expand. Also helping its growth is the rising average age of the UK population. In 2016, 517,000 adults received state-funded healthcare and another 527,000 received privatised care.
Nursing home and residential care facilities are becoming more popular choices for franchisees because it instills a sense of purpose in one’s work. They do not always require a medical background and allow individuals to give back to their community and help those who cannot care for themselves.
More so than medical expertise, it is considered important for home care franchisees to have excellent people skills and communication skills. To stay competitive, you will need to be able to recruit and keep the best employees.
There is also the added benefit of the market being in a time of substantial growth. While most home care was state-run even just a decade ago, there is a huge push towards personal, small businesses with the industry. The variety is pushing businesses to raise their standards and provide individualised care to clients, as they now have numerous options to turn to.
For example, Cultural Dignity ‘n’ Care Franchising focuses on matching clients with carers who speak the same language or dialect, have similar cultural or religious customs, or may share other special requirements.
With niche markets such as this growing alongside the general industry, there is a home care franchise for everyone! For more information on opening your own home care franchise, read our article here.
The Social Investment Tax Relief could open the opportunity up to more people. Opening a home care business requires a fair amount of investment for staff, training, legislative requirements to meet, as well as marketing costs. Knowing a tax relief could follow, in addition to the respected name and proven business model of the franchise, may make banks look more favourably upon a loan request.
So what are you waiting for? Browse our available home care franchises to start changing lives – including your own – in the new year!