Inspired by Personal Experience, Cousins Create Senior Care Franchise Focusing on Quality and Innovation
After facing the challenges of finding quality in-home care for their grandmother, cousins Chad Tracey (left) and Joshua Markland innovated a solution that has since benefited countless families. Their venture, the 2nd Family home care franchise was the result of their desire to create an in-home care service that offers the highest level of care possible. ”Our name says it all,” says Tracey. “We want to be like an extended family to our clients.” Now, with franchise development assistance from REP’M Group, the brand is poised to help families from coast to coast.
2nd Family began serving clients in 2012 and opened its first franchise in January 2020. At that time, of course, Covid-19 was about to swamp the nation and ravage the economy. Despite facing less-than-ideal timing due to the pandemic, the 2nd Family franchise now appears strategically positioned thanks to demographic trends. Market research specialist Arizton reports that Americans’ spending on elder care services reached more than $455 billion in 2023, and the firm predicts the U.S. elder care market will surpass $651 billion in five years. Driving this demand are aging baby boomers, who will make up 21% of the population and be 65 or older by 2030, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Markland also expects demand to grow as government agencies become more amenable to covering in-home care costs. “The government’s realizing that it’s cheaper to prevent hospitalizations than it is to pay for continued hospitalizations,” he says. As social-welfare agencies recognize this – the Department of Veterans Affairs is on board and some Medicaid benefits are available, Markland says – they will create more opportunity for 2nd Family franchisees.
The 2nd Family Franchise Difference
2nd Family differs from many in-home care businesses because registered nurses serve as care coordinators. These nurses, who are franchise employees, start by meeting with the family to develop a comprehensive plan of care. After that, the nurses remotely manage caregivers via 2nd Family’s software and educate them on what to look for with individual clients. Nurses may recommend changes in care, perhaps suggesting a lift for someone who needs help getting out of bed or calling in hospice as needed. Nurses also do home visits at a minimum of every 90 days.
Families also can check on caregiving – by viewing shift logs, for instance – through 2nd Family’s online portal. Shift logs show specific tasks performed, from medication reminders, bathing assistance and transportation to doctors’ appointments, to changing linens and preparing meals – “whatever they need,” Tracey says.
2nd Family’s advanced technology also benefits franchisees. They can use it to track care plans, scheduling, billing, payroll, and client-caregiver communications.
Hiring Is Key
Tracey and Markland know that quality care starts with the hiring process. So 2nd Family hires only people who want to assist those in need. 2nd Family painstakingly matches the right caregiver to each client, based on abilities and needs. “We would never send a caregiver into a client’s home if we wouldn’t send them into our grandmother’s home,” Tracey says. “We call it our Grandma Guarantee®.”
The trademarked term arose from the founders’ family experiences. “Our grandmother had Alzheimer’s for almost 12 years. She was in a facility for a while,” Tracey says, “but my mom ended up pulling her out of the facility and brought her home. She had an apartment, and my mom ultimately hired just human beings and not caregivers – people to be with her and help her, eventually providing 24/7 care. There were tons of challenges and drama when people didn’t show up as promised.
“It caused a lot of stress and that got the wheels turning. I wanted more satisfaction out of my career. Joshua had an accounting and finance background and, after doing missionary work overseas, he was looking for his next thing as well. We didn’t really know each other from a business standpoint, but it ended up working out perfectly because we bring different skills to the table.”
Building the 2nd Family Franchise Model
In the years between founding and franchising, Markland and Tracey applied their skills to refining systems and processes. “The initial plan was for me to come up from Richmond, Va., to Eldersburg, Md., to help him get licensed and do the grunt-work paperwork” before launching, Markland says. “Once we got licensed, it was like, ‘Hey, I’ll stick around doing admin to help you get off the ground.’ Chad was working hard on the sales side. We started getting a little momentum, and it seemed evident it would be a good partnership.”
They faced two monster challenges in the beginning, Markland says. “We had to figure out how the industry worked. We also had to figure out how to hire caregivers — what motivated them, why they would want to work for us instead of someone else.”
State licensing presented further hurdles. Requirements vary from state to state, and “sometimes it was hard to get a clear answer on what the license covers you for and what you can and can’t do,” Markland says. “We met with competitors who answered our questions and introduced us to helpful people. The industry is really welcoming, and everyone has the same mission — to help seniors.”
Another challenge: refining communications with clients. “We’re dealing with folks who are having a difficult time in life or perhaps facing death,” Markland says. “Chad has gone through several iterations of how to speak with families. The sales approach in the financial services industry is way different from what it is in the senior care space, when you’re dealing with the emotions that come with Mom or Dad being sick or being at the end. We had to learn the nuances of what to say.”
Why 2nd Family Franchised
Tracey and Markland always wanted to create a national brand. “We considered scaling through natural expansion and not franchising,” Tracey says. “We quickly learned that was just a humongous undertaking, and we thought we’d lose quality. You need that owner with boots on the ground who is the face of the business in their local community. “By building our system and having franchisees follow the process, including how to market in their community, we make it a lot easier for them to succeed.”
“2nd Family’s franchisee support starts with 2nd Family University,” Tracey says. “It’s a video-based training platform that we’ve come up with. It’s great for preopening and when you first open, and it’s also a good reference point for operations.
“When we started building the training platform, we pretended to have 100 franchise units instead of five” to be ready for growth. There are also launch guides as well as a 2nd Family platform that lets franchisees put in tickets to have questions answered, he says. “Our sales and marketing launch guide does a deep dive into what you need to do each day and each week in order to hit your goals as far as sales and marketing. We also have a recruiting launch guide.” Markland points out that 2nd Family is “using generative AI [artificial intelligence] on our hiring side. … It’s super-helpful for our franchisees who need to find more caregivers.”
Teaming with REP’M Group
To boost the 2nd Family franchise’s expansion, Tracey and Markland have partnered with REP’M Group, which works holistically and cautiously with growing franchise brands. REP’M assists franchise brands with sales, marketing, branding initiatives, real estate and construction advice, and more. “They’re really on top of their game and will help us provide the support needed to our franchisees as we grow and develop the brand,” Markland says. “They’ve got great connections with franchise consultants.”
“Our ultimate goal is to find solutions for our aging community one family at a time,” Tracey says. “We want to take an approach where we’re honoring our seniors. We want to give people the dignity and care they deserve. We tell people, ‘Hey, we’re not here to make a really tough situation perfect. We’re here to make a tough situation as good as it can be.’ We want to make each family feel like they’re the only clients.” The 2nd Family franchise has territories available nationwide. To find out more about 2nd Family, visit https://2ndfamilyfranchise.com.
