Q&A with Visiting Angels franchisee Marty Burns

Name: Marty Burns
Title: President & CEO, Visiting Angels of Bethesda, Eldersburg, Frederick, and Millersville, MD
Brand: Visiting Angels
Units: 4
Years in Franchising: 24

Why did you choose to franchise with a service brand?

You need less capital to start a service brand franchise than a big brick-and-mortar business, or something like a car dealership. There’s less inventory, so to speak, which is what tempted us to go with a service brand.

How did you choose the sector and brand you did?

I wasn’t familiar with Visiting Angels or the in-home care industry, but my wife was an in-home physical therapist and recommended it to me. She said that families were always asking if she knew someone who could provide assistance for a parent. That set us on our path to find the right organization and become a franchise partner with Visiting Angels.

What different skill sets are required for franchising with a service brand?

Strong management is essential. A service brand depends on people, which means effectively overseeing employees is critical. This includes the ability to hire and develop people, and with Visiting Angels in particular, that often means recruiting home health aides on a weekly basis. Managing that process well is key to success.

In non-medical home care, especially, finding and leading people with the right attitude and motivation is vital. That’s why strong management skills aren’t just important, they’re indispensable.

What are the advantages of choosing a service brand?

For a business like ours, I can continue to scale. We’re not limited by how many people we can help. If we need to add more hours, then we can add more people to help. We can grow at a lower cost, and it’s virtually unlimited. If there is more demand, we can hire more people and continue to help others in the community.

What are some keys to being able to operate multiple franchises at the same time?

Each of my franchises is contiguous in nature. That has given us the ability to use the economies of scale for the administrative and office side of the business. I have offices in each territory, but they’re not separate businesses. We can run each of the four as if it were one. The administrative and staffing parts are in sync. Each of the separate locations has salespeople and caregivers who both supervise, but it’s all managed as one process.

We can all see what needs to be accomplished through streamlining tasks, even if that means one territory schedules an appointment for another territory. That shared understanding created significant efficiencies across our locations.

What are some of the top ways in which you have been able to market and promote your business?

I have a background in corporate business-to-business sales, so that was a strength of mine. Initially, it was all about having boots on the ground and conducting in-person sales. We went to hospitals or rehab facilities to introduce ourselves to everyone we could who could refer clients to us.

One important aspect has been building other business connections and developing relationships within the community. For example, if our clients need to move to hospice care or they need physical therapy that is covered under an insurance plan, we can refer them to someone that we know, and vice versa. It helped us develop in the community in a major way. I’ve been able to grow as Visiting Angels grew because I got in really early, as the franchising aspect of the brand was starting in its first several years.

Visiting Angels also runs commercials and has a presence nationally and regionally. National brand recognition has helped tremendously.

What would you recommend to anyone considering a service brand?

Owning a business in the service industry isn’t for everyone. You must be 100 percent committed and find the one that is the best fit for you.

The Visiting Angels service model allows franchisees to expand with less capital. In the service industry, it’s important to be aware that there are not a lot of assets, such as land, buildings, equipment, etc. We have equipment such as computers and chairs, but if you’re looking to sell assets down the line, it’s not going to grow much outside of your good name.

You must find someone who can interview, hire, fire, and replace people. I think many people are surprised they will have to hire employees, manage them, and, unfortunately, lose people or let them go. You must be aware that those are all parts of business ownership.