The rewards of growing your own home care business (Minh’s story)

There are many reasons why people switch careers later in life: a tree change, new challenges, the desire to start something new.

For Minh Pham, it was a chance encounter with a stranger in Brisbane’s Market Place six years ago that inspired him to open his home care own business.

Minh, who was working in logistics and construction at the time, met an elderly gentleman who had no family, spoke very little English and struggled with mental health issues.

“His landlord was charging him $150 to live outside under his house,” says Minh. “It showed me how people could be taken advantage of because of their age, situation and language barriers. My wife and I gave him home-made meals for a while, and encouraged people in our church to donate extra clothes, but we could only do so much.  I wanted to do more to help.”

That’s exactly what Minh did.

After his encounter at Market Square, Minh left behind his 9-5 desk job and started working as support worker for a disability service in Sydney – a job he had never done before.

From here, a new opportunity unfurled. Working in the care industry led Minh to consider opening his own home care business: so he could deliver care where it’s most needed, as well as provide financial security for his young family.

He was introduced to Home Caring’s partnership opportunity, and hasn’t looked back since.

Alongside his wife (who is a clinical nurse) and with the support of Home Caring’s franchise experts, Minh opened his own Home Caring business in the multicultural suburb of Inala.

To get his first home care clients, he engaged with the Vietnamese community through doorknocking, visiting nursing homes and attending seniors clubs. After creating a growing base of clients and expanding his multilingual team to 16 staff members, he went on to launch two more franchises: one in the Sydney and another in Perth.

“We have a strong team that works together to produce better outcomes and better services, and we are recruiting more people by the day,” says Minh.

Minh was able to concentrate on nurturing his business thanks to HomeCaring’s unique 50/50 partnership, which cuts your initial investment by half and provides an ongoing 50% share of profits. He was also closely supported by HomeCaring’s head office.

“When I first started, I lacked business skills and knowledge to run a company – skills like finance and staff management. I had (and still have) plenty of support from head office … they were just a call or email away,” says Minh.

“I’m happy with my results, which are more than what I initially expected. I’ve learnt so many things, and every day is a fresh challenge.”

Since taking the plunge and changing careers, Minh hasn’t had any regrets. Owning a home care business has not only give him a fulfilling career, but enabled him to help those in need.

“I recently met a lady in her eighties who has been caring for her son, who is living with a disability, for many years. She didn’t know that she was entitled to assistance. This is something I encounter every day. A lot of people can’t speak English that well. They don’t know about the NDIS, aged care or the help that is available to them. That’s the most rewarding thing about this business – I can help people get all the assistance they need and relieve the burden,” says Minh.

“I love what I’m doing now. Before I was limited in how I can help, but now, with the business, I can make a difference.”