Kristie Iavisile, ComForcare Franchise Development Manager

(Original post here)

1. What types of candidates are you looking for now? How is this different perhaps than a few years ago?  We are looking for highly motivated relationship builders.  This industry is marketing intensive as the majority of clients come based on referrals.  It is important for owners to have the ability build these relationships.   We are also looking for an owner with business acumen and even management skills.  It is more important now to have these qualities then to have experience in the industry. We want our owners to work on the business and not in it.  There are a lot of moving parts, having the ability to multi-task is also important.

2. What would you say are the top 2 skills that a candidate should have in order to really be successful in the home care field?  They need to be able to network/build relationships and be willing to follow a system.  We have a proven business model.  Although most people choose a franchise for the system we do still see owners that come in and think they can do it better or differently, after they struggle they decide to follow our model.  They could eliminate those struggles with following our plan from the onset.

3. Are there any unique things you do to help identify the best candidates? Yes, we do a detailed profile assessment as part of our approval process that helps us to determine if the candidate has the same critical characteristics of our most successful operators.  Our Awarding Process is also designed to allow us to evaluate how well the candidate follows specific steps and guidelines.  In some cases, when a candidate is not inclined to follow this process,  they may be also less likely to follow our business model.  The final awarding decision also involves several members of the executive team that personally interact with the candidate during our Meet The Team Day event.  All of these steps and more help ComForCare determine the best fit for our franchise system.

4. If yes, how else does this help you? Sometimes there are enough red flags that we don’t award that candidate a franchise.  It also helps our Franchise Business Coaches better understand how to coach the candidate if they are awarded a franchise.   We have 5 franchise business coaches and we match them up to our owners based on their personalities as well as their strengths and weaknesses.

5. What do you enjoy most about working with potential franchise owners during your awarding process?  It’s great getting to know candidates through the process and then seeing them win awards at our national conference and watching them grow their business over the years.

Want more info on becoming a ComForcare Franchisee? Call Kristie Iavisile at 248-446-8683 or email her at kiavasile@comforcare.com