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How Electronic Deposits Help the Home Care Agency

Thursday, March 11th, 2010

Home Care Business Tips

Remote Deposit Capture is an increasingly popular service that allows small business owners to streamline their check deposit and reconciliation operations and receive faster access to funds by electronically depositing checks from the convenience of their office for same-day processing.

RDC works by scanning checks individually or by feeding several checks at a time into a scanner installed at your office. The scanner captures check images and electronically submits those images for deposit to your bank account via a web-based connection. If the deposits meet your financial institution’s electronic check deposit deadline, you may also receive same-day ledger credit for the deposits.

RDC benefits include:

Increased efficiency. Remote deposit can help increase efficiency by eliminating trips to the bank, simplifying deposit preparation, consolidating deposits from each of your business locations, eliminating the endorsement of checks and reducing check handling costs.
Increased security. The electronic transmittal of checks can reduce the possibility of checks being lost or stolen in transit.
Faster access to funds. Your business can accelerate deposits with same-day processing of your checks if the deposits are made before your financial institution’s electronic check deposit deadline.
Added convenience. RDC enables businesses to deposit checks quickly and conveniently 24 hours a day. You can scan and deposit checks from your desk at any location, at your convenience and you will no longer have to incur the expense of a courier.
Better customer service. RDC provides small businesses the ability to quickly respond to customer payment inquiries.
Streamlined processing. The service simplifies processing, posting and reconciliation of checks.
Reduced errors. The service provides automated balancing, thereby reducing errors.
Enhanced record-keeping. RDC services may provide online access to your check images after your deposit and enable you to archive the check images on your computer.
Environmentally friendly. Using RDC can help reduce paper usage and reduce gas consumption on trips to the bank.

Posted by: David Goodman, President Companion Connection Senior Care, the leading “no royalty” membership organization serving the non medical home care & licensed home health business communities. The need for home based senior care is soaring! We will help you start your own highly successful Home Care Agency business. Earn an excellent income while helping others with their activities of daily living. Contact us today for your FREE Business Info Kit… 1-800-270-6949

Tags: check deposits, electronic deposit benefits, electronically depositing checks, home care business, RDC, Remote Deposit Capture, small business tips
Posted in Collections, Computer & Internet Technology, Home Care Agency Operations, Home Care Business Planning, Home Care Business Tips, Senior Business | 2 Comments »

Tax Tips for the Home Care Business

Tuesday, March 9th, 2010

Home Care Business Tips

April 15 is only five weeks away. Getting a head start on your taxes will give you more time to find the best tax preparer. When it comes to taxes, it’s best to take your time and make sure you are filing correctly and claiming the proper deductions. Your documents and records should be organized and up-to-date.

Determine who will prepare your taxes. If you don’t plan to prepare your own tax return and you haven’t initiated your search for a tax professional, now is the time to start. Consider referrals from trusted friends and business associates or look for an accredited tax preparer who is either a certified public accountant, enrolled agent (a federally licensed tax specialist), or a tax attorney. Don’t be afraid to ask the tax preparer how long he or she has been practicing, the cost for tax preparation services and professional references.
Decipher between business and personal expenses. If you incur an expense for something that is used partly for business and partly for personal purposes, you may be able to deduct the business portion. Remember to carefully file accurate supporting documentation for any business expenses you report.
Consider e-filing. Business owners who file electronically may receive a tax refund sooner than those who file a paper return.
Utilize government resources for tips. Consider reviewing the Internal Review Service’s (IRS) Web site at www.irs.gov and your state’s taxing authority websites. Many sites offer small businesses assistance sections and list deadlines and other helpful tax and business information.

Tags: e filing business taxes, home health care agency, IRS tips, small business tax tips, tax preparation tips, tax tips for home care business
Posted in Home Care Agency Operations, Home Care Business Planning, Home Care Business Tips, Non Medical Home Care Business, Senior Business, Taxes and Tax Tips, home health care business | 1 Comment »

Small Business Tips: Avoiding Bankruptcy

Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010

Tips to help your home care business avoid bankruptcy and become more solvent

Here are several things to remember to keep the business running smoothly:

Cut unnecessary costs and free up cash
Identify the parts of the business that got the company into debt in the first place and attack them head on. Cash flow, after all, is the key to any business. If customers aren’t paying on time or your expenses are too high, consider ramping up collections efforts and ditching unnecessary expenses such as office space or costly phone systems. Another way to free up cash: Sell off unused equipment or scrap.
Revisit the budget
If the debt keeps piling up, then it probably means the company’s current budget needs to be examined more closely. Create a budget based on the business’s current financial situation. Make sure your business’s revenues can more than cover your fixed monthly costs like rent and utility bills. Then, allot a portion of the budget for variable costs, such as materials. As a rule, business owners should devote much of what’s left after expenses to paying down their debts. If you have credit-card debt, for example, make sure you pay off more than just the minimum. Otherwise, your debt will keep building and it’ll take years to pay off.
Prioritize debt payments
Tackle the business’s highest-interest rate debt first. Most likely that will mean concentrating your energies on paying down credit cards. However, if you’ve personally guaranteed any of your business’s debt – meaning if a creditor or supplier can come after your personal assets if you default –make sure paying off those debts becomes a high priority.
Speak with creditors
Tell your creditors the financial situation you’re in and the hardship the business is going through and see if they have a hardship plan that may provide better payment terms. If the creditor doesn’t offer one, request a payment plan or a reduced settlement amount. Make it clear – without being demanding – that the less they’re willing to accept or the more they’re willing to reduce your debt, the faster you will pay them (as long as you can fulfill your end of the bargain). The worst thing a business owner can do is set up a repayment plan with a creditor and default.
Consolidate your loans
Consolidating your loans into one payment allows you to reduce monthly costs without harming your credit. The best-case scenario is consolidating several shorter-term loans into one long-term package.
Seek Counsel
Negotiating with creditors can be a harrowing experience. If creditors are hounding you, enlist the help of a credit counseling organization. While these nonprofit organizations typically offer debt-management help only to consumers, some will work with small-business owners.

Submitted by: David Goodman, President Companion Connection Senior Care, the leading “no royalty” membership organization serving the non medical home care & licensed home health business communities. The need for home based senior care is soaring! We will help you start your own highly successful Home Care Agency business. Earn an excellent income while helping others with their activities of daily living. Contact us today for your FREE Business Info Kit… 1-800-270-6949

Tags: become solvent, business cash flow, business solvency, home care business, loan consolidation, small business bankruptcy
Posted in Home Care Agency Operations, Home Care Business Planning, Home Care Business Tips, Non Medical Home Care Business, Senior Business, home health care business | No Comments »

Small Business Blogging & Social Media Marketing

Tuesday, February 9th, 2010

Your home care agency’s blog is more important than your Facebook page

You want to take advantage of the latest in social media, but aren’t sure how to prioritize. Here are reasons why including a blog should take precedence over starting a Facebook page:

Branding: Facebook doesn’t allow you to brand the entire Fan Page experience to the extent that you can and should brand your agency’s blog. While you can customize up to 10 Facebook tabs (using the Static FBML application), that doesn’t compare to the unlimited branding options on your own blog using company colors, messaging, logos, and more.

Blog entries are better than Facebook Notes: Blogs allow you to categorize posts, thread comments, optimize content for search engine optimization, and so much more. Facebook Notes, aside from barely being read, fail to stack up against even your run-of-the-mill blog post from the most basic of blogging platforms.

You can run third-party analytic tools on your blog: You need to know what’s working and what’s not, where website visitors are coming from, what they view, how long they stay, and why some wander off. You need to know which campaigns are driving the most traffic to your content and how effective you are in converting that traffic into targeted behaviors. Facebook offers you only limited visibility into these and other key areas, whereas the vast array of web analytics software and services available for your blog provide a deep view into the types of metrics that actually matter to you and your homecare agency.

Here are some other things to consider:

Business-to-business decision makers (i.e. referral sources) aren’t likely to look for and connect with your business on Facebook.
While Facebook Fan Pages are available to the public, registration is required to fully participate. (You can make registration optional on your own agency blog).
On your agency blog, you can turn commenting on or off or have comments moderated on a post-by-post basis. Not so on Facebook.
Your blog is far less distracting than Facebook, which means no one else’s advertisements, applications, pages, notes, videos, photos, etc. can pull focus away from your content.
Plug-ins and widgets allow you to scale your blog based on your business goals. Facebook doesn’t offer the same type of scalability.

Tags: blogging for home care, business blogging, facebook for home care, Facebook small business, promotion blogging, social media marketing
Posted in Business Opportunity, Computer & Internet Technology, Free Advertising & Marketing, Home Care Agency Marketing & Promotion, Home Care Business Tips, Public Relations, Senior Business, Social Media Marketing | 1 Comment »

Setup Your Office for Maximum Productivity

Friday, February 5th, 2010

5 Tips for Setting Up the Ultimate Office for a Home Care Agency

Little things can make you and your staff more efficient at work. Here are some things to consider:

Don’t start your office organizing by shopping for containers. Survey what files and books you need to store, measure them, then go to the store.
File, act or toss papers and emails instead of letting them pile high on your desk. You should be able to make a decision immediately as papers cross your desk.
Take advantage of electronic devices such as email, PDAs and database file management to categorize work.
Choose the calendar system that’s best for your organizational style, and stick with it. If it is computer-based, back it up.
Manage your time ruthlessly. In a sense, it is what you are selling.

Tags: business office setup, Home care business start up, home care office setup, maximize office productivity, office productivity, small business office, small business productivity, small business setup
Posted in Home Care Agency Operations, Home Care Business Planning, Home Care Business Tips, Non Medical Home Care Business, Senior Business, Start Up Business, home health care business | 1 Comment »

Advertising Questions to Ask Before You Advertise

Saturday, January 30th, 2010

Home Care Business Tips & Strategies

The business owner knows what the business is selling, but how will anyone else know if the business doesn’t advertise. Yet, having said this, what do you need to ask yourself before you take the plunge and invest in advertising your products or services. Here are some things to consider:

What do you have to say that matters to your customer?

Most ads are written under the assumption that the reader, listener or viewer has a basic level of interest and is paying close attention to the ad. But customers tend to ignore all ads that do not speak directly to them. Your first task is not media selection; it’s message selection.

Can you say it persuasively?

Most ads are ineffective because the writer tried to say too much, include too much and be too much. Fearful of leaving someone out, these writers write vague, all-encompassing ads that speak specifically to no one. “We provide homecare services” is a terrible headline for an ad. Be specific.

How long is your time horizon?

Some ads build traffic, some build relationships and others build your reputation. If you don’t have the financial resources to launch a true branding campaign focused on building relationships and reputation among potential customers, you’re going to have to settle for traffic-building ads until you can afford to begin developing your brand. To what degree do you have financial staying power?

What is the urgency of your message?

If you need an ad to produce immediate results, your offer must have a time limit. This technique will simultaneously work for and against you. On one hand, customers tend to delay what can be delayed, so limited-time offers generate traffic more quickly since the threat of “losing the opportunity” is real. On the other hand, customers have no memory of messages that have expired; short-term messages are erased from our brains immediately. Therefore, it’s extremely difficult to create long-term awareness with a series of limited-time-offer, short-term ads.

How long is the purchase cycle?

How long it will take your advertising to pay off is tied to the purchase cycle of your services. Remember, a customer first has to be exposed to your ad often enough to remember it, then you have to wait for that customer to need what you sell. How soon will he or she likely need it?

Tags: home care agency advertising, home care business, home care business advertising, small business advertising tips
Posted in Free Advertising & Marketing, Home Care Agency Marketing & Promotion, Home Care Business Planning, Home Care Business Tips, Radio Advertising, Senior Business, Start Up Business | No Comments »

Home Care Business Strategy for 2010

Thursday, January 28th, 2010

Home Care Agency Business Tips

It’s a new year, and so it’s time to put into place a new set of steps that you plan to enforce. For example, here are some things that your home care agency should be doing…

Set a clear, attainable vision with concrete measurable goals. Share these with all employees. When people know exactly where you are leading the agency and how they can support that journey, they become more productive and responsive to your initiatives.

Require employees to create goals of their own. Encourage them to generate goals to help them reach for new heights and achieve more than they think they can. In general, the higher the standards and the greater the effort, the better the outcome. Schedule time to discuss both sets of goals. You can review and modify objectives to ensure the employees’ goals and aspirations align with those of the agency.

Tell people what your individual expectations are. Provide specific and measurable feedback about their ongoing job performance. It’s helpful to do this periodically during the year, too. Identify the employees who could benefit from more training or supervision. Also, identify the ones who need less input. There may also be some who simply will not succeed given the resources you can provide to them. With this latter group, you will need to consider ending their employment.

Listen to your employees. Invite employees into your office and get to know them better on an informal basis that goes beyond the typical boss-subordinate relationship. The goal is to reveal your human side. Discuss news about the job, hobbies, special interests, family information, etc. Ideally, this can be accomplished in a small group setting. Consider doing this for breakfast or lunch.

Tell people that you care about them. When they know you care, they will be more motivated, dedicated and productive. Show and tell them why you care and why they are important to you. Demonstrate that you want to help them grow and develop on the job. Help them become more skilled and better qualified so they will be able to assume more responsibilities. When employees feel confident about their skills, they will be more productive, motivated, satisfied and successful. Let them know that you are there to support them and are willing to back them up during difficult times.

Be open to new ideas. Great thoughts and creative ideas can come from places other than the executive offices. That’s an important reason to nurture a climate that encourages employees to share their ideas about how to improve their organization. The results can often lead to increased productivity and an endless well of ideas once you open the gates for employee input.

Make time to have fun. An occasional break from the sobering day-to-day functioning is not only possible, it’s strongly encouraged and highly prized. Periodically setting aside an hour or so says that, while you believe in and value hard work, you also realize the importance of “taking a break.”

Tags: business management tips, business oportunity, employee management, home care agency business, Home Care Business Tips, small business strategy 2010
Posted in Home Care Agency Operations, Home Care Business Planning, Home Care Business Tips, Managing Caregivers, Non Medical Home Care Business, Senior Business, home health care business | No Comments »

Home Care Agency Collections Tips

Wednesday, January 13th, 2010

Home Care Business Management

Getting the business and doing the business are only two of the three cornerstones for running a successful home care agency. You also need to make sure you’re getting paid for your service in an expeditious fashion so you can maintain a satisfactory cash flow.

Here are some points to consider:

1. When you sign a contract or come to an agreement to provide your service, make it clear at that time what the payment terms are and what the results of late payment are. This is also the time to find out who will be paying you and to get that person’s contact information. A good practice is to follow up with that person and explain the payment terms at the beginning so as to eliminate any doubt or excuse for potential late payments down the road.

2. Once the first invoice and subsequent invoices have been sent, a simple follow-up call to verify that they were received and to reemphasize the payment terms will go a long way toward ensuring that your invoice is put at the top of the pile.

3. If a bill is not paid under the terms of the agreement, be sure to call and find out why and what the status is. By doing this with the first late payment, you are setting the tone early and establishing the importance of complying with the established and agreed-on terms of the contract.

Finances, past-due invoices, and money owed are always uncomfortable subjects to address. By making expectations clear from the beginning, however, and following up on what you say you will do, you will be demonstrating to your customers the importance of complying with the established payment terms. This will help ensure you get paid and aren’t left in collection mode, which is generally unpleasant for all parties involved.

Posted by: David Goodman, President of Companion Connection Senior Care, the premier No Royalty Membership Organization serving the non medical home care and licensed home health business communities. Demand for home based elder care is soaring! CCSC will help you start your own highly successful Home Care Agency business. Contact us today for a FREE Business Info Kit… 1-800-270-6949

Tags: aging receivables, collections strategy, collections tips, home care agency collections, home care business, past due invoices, small business collections
Posted in Collections, Home Care Agency Operations, Home Care Business Planning, Home Care Business Tips, Non Medical Home Care Business, Policy & Procedures, Senior Business, home health care business | No Comments »

Managing Home Care Employees in a Poor Economy

Wednesday, January 6th, 2010

Home Care Agency Business Tips

Most owners of small businesses are forced to contend with the challenge of managing their organization at a time when people in all walks of life are cutting back. What can you do? Here are some points to consider:

Use midyear reviews to manage expectations

Anxiety and assumptions fill a communications vacuum in down times. It’s human nature to avoid tough conversations when the news is bad, and many employers avoid midyear reviews altogether when they can’t deliver a raise. They miss the opportunity to reset goals and give themselves the greatest chance of a quicker recovery. Midyear reviews were critical in 2009, and smart small-business owners used them to manage expectations and avoid surprises, especially if they realized a reduction in force was needed later. Midyear reviews are also opportunities for candid assessments of underperforming employees. It’s a harsh reality, but while success in this environment might mean sacrificing some things, it shouldn’t mean sacrificing top performance.

Recognize and reward good performance
People are the one asset your home care business can’t do without. Even when times got tough this year, smart businesses continued to invest in their employees even when other expenses and cost structures were being slashed. As the recovery sets in, ignored employees will be among the first to move out. When a raise wasn’t an option, smart entrepreneurs used non-financial rewards, title promotions and new assignments to reward and motivate their people.

Watch workplace morale
Good morale is hard to define, but it tends to emerge at the intersection of a strong sense of purpose, a culture of respect, opportunities for fun, collaboration with team members, spontaneous appreciation and valued perks. In 2009, smart businesses didn’t let up on nurturing their employment brand. They held on to the aspects of their company culture that made their employees happy to work there: free lunches, gym memberships, time off for volunteering, etc. Morale isn’t only a matter of pricey perks. Consider hosting funny movie night in your conference room. (Never underestimate the power of laughing together.)

Protect your benefits
During a time when every penny counts, smart businesses don’t cut back on benefits with broad brush strokes. Owners turn toward trusted advisors within their vendor partnerships to look for line items to reduce.

The bottom line for every company is don’t let hints of a recovery — or the desire to avoid tough situations — weaken your resolve to make these four human resource cornerstones a part of your organization’s DNA. These are strategies you need to deploy when the going gets tough.

Tags: home care business, home care employees, Managing Caregivers, managing employees during a recession, poor economy, small business tips
Posted in Home Care Agency Operations, Home Care Business Planning, Home Care Business Tips, Managing Caregivers, Non Medical Home Care Business, Policy & Procedures, Senior Business, home health care business | No Comments »

Benefits of Email for a Home Care Agency

Thursday, December 31st, 2009

Home Care Agency Operations Management

Email can play a role in making your home care agency business more immediate, more accessible and, in many cases, more profitable. Here are some things to consider:

Email creates a quiet, dedicated moment with your home care customers. Consumers are pickier about which email lists they subscribe to. When your customer opens your email, you have their attention for one precious moment. In internet time, that moment is priceless.
The Direct Marketing Association recently reported that “commercial e-mail” returned a whopping $43.62 for every dollar spent in 2009.” That’s because e-mail enables you to inexpensively and effectively create a quality over quantity mailing list of loyal customers and qualified prospects.
Email is the primary form of professional business communication. Business people use e-mail to communicate with each other, not Tweets or Facebook wall posts. Email is personal and professional.
Your email newsletter is a solid piece of quality content that you can archive on your website. You can boost your agency’s image and credibility by publishing and archiving a body of expertise through e-mail newsletter articles, and inviting reader participation. Ask customers for input in your e-mail communications. Create a dialogue and relationships.
According to a recent Nielsen report, frequent users of Facebook and Twitter use e-mail more than casual users. That means your audience is probably in multiple places – using e-mail and visiting social networking websites. Quality content trumps frequency of postings. Your e-mail newsletter should remain the centerpiece of your online communications, offering practical advice and meaningful insights that resonate with your audience. Social media is used to spot customer trends, mine ideas for future newsletter articles, respond to customer concerns, and find new mailing list subscribers.

Tags: business benefits of email, email communication, home care business, home care business email, homecare business, small business email
Posted in Client Retention, Computer & Internet Technology, Free Advertising & Marketing, Home Care Agency Marketing & Promotion, Home Care Agency Operations, Home Care Business Planning, Home Care Business Tips, Non Medical Home Care Business, Senior Business, home health care business | No Comments »

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