Advice to New Providers

Research and Understand the Market

• Identify Your Niche: Determine the specific type of care services you want to provide (e.g., elderly care, child care, mental health services).
• Study Competitors: Analyze existing care providers in your area to understand their services, pricing, and clientele.

Develop a Business Plan

• Executive Summary: Outline your vision, mission, and the core values of your care service.
• Services Offered: Clearly define the services you will provide.
• Market Analysis: Include research on the target market and competitive landscape.
• Marketing Strategy: Plan how you will attract clients (e.g., online advertising, partnerships with hospitals).
• Financial Projections: Estimate your initial costs, revenue projections, and break-even analysis.

Legal Requirements

• Choose a Business Structure: Decide whether to operate as an LLC, corporation, or sole proprietorship. This affects your legal liability and tax obligations.
• Licenses and Permits: Research the required licenses and certifications specific to care providers in your state or country.
• Insurance: Obtain liability insurance to protect your business and clients.

Funding Your Business

All business require a level of funding for start up and ongoing operating costs, this is true for both care homes and home care businesses. Although the start up costs for a home care business will be less than a care home, they may still be in the tens of thousands of pounds

• Self-Funding: Use personal savings to start your business.
• Loans: Consider applying for small business loans through banks or credit unions.
• Grants: Look for grants specifically available for healthcare or social services.
• Investors: Engage with potential investors who may be interested in funding your care service.

Set Up Operations

• Build a Team: Hire qualified staff who share your values and have the necessary certifications.
• Establish Policies and Procedures: Create guidelines for staff conduct, client care, and emergency procedures.
• Client Management System: Invest in software for managing client information, scheduling, and billing.

The registration process with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) for a new social care provider involves several key steps:

1. Understand the Requirements

• Familiarize yourself with the CQC standards and regulations for the type of care service you want to provide (e.g., residential care, home care).

2. Prepare for Registration

• Create a Business Plan: Outline your services, target market, and operational strategy.
• Gather Necessary Documentation: This includes your business registration details, insurance policies, financial information, and evidence of systems in place for quality assurance.

3. Complete the Application

• Fill out the registration application form on the CQC’s website, specifying the services you will provide.

4. Provide Supporting Information

• Submit all required documents that demonstrate compliance with CQC standards, including:
• A description of the services
• Information about your management structure
• Plans for staffing and training
• Policies for safeguarding and risk management

5. Fees

• Pay the registration fees, which vary based on the type and size of your service.

Following these steps will help ensure a smoother registration process with the CQC for your social care provider business.

CQC considers membership of a local care association best practice as it is a vehicle to learn about issues and information that effect the care industry

Your local care association is a goldmine of information and advice.  Your local care association runs regular events where you can network with other care providers and normally provides a range of services to help care providers run more  efficiently

The West Midlands Care Association (WMCA) is one of the largest local care associations in England with nearly 600 members.  We predominantly represent the SME sector and as an SME ourselves we understand the challenges of running a small business

We are a DBS Umbrella Organisation and offer discounted DBS to our members

If you are located outside of our footprint (County of the West Midlands, Herefordshire, Warwickshire and Worcestershire) we recommend that you join our colleague local care association in your area as they will have the local knowledge we do not.  A full list of these can be found on the Care Association Alliance website

(Membership of WMCA is only open to care providers who have registered with CQC)

As a new business you will need to establish where your clients are coming from. Initially this is likely to be through word of mouth referrals.

Do not be frightened to tell everyone you know about what you are doing. You may be surprised about how much business can potentially come through friends and family.

It is highly unlikely that your local authority or neighbouring local authorities will award you business until they can can see that you have an established track record providing care so it is important that you look to establish a privately funded client base.

A healthy privately funded client base will also ensure that should or when you attract local authority business , you are not reliant on one income stream.

We run workshops periodically on business tools which are well worth attending.

Establishing a brand can differentiate you in a crowded market but you should not spend huge amounts of time and money on it. You are not Coca Cola or Apple, the only person who cares about your brand is you but there is a lot to be said for a consistency of message.

Much more useful is showing a level of professionalism in how you present your business to the world.

• Build a Website
• Buy your own unique web addess (it needn't cost a lot)
• Use a  professional email service and your own URL. Using an obvious generic service such as gmail gives the impression you are not a serious or established business.
• Use a VOIP telephone number instead of a mobile number (this way it can look like you have an office location even if you are operating out of your back bedroom)
• Build a social media presence
• Be consistent in your materials (same font, size, colours etc)

We have more advice on Marketing Care Businesses here (requires members password )

As well as the areas we've mentioned above, we have lots of advice (and videos) on running a care business including:

• Business Continuity Planning
• Writing a Business Plan
• Cost Control
• Sources of Funding
• Going Green and Environmental Issues
• Marketing your business and building a private client base
• Tendering
• Recruiting and Retaining Staff
• Regulations

These resources and access to our regular events program of workshops, conferences and network opportunities are included within WMCA Membership