Episode 26: Inside HomeWatch Caregivers with Samantha Wallace & Nick Argos — Building Purpose, Profit & Community Through Franchise Ownership

Franchise Sisters (00:03.082)
Franchise Sisters here and back with another episode of the Franchise Business Radio Show. This is your co-host, Pam Curry.

Franchise Sisters (00:11.2)
and your other co-host, Sheri Curry, School Day work.

Franchise Sisters (00:15.2)
Yeah, the Franchise Business Radio Show, as you know, is designed to be a platform to bring together business professionals to help educate and serve aspiring entrepreneurs who are considering investing and operating a franchise. And on today’s show, we are kind of doing something a little bit different. And that’s because we have two guests.

Samantha Wallace, Franchise Development Manager for Homewatch Caregivers, and Nick Argos, a franchisee of Homewatch Caregivers and who actually was a client of ours. You worked with Sherry, Nick, when you researching franchises for business ownership. We’re very excited to have you both on the show.

Franchise Sisters (01:00.622)
That’s right, Pam. Yeah, we’re really excited to have Nick on here and Samantha to kind of get the perspective of both sides. So this is really fun for us. Like Pam said, I was fortunate enough to sit Nick and his search for a franchise that aligned with his business and personal goals. And now Nick is the owner and president of Homewatch Caregivers of Glendora located in Los Angeles County, California.

Nick Argos, CDCP (01:00.936)
Thank you for having us.

Franchise Sisters (01:26.346)
Nick is a certified dementia care professional who is passionate about supporting families and building meaningful connections in the community. And of course, we also have the franchise developer for Homewatch Care Caregiver, Samantha Wallace. So Samantha is an experienced franchise development professional who has spent her career helping people achieve business ownership through franchising.

She is passionate about empowering entrepreneurs to create meaningful impact in their communities while building lasting stability for their families. So yeah, welcome to the show you guys. great to have you.

Samantha Wallace, CDCS (02:02.836)
Thank you for having us.

Franchise Sisters (02:04.253)
Yeah. Let’s get this show really started. Samantha, I think we should start with you. I know you’ve obviously been with Homewatch Caregivers for quite some time. Would you mind just giving an overview for our listeners of Homewatch Caregivers?

Nick Argos, CDCP (02:04.254)
Thank you. Good to be here.

Samantha Wallace, CDCS (02:22.136)
Yeah, absolutely. And thank you for having us again. It’s an honor to be with you too. We’ve worked together for several years now, so I’m excited about this opportunity. For us, our business model into the franchise ownership process to become an entrepreneur, really, we focus on meaningful purpose. And we look at today’s world and we say, an individual definitely prefers to be home in the comfort of their home.

Franchise Sisters (02:30.623)
Right.

Samantha Wallace, CDCS (02:49.246)
rather a nursing facility, assisted living, or the hospital or hospice. And for us right now, we know that the personalized care service space, that sector is soaring. And for us, we’ve had our strongest growth this year than we’ve ever had. And for our owners that come in, they really have the opportunity to truly thrive, not only in their community, but within a growing industry, while making a true difference inside of their community.

And our model is there to support them. And Nick will get into the support in the detail. But really to support a home-based business, a health care business offering multiple revenue streams. And we focus our business on what we call our total care solutions. And that is truly a modernized way of the traditional home care model. And we still deliver passionate in home care services. And we’re looking at cutting edge home care.

home care technology and the AI integration that’s really elevated our model to a brand new space.

Franchise Sisters (03:49.476)
Thank you. Gosh, you just shared so much there and I just want to peel back the layers of the onion in each one of those little pieces you shared. Could we start off with kind of the core of the offering? You mentioned that you explained the business model itself and what a franchisee is doing.

Samantha Wallace, CDCS (04:08.414)
Yeah, absolutely. So we focus on person-centered care. We focus on the client wherever they are in their journey of in-home care. And we’re also all aged care. So the industry is founded on non-medical service lines. And for us, we’ve taken it a step further. we know that

Our business was founded on industry average of say like 20 hours of care per client. And our analysis recently has shown that actually additional service lines and revenue opportunities are out there. And we’d use AI to help us identify and assess daily living activities, which are known as ADLs. For us, we look at companion care and we’ve changed that into more of a wellness.

focus. We want to focus on wellness. We still offer companion care. We just elevated that to a different level. Then you have personal care services and personal care is really the hands-on care. That’s where an individual may need assistance with bathing, grooming, dressing, feeding, toileting, mobility. We also offer caregiving on demand. So that’s the caregiver on call, which is an extremely important part of this because that’s where you’re in a really reactive situation and a caregiver can show up to assist you.

or a loved one. We also have the AI technology and integration and Nikin’s probably going to dive into that a little bit more. But when we look at how AI is assisting with creating care plans, our ambient AI with our HomeWatch Connect, our HomeWatch Connect, which is now our wellness hub, it’s all about personalized care. And so for us, we really want to make sure that an owner that comes in sees big picture. We want to make sure that

They’re connecting at least once a month, every 30 days with their client. They have multiple revenue streams that we can focus on, but the core of the business is going to be focused on meeting with a client, creating that care plan, presenting that care plan in a bundled opportunity. So we’re not bill by the hour, which is new. So that’s something else that we’ll talk about in a differentiator.

Samantha Wallace, CDCS (06:21.362)
And then understanding that once they go into contract, they’re going to get a caregiver that has been certified and trained through our Academy drug test, background check, driver’s license are all on site. They’ve passed their certifications. Our companies are HIPAA compliant and they’re going to receive truly expert care for the caregivers that go into the home. And we’re going to match a caregiver with the client the best that we can to make sure that if

They have some form of dementia that we have a certified dementia care specialist in that space with them every single day that’s needed. Our business also focuses on the hospital to home and healing. So the transition and the rehabilitation and the caregiver being an advocate for a family member if that person doesn’t have somebody to pick them up from discharge, to go pick up medications, to get the home ready for them to go home and to heal.

We also have the Wellness Hub. So the Wellness Hub is our HomeWatch Connect, and that is truly unique to HomeWatch. It is driven by AI, smart devices, and the focus there is to keep people engaged and connected. Whether that person is in their 60s, 70s, they’re still super independent, maybe they live alone, maybe they just need medication reminders, employment reminders, or they need connection with family and friends, so that way we can have that

exchange through video conference calling, photos, videos. And then a caregiver can also meet with them virtually as well. So that really sums up kind of the core of the business and how we function day to day.

Franchise Sisters (08:01.95)
Yeah, and all the different revenue streams and the different programs you’re able to extend to your end customer. Are all of those programs available across all the states? Are there any specific state licensing requirements that need to be taken into consideration?

Samantha Wallace, CDCS (08:20.68)
No, yes, absolutely. there are about 34 states that have a state regulation that we have to follow. Some of those states will have a need for a nurse. Some have certified nursing assistants. Some have home health aides. The licensing process is different in every single state. Other than the states like mine, I live in Phoenix, Arizona. It’s a completely unregulated state. We don’t recommend that, but…

You know, we’re going to follow the rules and the licensing through the Department of Health in either way, even if the state isn’t regulated. However, when I meet with an individual, we do walk through the licensing, the rules, regulations with a subject matter expert. She does go through like, this is what it’s going to cost you for this license. If they’re looking into the skilled side, does that initial license include that checkbox for them to open up under skilled services?

which is the medical side of our business. So the non-medical side has requirements. The skilled side also has their own set of requirements and sometimes the state blends that together, which makes it a lot easier. Average time can be anywhere from 30 days to over 13 months, depending on the state. And then the rates are different, whether or not it’s $200 or $5,600. It’s really like, it’s up to the state, but we do educate them on that.

early on so they can then look at the process and say, does this timing work for me? Because if you’re in Maryland, you’re not opening in year one. If you’re in Arizona, you can open in 90 days. So it’s, we’ve got to reverse engineer the process for them so they can see big picture.

Franchise Sisters (09:57.12)
That makes perfect sense. And when it comes to, I’ve always heard with this business model that the market demand is there, right? Everyone is looking to age and home. So the market demand is there. And one of the greater, I guess, I don’t know if I want to call it challenge or more of a, you what you need to really get good with is the retention and, or the recruitment and the retention of the caretakers.

Samantha Wallace, CDCS (10:26.09)
Mm-hmm.

Franchise Sisters (10:27.712)
Talk to us about that.

Samantha Wallace, CDCS (10:31.008)
So we have an amazing workforce solutions team. It’s actually a team that was recognized for the creator of the caregiver playbook in 2023. It’s an award-winning workforce playbook. helps our owners build strong cultures, advertise effectively, and recruit successfully. It drives caregiver retention with how they’re treated. It starts with culture. And from culture to consistency, it’s all about education for us, career advancement.

And we’ve got over 29,000 caregivers in our network. About a year ago, was only about 25,000. So we’ve upped it. We’ve upped the game. And one thing that we focus on that when we’re recruiting caregivers is the value proposition of consistent pay. So turnover in the industry can be quite high if there’s a cancellation. So when we’re recruiting caregivers, whether that’s on a job board or in person or through our websites, through AidQuest,

we’re going to tell them, private paid clients are going to get you consistent pay. So if we’re focused 80 % of our business on private paid clients and you need 32 hours a week, that client’s paying for your services in advance, you’re scheduled, they cancel, you’re paid. So that caused a demand and a surge in our workforce by over 20%. And then the turnover decreased by more than 15%. And we’ve noticed that in just the past year. So it’s about

behavioral, skilled, and cultural assessments when they come in, and then educating them through the academy, and then building that trust with them that, hey, this is the culture that we’re here to provide. This is how we’re here to support you. And let them know, like, let them know, like, you know, you are, you are our product. The caregiver is our product. So we, the targets that we initiate,

That sandwich generation, those caring for loved ones without even realizing it can be a career is definitely something I’m sure Nick focuses on every single day.

Franchise Sisters (12:26.474)
Yep, that makes sense. Customer acquisition, always important. How do you go about, or how do the franchisees go about finding their customers?

Franchise Sisters (12:26.815)
Thank you.

Samantha Wallace, CDCS (12:38.144)
So customers are found in several different ways. There’s not like a true like, this is gonna be the direct path for you to get a lead. We do know that the top medical lead referral sources for us are gonna be hospitals, senior nursing facilities and hospice and then even funeral homes if you can believe that. So for us, we focus on the business development manager or sometimes we’re known as a community outreach coordinator as well, but really integrating into the network.

of the community. Number one, we start with the Accelerate program, which is a nine module training that they get a couple of weeks before the foundations training. And that’s to get them in the community early because we know the demand is there. The phone’s going to ring on average. Our client acquisition is anywhere between four days and 20 days. And our business operations managers are super competitive to make sure they get that client that first, that first week. I mean, that’s their focus is revenue, revenue, revenue for you.

So you get clients through acquisition, through presence in the community, number one, through your caregivers, your friends and family, and then through the medical facilities. It’s really a combination of many different ways that we get customers because we know that having a conversation with the person next to you at Starbucks, tell them what you do, guaranteed they know somebody who needs care today.

Franchise Sisters (13:59.732)
Yeah. So let’s talk a little bit about the franchise system itself. I know Homewatch caregivers has had some significant growth. Talk to us a little bit about the system, the growth and your vision.

Franchise Sisters (14:00.814)
systems.

Samantha Wallace, CDCS (14:13.312)
Yeah, so we were founded almost 46 years ago in Denver, Colorado. We were acquired by a private equity group in 2016. And since then, we’ve really just kind of 3x the industry. We’ve got close to 300 offices today. Like I said earlier, this has been our largest year of growth. We’ve got 42 new territories. I can’t even count the number of expansions because I don’t do expansions. I’m focused on the new.

About 30 new owners with 42 territories came in year to date and we’re in mid October. So definitely we focus on brand growth. We know that this industry backed by our senior leadership and our brand president, who by the way, I would say that his team is the strongest team that I’ve seen in support in franchising in the 18 years that I’ve been there. And that operational focus is around an EOS model.

which is the traction model, entrepreneurial operating system. The brand focuses on profitability, the growth, the technology at the point of care, caregiver supply and retention, service line expansion, and our marketing. It’s that strong digital presence that we’re focused on that we know is critical for growth. We’re part of the Authority Brands group, which is headquartered in Columbia, Maryland. We’ve got 14 other brands in trades, pets, and I’m

got the people. So we’re definitely part of a larger network that franchise owners can come into knowing that if they want to go over and cross brand and jump into a woofies or the cleaning authority or open an ASP, they can. And we see that all the time. So we want to focus not only on your growth inside of your territory, but also cross brand as well.

Franchise Sisters (16:07.744)
So if someone were want to become a franchisee, single territory, new development, what would be the estimated initial investment?

Samantha Wallace, CDCS (16:18.346)
Great question. So current FDD is showing about $122,000 upwards of $177,000. That right now is really including the franchise fee is $50,000. We do have upwards of $75,000 in operating capital in there for them built in. We changed that from last year. We added another $25,000 on in case they need that for their marketing for year one. So we’ve kind of bundled that in secretly.

So it’s there. But we want them to know on average about 150,000 if they’re going SBA, if they’re going to do some sort of go into a loan, upwards of 200,000 should cover them for the first year and hopefully beyond. It does vary by state as well. So rents as far as their office location, we do have an office requirement, five to 800 square feet inside the territory. Also,

Franchise Sisters (16:48.768)
No.

Samantha Wallace, CDCS (17:16.348)
Office, the equipment, software, computers, furniture, all of that’s included. The travel to Denver for the three weeks of training is part of that investment. Insurance, and then really just state licensing. So everything else is either franchise fee or the capital that they’re going to need.

Franchise Sisters (17:34.696)
And let’s go ahead and we’ll wrap up our interview with the most common question that you’ll probably get. How much money can I make?

Samantha Wallace, CDCS (17:44.481)
You can make as much money as you want. We’re a for-profit business and that’s a fact. But we do have the systems designed in place to get you to a million dollar business year one. I ask my owners all the time, are you going to break even year one? More often than not, that answer is yes. Break even looks different for everyone. It’s their investment, how they’ve structured their team, how much they’re paying at their lease.

Franchise Sisters (17:50.354)
I know.

Samantha Wallace, CDCS (18:14.184)
yearly what that commitment looks like for five years and that could be $90,000. But yes, you can make money. Our highest grossing owner right now is almost $70 million in two territories. So we’ve sold two, three packs this year and everyone that I talked to knows that to get to those millions that they want and gross multiple markets is definitely the way to go.

Franchise Sisters (18:28.024)
going to daily chores.

Franchise Sisters (18:39.744)
Farida. And just from a financial performance representation, what is your item 19 displaying or what data points are there?

Samantha Wallace, CDCS (18:52.672)
Yeah, so item 19 is going to go through territory averages and then it’s going to go through franchise owner averages. Our averages right now are 2.55 million. And if it gives you any indication of where we were when I came in in 2022, we were at 1.8 million. And now we’re at 2.5. That’s a new substantial growth with a very small.

Franchise Sisters (19:04.447)
Okay.

Samantha Wallace, CDCS (19:19.296)
number of new owners coming in between 22 and 23. And then looking at our owners in 24 and 25, their numbers aren’t even in there yet. So 2.5 million average unit volume, highest grossing owners, going to break 70 million this year. And average territory is about 1.3 million. But territories are tough because it’s demographic. Some people take

Medicaid waiver, which is not our model, but some of our offices do from the past because we’ve been operating for 25 years as a franchise. So there’s a mix. But also when you are reviewing our FDD, keep in mind that that was the bill by the hour model. Our technology is not in there, our skilled services is not in there, and our bundled offerings are not part of that either.

Franchise Sisters (20:05.472)
Okay, great. Thank you. Great information.

Samantha Wallace, CDCS (20:07.584)
You’re welcome.

Franchise Sisters (20:09.346)
Great overview. And when you set those numbers, I didn’t remember them being that high. So they are growing year over year. That’s great sign.

Samantha Wallace, CDCS (20:17.534)
Yes, we had a 16 % system wide sales increase. So industry averages normally around about four and a half.

Franchise Sisters (20:25.89)
Very good. All right, Nick, let’s get you in this conversation. You are our franchisee. You are the proud owner of the Los Angeles County in California. So we really want to get your perspective of what it’s like to be a Homewatch Caregiver owner. Can we maybe start out with you giving us a little bit of background of what your life and career was like before you got into franchise ownership?

Nick Argos, CDCP (20:38.823)
Yes.

Nick Argos, CDCP (20:53.236)
Sure. So my background has always been in sales and finance. I started my professional career. I grew up in New York, so I started my professional career on Wall Street. I was a broker for four years. And following that, I got into the automotive industry. And I’d held just about almost every position in dealer groups. Where I ended my career in the automotive industry was a finance director.

managing finance department for

Franchise Sisters (21:27.224)
Okay, yeah, that’s what I remember. And speaking with you, what was it that was motivating you to pursue business ownership?

Nick Argos, CDCP (21:38.421)
So if you recall Sherry, at the time that I started searching, my wife and I, were trying to have our first child. And there were a couple different factors that really brought me into wanting to be a business owner. Number one, I’ve always wanted to be a business owner. I’ve tried a couple of times in the past and it hadn’t worked out. But the driving factors were

Franchise Sisters (21:41.486)
you

Nick Argos, CDCP (22:08.404)
freedom as far as time. When I had a child, I realized, you my family is the most important thing. you know, although I was leaving a career where I did make a great living and we were very financially stable, I also knew that it would be difficult to raise a family with the amount of time that I’d be putting in to my previous career. The other part of it is

I fell out of love with what I was doing and I was really searching for fulfillment. Something that would bring me a lot of joy would help people because I think just at my core I’m that type of person and this gives me that opportunity to help people and create jobs and help family members too.

Franchise Sisters (23:01.026)
Yeah, you’re right. This totally can be an avenue for friends and family, along with other people in the community. And I do remember us talking about, you know, I can’t remember if your drive to work was 45 minutes one way. I can’t remember, but yeah, you just wanted to be with your family. Yeah, it went longer than.

Nick Argos, CDCP (23:18.502)
an hour to an hour and half. And that’s LA, know, it’s Los Angeles. Part of living here.

Franchise Sisters (23:27.276)
Yep, that’s right. when you came to, out of curiosity, before you came to us, were you considering independent business ownership or did you know for sure you wanted to do franchising? What moved you into the franchise lane?

Nick Argos, CDCP (23:41.439)
So when I came to you, I knew I wanted to do franchise. I had tried to start a couple of businesses in the past independently and they failed. It didn’t work out for either one of them. And I think the reality was I do a lot better when I have a roadmap and when I have

guidance and support team. So in the other industries that I started, I didn’t really have that mentor. I didn’t have peers to look at. was trying to do it on my own and researching as much as I could by myself online. And of course, it going to work out. So when I looked into it again, I knew for certain I wanted to go into a franchise because

You guys provide the roadmap. You know, you provide that business in a box, so to speak, right?

Franchise Sisters (24:46.036)
Absolutely. And of course, I’m laughing a little bit because it sounds like your cleaning person is here in the background. I love it. it’s no big deal. I just love it. that’s not you? I’m sorry. I thought I heard vacuuming.

Nick Argos, CDCP (24:55.43)
Is that mine? No, that’s… I don’t think that’s me.

Nick Argos, CDCP (25:04.158)
No. Let me just try.

Samantha Wallace, CDCS (25:07.946)
hear it too, it sounds like a wave from like air.

Franchise Sisters (25:10.99)
Yeah, a way of some sort.

Nick Argos, CDCP (25:15.41)
Not me, I was muted.

Franchise Sisters (25:16.032)
I hope our technology is working. Go ahead, Sharon.

Franchise Sisters (25:18.158)
Yeah, technology is always fun. Welcome to the world of technology. It’s just the reality of what we live in. And now it’s gone. Miraculacy. If you speak out, it goes away. Hooray. Because I didn’t want what you had to say to get muffled out at all, it’s good stuff. So yeah, obviously you came to me. You knew you wanted franchising. We looked at a few of them. Do you recall any aha moments that you had in regards to narrowing down?

Franchise Sisters (25:21.064)
Yeah, right.

Nick Argos, CDCP (25:28.444)
Yep.

Franchise Sisters (25:46.614)
to maybe home watch caregivers. What makes you kind of hone in on them.

Nick Argos, CDCP (25:51.017)
Yeah, well, I’ll start by saying I think the smartest thing that I did was utilize a business broker like yourself. So the aha moments came from reviewing the FDVs, you know, being able to actually analyze the FDVs because, you know, contracts, that’s something that I’m familiar with, right? And

Franchise Sisters (26:07.522)
Mm-hmm.

Nick Argos, CDCP (26:17.274)
And really the discovery calls, which is I think what you call them or validation calls. When you speak with the other owners in the franchise, the aha moments came out of that. I think I got, the way that Home Watch had set it up was I had calls with owners who were incredibly well established and owners who were, you know,

who were not doing so well. So I got to see both perspectives and I appreciated that.

And I, so without getting off track here, another aha moment was, know, when we had discussions and looked at multiple different companies, why, you know, I think it might’ve been you that brought up the exit strategy to look at an exit strategy as well. And we were looking at other businesses and when looking through, you know, sorting through FTDs of the other companies, I realized that, you know, some

some franchises really didn’t have an exit strategy. And you you can, you can tell from the numbers in an FDD that, you know, the people that were exiting were retiring or just liquidating the business. So, so my goal is to, you know, again, always put my family first, take care of my family. And the way to do that is to build a business that is worth something that

Franchise Sisters (27:53.034)
Bye.

Nick Argos, CDCP (27:53.653)
obviously does a lot of good, but also something that I can go in and, know, eventually maybe 10, 20 years from now, sell it for profit.

Franchise Sisters (28:03.842)
Yep, you’re building an asset exactly. If it’s not a family legacy that somebody wants to pick up behind you, then hopefully you’ve built an asset that gives you a nice return.

Nick Argos, CDCP (28:12.82)
Could be that. The options are open.

Franchise Sisters (28:15.682)
The options are open for you. We know that for sure. And yeah, so I also, remember that conversation actually as well, Nick, and just you talking about when you’re, there are so many steps and that’s, I think for listeners to understand that when you’ve decided you want to get into say business ownership through franchising, it’s a journey. You know, you’re going through an educational journey of a good four to eight weeks to understand.

the full business model to talk to people that are already in the system to look at that FDD. There’s no decision that needs to be made until the end result, right? And that’s where kind of the rubber meets the road and you need to make a decision. And that’s where franchisors are looking for progressive decision making. Can this person make the leap? Come into this and start running a business with us and our support. So you had a big decision.

obviously to make it the end. You were making a good income and a good business. You were just about to start a family. Your wife was, I don’t know, six months pregnant when we met, I think. This decision-making process, we always say is fear-based because it’s natural to gravitate to what you know, even though it doesn’t take you to the goals of what you want for your life and your future.

So how did you navigate that fear line to kind of give you the confidence to say, I’m going to move forward. I’m going to, I’m going to bet on myself and get into this business.

Nick Argos, CDCP (29:51.827)
You know, I think in the past I had experienced what I call, what everyone calls analysis paralysis, You know, trying to think too much about it and not pulling the trigger. I’d done that for probably half a dozen ideas in my lifetime, right? And the thing that got me to the place of confidence was

I would say mostly the validation calls with the other owners. Mostly the communications with other owners to see where they were, what their process was like. And like I mentioned before, hearing from the good and the bad. Because the reality is I don’t think there’s a single franchise or single organization on the planet that every single person is going to be above and beyond about every single business practice. There are always going to be different opinions.

And I got to see both and even hearing the bat, I just stayed open-minded and I looked at, why does this person feel like they’re struggling and are they really struggling? And in one person’s mind, the definition of success is incredibly different than it is in another person’s mindset. But speaking to

Franchise Sisters (31:14.893)
Hmm.

Nick Argos, CDCP (31:19.604)
I mean from the validation calls I’ve done and now being in the business speaking to the vast majority of the owners, I see that there are far more people who are successful, who are building a good business than the flip side. And that’s something that you can tell from the FDB regardless. You can see who’s closed, who, you know.

how many businesses over the years have liquidated or sold. So, I went in circles, but that’s my answer.

Franchise Sisters (31:55.532)
Yeah.

No, you did not at all. That was a great answer. that’s that’s the there are so many people like you considering this. So they love to hear your perspective from going through the journey and now being on the other end. So thank you for that. And I agree with you completely. That validation step is so important. One of the greatest things about being in a franchise is getting to know all the other owners that are doing the exact same thing as you. Iron sharpening iron. You’re not competing, but you’re supporting each other. And it really keeps that energy in that.

Samantha Wallace, CDCS (31:59.435)
Ready?

Samantha Wallace, CDCS (32:07.978)
you

Nick Argos, CDCP (32:09.96)
Mm-hmm.

Franchise Sisters (32:28.24)
accountability going, I would think. Yeah.

Franchise Sisters (32:30.592)
Samantha, did you have something you wanted to interject? kind of, I saw you.

Samantha Wallace, CDCS (32:37.408)
No, I’m taking notes. I feel like what he said as far as people coming into this system and only having a small cross section of owners is difficult. it’s like, I see the big picture. He sees the big picture. We know the outcome on everything.

Franchise Sisters (32:39.886)
She likes what next to him.

Franchise Sisters (32:40.254)
Hahaha

Samantha Wallace, CDCS (33:04.128)
So for me validation is extremely important. I would say it’s a very easy process for us. know, our owners are very welcome to talk to people for know, half hours and talk longer, you know, some generate relationships, they meet for coffee, they have in office meetings, and that’s just the network of our company. We’re very peer driven and the strategy behind the success of the regions is all because of the owners that are next to them and then the brand ambassadors.

So I do agree with Nick, you you have to have a cross section. I always place people, I never tell them like who, but the same like, they’ve been open five years, this is their bio, this is their why, and I always bring people back to their why and validation too, because, and sometimes they’ll come back and say, I’m good, I’ve spoken, I get it, everything, and some will say, I wanna talk to 15 owners, and like, all right, here’s a list. Yeah, here you go.

Franchise Sisters (33:56.478)
Bye.

Franchise Sisters (33:59.823)
That’s why we say it takes anywhere from four to eight weeks or a lot longer. It just depends on how many rocks you want to lift, right? And look under to get to that confidence level.

Nick Argos, CDCP (33:59.978)
Okay.

Samantha Wallace, CDCS (34:06.141)
Absolutely.

Nick Argos, CDCP (34:07.226)
And you know, I actually remember an aha conversation I had with one of the ambassadors and it was very truthful, right? Not everyone is built for it, right? So not everyone is going to succeed, but the vast majority do for the franchise. And even the ones that aren’t

as successful as the top percentile would still rather be a business owner than working for somebody else. So I think that was an aha conversation. said, you know what? Yes, even if it takes me longer to get to point B than it did for you, I still think I would be a lot happier having the freedom, being able to be with my family, building something for my family, building something that’s mine.

Franchise Sisters (35:03.682)
That makes a lot of sense and that’s why people start looking. So focusing, remembering the reason you got into this journey, kind of like what Samantha was saying. And actually that kind of leads into my next question, Nick, you kind of answered it already. Now you’re in it, you’ve been in it for 11 months. This is a big business, it’s very rewarding, it has a great return on investment, but it’s a big business. So let’s start out with what’s been the most rewarding thing that you’ve come across since you walked away from

W-2 and into business ownership.

Nick Argos, CDCP (35:36.478)
So.

Nick Argos, CDCP (35:41.119)
by far being able to help people. mean without exaggeration, know I love people, I love human beings, I love good people. I cried with a client last week in their home. To me there’s so much fulfillment that comes out of supporting seniors and one of the main factors that brought me to this business was my grandmother who has dementia.

and I’ve been managing her care for several years now. some of the more rewarding aspects were I now know so much about senior care to the point where I’ve got a great team of caregivers with my grandmother and they, I mean she’s thriving. I’ve learned so much about insurance. helping my 80 year old, I just helped my 80 year old father last week with his Medicare.

because I know everything about it now. And then the other part of the other fulfilling part is creating jobs. I love my employees. I’ve always led that way whether it was in my previous career or now. I think that our people are our business and you gotta love your people. You gotta try to empower everyone to do their best.

Franchise Sisters (36:39.604)
Yeah.

Nick Argos, CDCP (37:04.21)
And I think it’s hard to hide if they don’t enjoy working for you. I think it’s hard to hide that when they’re actually with your clients. So, you know, I just had a caregiver who has been with us for a couple of months. After a month, she came to me and told me that she was, you know, she was able to finally catch up on all of her bills and she’s back to a place of being able to, you know, to

to take the stress off and not feel like she’s got the weight of the world on her shoulders. And she genuinely thanked me and that’s why we do this.

Franchise Sisters (37:45.293)
Hmm, that’s touching. I love that. That’s very nice. Let’s go on the other side. What do you feel like spend the biggest challenges? This is a big you’re in the thick of things right now. We were just talking about that. Everything is big.

Nick Argos, CDCP (37:55.943)
everything. Everything. Yeah. You know, I I think really juggling everything in my previous careers, my previous professions, I had certain things that I needed to do. And I typically didn’t have to deviate too much off of that. Whereas now I need to do every single thing in this, especially in the beginning, you need to do everything.

You need to at least know everything. So I have done everything. I’ve provided caregiving for clients. I filled in for shifts. I’ve done scheduling. I’ve done it all. I don’t thankfully have to do that anymore. But juggling all the responsibilities is the hardest part. It’s prioritizing when you’ve got a billion things to do. And even still to this point, mean, I think people

Franchise Sisters (38:41.238)
Yeah.

Nick Argos, CDCP (38:54.192)
anyone who’s considering business ownership or franchise ownership should know that you need to put your blood sweat and tears into it. I’m still working 60 hours a week at least probably. I work, I go home, I put my baby down, I work again. It’s the reality of it right now. And of course as we grow and our team grows in the office,

I can delegate more tasks to other people. But I think that’s probably been the hardest part and also not knowing what I don’t know. You know, this industry is so vast and there’s so many different…

revenue models. There’s so many different rules, regulations, laws. It is incredibly complex and it’s something that truthfully without the support of other owners and franchise support center, I honestly don’t know how a business could do it. And I see in my day to day operations, I see what some competitors do and

And I hear it firsthand from caregivers who have worked for competitors that, you know, we’re coming from independence. And I, you know, I’m curious. So I asked questions about the operation and I come to realize that most, a lot of agencies, at least around here are not doing things the way that they should be done. There are a lot of laws being broken. There are tons of regulations not being followed. And

Franchise Sisters (40:30.656)
and

Nick Argos, CDCP (40:38.036)
And I think it’s probably because they don’t know what they don’t know. You know, they go into it and think, okay, well, I can, got my license and I’m good to go. It is not that easy.

Franchise Sisters (40:50.316)
Yeah, yeah, you’re right. Owning a business, you’re wearing a whole lot of hats and then being underneath a franchise model. What do you feel like? How is that franchise model kind of support? And you’ve kind of brought it up already, kind of supported that day to day operation to take that burden off of you a little bit.

Nick Argos, CDCP (41:07.924)
So I change processes. I mean, again, we’re not even a year in business. I change processes all the time because I learn new things all the time. So not necessarily changing our core process, but I implement different things frequently because I learn from other owners and I get to speak to different people who are trying new things. In fact, I…

I had a conversation with a legacy owner who had been in business for 16 years. This was maybe like two weeks ago about long-term care insurance. in that two week timeframe, I’ve added, I think close to $20,000 a month in revenue based on that one conversation and several long-term clients, long-term care clients that I had. I mean, it’s just stuff that you don’t learn from.

Franchise Sisters (41:52.088)
Good

Nick Argos, CDCP (42:05.972)
It’s stuff that you learn, I guess, from a lot of experience. And the benefit of being in an organization that’s 45 years old is you have owners who have been in business for decades. yeah.

Samantha Wallace, CDCS (42:16.352)
you

Franchise Sisters (42:20.174)
That’s great. Yeah, yeah, there’s nothing better than being around people that are where you want to be in the next 10 years and learning from them and hitching your wagon to them. So, you know, just kind of looking back and your journey over the last year or so, is there any advice or actually looking back, is there anything different you would have done before we get into the advice piece?

that you would have told yourself differently.

Nick Argos, CDCP (42:52.892)
Anything I would have done differently? You know, I think I would have listened more to the franchise support center. The truth is, is that everyone coming in, you you’re running your own business, right? So when I, one of the things that is encouraged heavily is the marketing aspect from day one going out.

marketing and you know and I think I think for for a little while I was I was knowing that I needed to do marketing but there were so many things coming up that I I didn’t prioritize the marketing when I knew I was told I should prioritize the marketing after after I pretty much got all of our core processes in place I started marketing and

quickly realized, this is the rate of growth I should be expecting. I wish I would have listened a little bit better. don’t get me wrong, I’m not way off track. It’s not like I’m just doing my own thing. But there, I realize now, you know, the people that are in these positions like Megan, our, you know, our head of marketing.

Franchise Sisters (43:53.799)
Yeah.

Nick Argos, CDCP (44:19.732)
She comes from a place of experience and I’m starting to trust it a lot more now. I always did trust it, but I’m really starting to listen a lot more now.

Franchise Sisters (44:25.87)
Thank you.

Franchise Sisters (44:30.241)
out.

Franchise Sisters (44:35.575)
I love that you said that because that is probably the one thing that is everybody’s challenge when they get into business ownership and it’s every franchisor’s hope that they will just follow the process step by step without question right Samantha?

Samantha Wallace, CDCS (44:51.307)
That’s it.

That’s what we, the number one question I get in, you know, the discovery process is what makes the difference between a great owner, a midsize owner with growth, and then somebody who’s failing or at the bottom 20%. And I say, follow the process. It’s there. It’s proven. Your team is there. If you want the support, it’s going to be all over you. No worries. If you don’t want it, they’ll back off. But

in the beginning, that’s why the Franchise Support Center is designed to onboard you specifically how we do it and give you that process to be able to open and get that growth and follow the marketing. And I know that the marketing, the local level marketing, I feel like is always kind of pushed down, you know, as far as the priorities on the list of opening. But that’s why we added the Accelerate program.

that marketing in the community, that word of mouth starts well before you’re open now. And so that’s where we’re seeing the jump in the revenues early on. So definitely follow the process.

Nick Argos, CDCP (46:01.894)
And we did not practice this, by the way.

Franchise Sisters (46:08.974)
Yeah, this is totally live. agree. yeah, absolutely. It’s funny because marketing is always the biggest challenge. I would say on my side of the house, when I’m showing people franchises, they always say, why are they making me pay for so much marketing? You don’t have a business unless you have customers. And how you get customers is through that marketing strategy that they have tested and proven. Trust it. See where it gets you.

and then maybe you can make some adjustments if you don’t like the results, right? That’s very, very standard. All right, let’s get into one more question here and then we can start wrapping it up for Nick. For our listeners, there’s plenty of people that are listening to this and the reason why they’re listening to it is because they’re considering getting into franchising. Any advice you can give them for their journey?

Nick Argos, CDCP (47:04.968)
Be okay. Yes. So first off, be open-minded, right? Be if you do decide to go franchising around, just be open-minded. Listen to everybody. You don’t need to implement every single idea you hear, but if you’re open-minded, you will learn a lot and you can pick and choose what you want to try out in your business and business is always evolving, right?

As far as franchising, would highly suggest using a broker, using a franchise broker like yourself. I saw a ton of value in that because I knew a little bit about franchising just from what I had learned through watching YouTube videos and online, just doing my own due diligence and research. And that’s actually how I discovered you.

But utilize a franchise broker because you again you don’t know what you don’t know and And there’s a lot that you don’t know I promise you Look at look at multiple options Don’t you know look at multiple businesses I you know when I started the search Homecare was one of my top choices but it was not my number one choice at first and

Franchise Sisters (48:11.568)
Ha

Nick Argos, CDCP (48:31.3)
after you know after looking at different options and and with sherry’s guidance looking at fpd’s and Realizing, you know different numbers and doing validation calls. I realized that home care is what I want to be and so it became my number one choice And then You know do your research, you know lean on lean on the franchisor Ask a lot of questions. do not be shy, especially if you’re going to a

Franchise Sisters (48:47.31)
you

Nick Argos, CDCP (49:02.814)
whatever you call the meeting. Yes, meet the team, Dave, thank you. If you’re going to that, ask questions to everybody. Ask the owner, the president questions. I asked Todd very straightforward questions and he gave me very straightforward answers, which I’m realizing are reality. You know, I asked realistically, what are expectations? What’s owner discretionary income on an average basis?

Samantha Wallace, CDCS (49:04.075)
meet the team there.

Franchise Sisters (49:06.178)
Yeah.

Franchise Sisters (49:20.814)
on.

Nick Argos, CDCP (49:31.038)
Things that you don’t find in DFTD, right? What else? I think, you know, yeah, just be a sponge, you know, be willing to learn that the first year or years could be a huge challenge on a personal and a professional level because you have to put in the work. But at least for me, it’s really worth it. So I think for most people, it pays off.

Franchise Sisters (49:56.206)
Yeah.

Nick Argos, CDCP (49:59.669)
And I heard a statistic somewhere that I think close to 75 % of fail. Independent businesses fail. Of course, it depends on the type of business, but with franchises, I think it’s only maybe 20 % of franchises fail. So listen. Listen, be open-minded, and always be willing.

Franchise Sisters (50:29.738)
advice. I love that. Thanks for covering all those things because very good advice. You guys, this has been great. I just, I love having Homewatch caregivers on and I really love having a franchisee because you’ve got the perspective that people want to hear and understand your journey. So thank you so much, for sharing that with us.

Franchise Sisters (50:46.708)
Yeah, definitely appreciate it. Yeah, thank you for sharing. We’re gonna go ahead and wrap up this podcast. We’ve been generous with your time. One quick question, I was gonna ask both of you, but Nick, I think you might have already covered this question. I’m gonna start off with you, Samantha. We like to close with, in closing, what tips would you give to budding entrepreneurs?

Nick Argos, CDCP (50:48.572)
Of course.

Samantha Wallace, CDCS (51:14.049)
Follow your passion and stick with your why. And don’t put numbers in front of that journey because this business, especially within home care, this space creates revenue based on what you’re feeling through your own energy. And I noticed that on initial calls right away. And if I see that somebody has that growth mindset,

and then they pull back and they have the fear and then they get stuck in a dialysis paralysis. And that’s what I’m here for. And that’s what you’re there for is to educate them. And my process is very educational. I spend hours and hours and hours on the phone educating them to the point that when they get to meet the team day, their questions should be answered. It should be validation at that point from the brand president and the leadership team that they’re ready to go. It’s very, very.

Franchise Sisters (52:03.2)
Mm-hmm.

Samantha Wallace, CDCS (52:11.295)
rare that somebody comes to that point and they step back. Have that big growth mindset too. If you’re looking at an in-home care space, think big, don’t think small. This is a big business. It’s a huge industry. There’s so much potential on the upside. We just opened up our skilled services. We’re integrating the AI. We’re changing so many systems to help alleviate that backend office support that Nick was juggling to streamline the efficiencies. So think long-term.

Think the next 10 years and Nick, you said something that was so great. You’re like, I’m putting in 60 hours a week, but it’s your business. You’re doing it for you and your family, not the other guy. It’s yours. And so I bring people back to that all the time. I’m like, what does it look like for you in five years if you don’t make this decision? Let’s talk about the next six months of your life. Are you, still going to be talking or are you going to be open? Like where do you want to be? And if they say, you know, I’m worried about this. I’m worried about that. Okay.

Great, let’s address it, let’s talk. I have a psychology background, I’ll talk to them all day. But circle back to your why. Let’s bring you back to the why and let’s see if we’re fit. And if we are, we produce great owners like Nick, you’re out there changing lives of people every single day.

Franchise Sisters (53:24.233)
great tip, great tip. And Nick, I know you’ve already given a lot of advice. Any additional tips you’d want to give to budding entrepreneurs? I’ve already covered them all.

Nick Argos, CDCP (53:24.308)
Thank you.

Nick Argos, CDCP (53:34.8)
I think I’ve said it, just be open minded and don’t get stuck overthinking, know, just like Nike do it.

Franchise Sisters (53:36.138)
Very

Franchise Sisters (53:46.094)
Just do it.

Samantha Wallace, CDCS (53:46.167)
Let’s do it.

Franchise Sisters (53:46.24)
Just do it. Know your why and do it. Thanks again to you. Yes. Thanks again for being a guest on the franchise business radio show powered by the franchise sisters. And we also want to say thank you to our listeners. We appreciate you following and listening to us. If franchise ownership is something that you’re considering, just do it. Contact a franchise sister.

Nick Argos, CDCP (53:52.276)
know your why and do it.

Samantha Wallace, CDCS (54:12.193)
I’m doing it.

Franchise Sisters (54:15.392)
We are here. We would welcome having a pre-franchise consultation call with you. We’ll also give you an ebook, top 10 questions to consider before investing in a franchise. We are firm believers of putting you in a position to make an informed decision and we recognize how important it is to, honestly, for you to investigate before you invest.

Samantha Wallace, CDCS (54:20.737)
you

Franchise Sisters (54:37.602)
Yep, that’s the whole point. Start investigating so you can make a wise decision. So the goal is to put you in that position, like Pam said, to make a wise franchise decision, to dodge costly mistakes and achieve financial independence. That’s what we’re here for, to support you through that journey.

Franchise Sisters (54:54.436)
Thanks for tuning in. This is the Franchise Sister signing off. Fist bump!