In this episode of Home Care Hindsight, host David Knack sits down with Lucas Carroll, CEO of The Business of Senior Care. Lucas specializes in guiding home care startups, change of ownerships, and expansions through the complex world of state licensing and compliance.

He shares his unexpected journey from law school dropout to becoming a key resource in the home care industry. Lucas dives into a significant opportunity for agencies: diversifying into private duty nursing to retain clients, offer premium services, and increase revenue.

He also emphasizes the profound value of building relationships, even with competitors, and the importance of seeking mentorship from those just a few years ahead in their journey.

Lesson Takeaways:

1. Explore Private Duty Nursing: There's a growing niche between non-medical home care and full home health. Offering services like medication setup, injections, or wound care privately can be a significant revenue driver and client retention tool.

2. Your Network is a Lifeline: Actively build relationships with other agency owners. They can be collaborators, not just competitors, providing support when you're short-staffed or need advice.

3. Leverage Your Experience: Don't overlook starting a business in the industry you know best. Your existing knowledge and network are invaluable assets.

4. Delegate to Accelerate: The biggest bottleneck for many owners is trying to do everything themselves. Identify the highest and best use of your time (often sales and marketing) and delegate or outsource the rest.

5. Learn from Those Ahead: Find mentors who are 2-3 years ahead of you. Their recent mistakes and lessons learned are a shortcut to avoiding frustration and saving time and energy.

Timestamps:

00:00 - Welcome to Home Care Hindsight

02:12 - Introduction to Lucas Carroll and The Business of Senior Care

02:41 - Diversifying service lines and payer sources

03:59 - The opportunity in private duty nursing

07:40 - Lucas on being a middle child and his personality

09:22 - The big mistake: Not leveraging his home care experience sooner

12:14 - The moment the idea clicked: A call from the health department

14:59 - The emotional journey of a new home care owner

17:08 - The entrepreneur's constant doubt: "Have I made a mistake?"

18:46 - The most underrated thing in home care: Relationship building

22:53 - A small mistake with big impact: Trying to do everything yourself

26:28 - A recent win: Helping agencies expand into private duty nursing

Quotes:

Lucas Carroll: "If you can talk to somebody who's two to three years ahead of where you want to be... they usually are like, man, I made so many mistakes. I would do this... and you just save yourself frustration, time, energy."

Lucas Carroll: "Why can't I leverage the experience and expertise and the mentors and the knowledge that I gained throughout this home care journey?"

Lucas Carroll: "The true value [is] in relationship building in the industry... developing relationships with other home care agencies who could be considered competitors."

David Knack: "Home care does not attract people who are looking to delegate by virtue of who they are as people... The buck stops with me. I'm gonna take care of it."

Resources:

1. The Business of Senior Care: https://thebusinessofseniorcare.com/

2. The Business of Senior Care on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-business-of-senior-care/

3. Lucas Carroll on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucascarroll/

4. Connect with David Knack on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-knack/

5. Connect with Zingage on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/zingage/

6. Powered by Zingage: https://zingage.com/

7. Watch Episode on Zingage’s YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Zingage