How To Open An Assisted Living Facility

Once you have an idea of what it will take to get your license, you may need to develop your business plan if you haven’t already done so. This may be something you do before the previous step, depending on where you are, and if you have a property in place. How do you plan to make money? How many residents do you want to care for? What disabilities will you be able to manage? Do you think that you can hire the appropriate staff to care for a resident with advanced Alzheimer’s? What do you charge for – is it a flat-fee for services, or do you charge extra for added services? You will also need to think about medical equipment, handicap access, doing monthly inventory on your supplies and food, and also figure out your labor costs. How many staff will you employ and at what rate? Will you have a marketing budget for your facility? What about a web presence – Do you plan to develop a website to get the word out on the internet? There are plenty of great books out there on how to write a successful business plan – Amazon would be a good first stop. Your library will most certainly have workbooks on this as well.

So now you have your plan, your licensing questions addressed, and your vision in place for your assisted living facility – but perhaps you don’t have a location – a physical place to bring your dreams to realization. This is where you will probably need a competent realtor to help you – a good one who is familiar with commercial real estate, and has had experience with assisted living or long-term care facilities. Purchasing an existing business that has already had the legwork done may be a great way to save money and your precious time. However, starting from scratch may be your only option – purchasing a home and then building the physical amenities, handicap ramps and the like into the structure. You’ll need to make sure your home or building meets zoning laws and requirements.

Once all of the above steps (and others that we may have missed) have been completed, you will need to get a business license from your city, and a tax ID number. Your facility will most certainly need to employ a good accountant to keep your records spotless!

Being a new business is difficult – the uncharted waters and pitfalls can be cause for a great deal of anxiety. You don’t have to go at it alone, though. There are plenty of local groups, trade organizations, and national sites that you can refer to, or even better – join! They recommend that you network as much as possible to gain maximum exposure and to also reap the benefits of being around others who are going through, or who have gone through the process of opening up an assisted living facility.

The steps above are in no way complete – there will most certainly be a number of curve balls that come your way during the process – much like purchasing a home. There may be radon in the basement of your home just as you might discover that your facility has a leaky roof, or doesn’t adhere to zoning laws. Our number one recommendation is to get professional help – real estate/business brokers, accountants, advisors, and legal counsel – don’t do it all alone. They do hope that this information serves as a ‘nudge’ in the right direction for you. If you do get through the process and start your own facility, we would love to hear about it. In the meantime, we wish you a ‘congratulations’ on your venture as a caregiver!