Rise of senior care franchises and sharing economy among elderly

Global Business

Rise of Senior care franchises and sharing economy among elderly

Selling a franchise is an easy way for companies to grow quickly. Buying a franchise provides a quick entrance into a new business. In the U.S., one of the hottest franchise businesses right now is senior care.

With the global population set to triple in the next 25 years, demand for elder care is set to explode.

CCTV America’s Karina Huber reports.

Follow Karina Huber on Twitter @kkat31

For 25 years, Albert Eshoo had worked in financial services at Morgan Stanley. After his division was terminated in 2011, he said goodbye to Wall Street and hello to the senior care industry.

He and his wife bought a franchise called Right at Home. Right at Home provides home care to seniors to help them live independently.

Claudine Halpern also co-owns a senior care advisory company called My Elder Advocate. This year she and her husband started franchising their business.

“In a growth situation there’s a couple of different ways to move ahead,” Halpern said. “One of the ways to move ahead is to create branches across the country, and the other way is to franchise.”

Halpern and her husband sold two franchises for just under $40,000 apiece.

Franchising among the senior care industry is booming. According to market research firm Home Care Pulse, roughly half of the home care agencies in U.S. are now franchises. Five years ago, only a third of them were.

One reason the industry is so attractive is the low cost of entry. The average senior care franchise costs $115,000. To buy a sit-down restaurant franchise will set you back around $1 million.

The biggest selling point is its growth potential. The number of Americans aged 65 and older is projected to balloon to 66 million by 2025. That’s up 38 percent from 2015. And people are also living longer.

“There’s a silver tsunami of people coming who need our services,” Albert Eshoo, In-Home Care Franchise Owner said. He thinks the trickiest part of his business is finding enough qualified care workers to keep up with demand, but to him, the challenges are outweighed by the rewards.

“We’re helping other people. We’re helping out clients. We’re helping ourselves and there’s a lot of self-satisfaction in that,” said Eshoo.


Seniors seeking new business opportunities as sharing economy rises

Millennials and Generation X’ers aren’t the only ones taking advantage of the sharing economy. Retiring baby boomers are also cashing in.

And with many people living longer but saving less, it’s a good way to make a little extra.

CCTV America’s Roza Kazan has the story.

Follow Roza Kazan on Twitter @rozakazancctv

For Kathy Klink, a retired public school teacher, her house is part of her late husband’s legacy. He loved 17th century French art, collected antiques and roamed demolition sites in Chicago to rescue sculptures. So when her husband passed away six years ago, Klink was determined to save the house.

“I was faced with losing everything in 2010,” Klink said. But after he died, I fought very hard to keep the house.”

To help pay the mortgage and the costly repairs on the house which was built more than a hundred years ago, Klink turned to Airbnb, the online rental business, to bring in more income.

So far, she has had six clients in less than a year. Klink says she plans to keep doing it. “Not just for the money, I want to share my husband’s legacy; I do want it to be seen. Because it’s unique, it’s different.”

A 2015 Airbnb study identified people over 60, like Klink, as the fastest growing group of hosts.

Many are also joining ride-hailing services like Uber.

Seventy-one-year-old Howard Krass calls himself semi-retired. He worked for limousine companies for more than 30 years. Now, he drives an Uber.

“It keeps you busy, keeps you breathing,” said Krass. You get older, you sit at home and you die. You get out, you find stuff to keep your mind working. I find it entertaining.”

It’s also about the money he needs to keep up with the rising cost of living with property taxes and bills going up.

Gerardo Cardenas is the senior manager of communications at AARP, U.S. organization dedicated to seniors. In Cardenas’ opinion, it’s more than just paying the bills.

“It’s about maybe realizing a lifelong dream of taking a tour around the world,” Cardenas said. “Can you actually do it? Are you able to afford it? It’s not out of the question. And in this new economy, it’s possible, if you figure out how to do it.”

For many seniors in the United States, participating in a sharing economy opens up new opportunities. It’s a chance, some say, to reinvent one’s life even after reaching a certain age.