Options For Senior America Franchise System

Options was founded in 1989 when the industry was still in its infant stages. For this reason, many look at Options as one of the founding groups of home health care. In its first 20 years Options focused on organic growth opening a new branch office every 18 months, on average. This allowed Options to acquire a first-hand knowledge of the challenges and solutions of managing a successful operation. While doing this, Options was able to open 13 offices over a period of 20 years in 6 different States.

In its January-February 2020 issue, Entrepreneur magazine published a special section on the Senior Care franchise market. Listed franchisors varied in their royalty fee from 3% to 6.25%. This placed Options as the 2nd most cost-effective franchise where a franchise owner, with an average yearly revenue of $2,000,000, could save as much as $50,000 to $250,000 in royalty fees over the course of the 10-year contract period, when compared to nearly all other franchisors.
Franchise fees of these franchisors can be as high as $79,950. Options offers its franchise at a competitive fee of $47,500. This franchise fee covers a territory of no less than 30,000 seniors, and at times approaching 35,000. We know other franchisors offer a lower fee, however, this lower fee typically covers a smaller size territory than that offered by Options.
As to the all-in investment required to start the franchise operation, Entrepreneur magazine listed the initial required investment to vary between $70,450 and $208,650. Options franchise model will let you start your operation with an investment varying between $82,800 and $110,400 which includes the start-up franchise fee of $47,500.

Options believes that the most effective territory is the one that consists of the county where the franchise owner lives, provided the size and demographics of the territory meet the requirement of an Options franchise. Options offers one of the largest territories in the field with a senior population size between 30,000 and 35,000.
Options can offer more than one territory to a qualified prospective franchisee. Beyond the first territory, a discounted initial franchise fee applies. We encourage such individuals to contact us for a more detailed discussion.
While experience in the industry can be helpful, it is certainly not necessary. Most franchise owners in this industry do not come with a previous experience in home health care. Many come from various backgrounds ranging from sales to marketing, accounting, finance, human resources and other. Everything you will be required to know about operating a lucrative and successful business will be provided through our unique training program and ongoing personal support that is unparalleled in the industry. The most important attributes a prospective franchise owner must have are the drive and determination to follow a business model that has been tested and proven successful since 1989.

Options offers a complete turn-key training program. During your initial week-long training which takes place at our corporate office in Gaithersburg, MD, you will learn how to operate a successful business. But training does not end there, it continues during your tenure as an Options franchise owner. You will also be invited to attend our annual national meeting for franchise owners where you will be presented with new information that will make your operation more efficient and profitable, and learn from other successful franchise owners.
Our initial training program provides you with:

  • A 7-Step marketing plan which will help you in maximizing the lead generation from your referral sources. This program is very effective and powerful. When used properly, it will help build your business into a household name among families, friends, neighbors, health-care professionals and community leaders.
  • The knowledge and tools needed to hire and assign quality care providers who will be responsible for providing the care services to your care recipients.
  • The know-how to manage and organize your business through the use of computers, accounting software, budgeting and time management techniques.
  • A How-to Manual that will address different subjects and challenges and will take you, step by step, to achieve results in the fastest possible manner.
During your Discovery Day visit, you’ll have the chance to see first-hand the tools you will use to grow and support your business, including an overview of our comprehensive marketing, training and support programs. Because we house one of our branches next to the corporate office, you will have the chance to visit and see, first-hand, a busy office in operation. It is a taste of a fast forward experience of your operation as a franchise owner. You will also meet members of the Executive Team with whom you will be working once you become an owner. It is an exciting day full of valuable information and a great opportunity to get answers to your questions as you move forward in the qualification process.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) forbids franchisors from disclosing such information, so we are unable to predict the financial results of your specific franchise business. However, we can confidently say that the best answer should come from our franchise owners who will be happy to talk to you about this. The profitability of your franchise is dependent on many factors including how effectively you market and operate your franchise, and the level of expenses you incur.

With Options, you get many tangible and intangible benefits. One of the very valuable benefits you will obtain is the on-going personal attention and support you will receive from the corporation. One thing that is guaranteed is that you will never be “just another franchise owner” with Options. You will get the same attention as the other 10 corporately-owned branch offices in different states. As a new business owner, you will avoid many of the costs and frustrations that come with the trial-and-error of starting a new business, because you will be working with a proven and successful business model right from the beginning. You will be trained to set up your business and begin recruiting care providers and clients from the first week of operation.
Furthermore, your franchise fee also provides access to:

  • A very extensive and personalized training program at our corporate office.
  • One of the oldest and most successful senior home care programs in the country.
  • Cutting-edge marketing materials with marketing campaigns on a continuous basis.
  • A proprietary software developed by Options and used by all Options offices.
  • First class technical support with your software needs.
  • The corporate staff at any time including people with expertise in marketing, operations, customer service, recruitment, advertising, information technology, as well as the owners and founders of the company.
  • Pre-negotiated contracts at discounted rates with referral sources, and advertising programs that have been tested to generate leads in an efficient and cost effective manner.
The royalty fee is 4.75% of collected monthly revenues.
Though the vast majority of franchisors base their royalty fees on billed invoices, Options’ royalty fees are based on cash receipts. This is done to benefit our franchise owners and not to penalize them for invoices that do not get collected.
Yes, as a way to assist new franchises with their initial operating expenses, the ongoing fees (revenue royalty, marketing royalty, and technology fee) are waived for the first 2 months following the date of completing the 5-day Initial Training. Alternatively the franchisee may choose to be charged royalties for these first 2 months and receive $3,000 in cash ($1,500/month for these first 2 months) from the franchisor.
Options has preferred relationships with a number of financial institutions that we can refer you to, should the need arises.
The initial term is for 10 years, renewable for additional successive 10-year periods.
It depends on how quickly you want to start. Our normal process is designed to get you open within 5-10 weeks.