Do you have a heart for helping the elderly? Perhaps you’ve had a personal experience with a loved one who needed personal care, and found the options woefully inadequate. Or maybe you have experience in nursing and would like to apply your knowledge to your own personal care home. Whatever your motivation, there is definitely a growing need for personal care for the elderly, infirm, and physically challenged.

You can meet families’ needs by setting up a non-medical personal care home. The first and foremost thing to do is check with your state officials to find out what the requirements are with regard to space per resident, licensing, equipment, etc. Go online and look over your state’s website. There will either be regulations for personal care homes posted or contact information so you can obtain printed guidelines. Then you will know if you need (additional) training, and where you can obtain it.

Once these basics are underway, you’ll need to make practical decisions.

* What services are you going to provide? You can choose to be a live-in or live-out facility, or both. If choosing live-in, you’ll need to offer laundry services, meals, sleeping quarters, transportation, and assistance with residents’ hygiene. If you are a live-out facility, then residents don’t actually spend 24 hours a day in your care home; they reside there during the day only. No matter which type you choose, it’s a good idea to offer entertainment of some sort as well, such as television, movies, crafts, etc.

* How many employees will you need? Chances are, you can’t do this alone. In fact, regulations in your area may prohibit you from doing it alone. Thus, you will need to have dependable, compassionate employees lined up before you begin, based on the number and needs of the residents you plan to accept.

* Decide what you will charge residents per month. Once you do this, it might be a good idea to apply with a Medicaid program so that you can accept Medicaid payments from your residents.

* Develop and write out your own personal care home policy. Based on your state’s guidelines, make your own guidelines for your facility.

* Choose a site for your care home. You may decide to use your current residence, or purchase an appropriate space. Again, local regulations will determine what sort of building you can use to establish your care home.

* Build or renovate according to industry standards. Check with your local fire marshal, building inspectors, social workers, and senior services.

If you are going to run a successful personal care business, communication skills are essential. Not only will you need to communicate compassionately with your residents, but you’ll need to be able to talk to the residents’ families in a discrete, kind, and candid way. With compassion, dedication, and patience you can run a successful personal care business.