You are a New Applicant
Business Basics 
Are You Ready to Start a Business?
Do You Want to Be Self-Employed?
As a Provider in the Ohio Home Care Program (Ohiohcp), you are self-employed. In other words, you are an entrepreneur! In the following section we will discuss the definition of entrepreneurship and its pros and cons. Then, you will be presented with questions that will help you decide if self-employment is right for you.
What is an Entrepreneur?
An entrepreneur is someone who undertakes and operates a new enterprise or venture and assumes some accountability for the inherent risks.
Pros & Cons
Entrepreneurship is an exciting new world. It offers the opportunity to be your own boss, work your own hours and earn more money. However, there is a large failure rate for new entrepreneurs because starting an independent business involves selling yourself, servicing your consumer and doing your own billing.
Are You Ready?
Before you begin your own business, you need to be sure that you are cut out for it. The questions below will help you decide if self-employment is right for you.
Do You Have the Right Personality?
Please answer “Yes” or “No” to each of the following 25 questions. When you are finished, grade yourself!
1. Are you a good communicator?
You must be able to successfully communicate with your consumers in order to keep your relationship strong. Without clear communication, there is no way for you to know what they need and successfully help them.
2. Can you motivate yourself in difficult situations?
Running your own business gets very difficult at times. Without being motivated to do the things you don’t want to do, you will not be able to meet the demands of consumers and successfully run your business.
3. Are you compatible with people?
You will be meeting new people all the time, such as new consumers and Case Managers. You will need to be flexible with different personality types to establish a good relationship with each person involved with your business.
4. Do you work well on your own?
When you are self-employed, you will always be working by yourself. You must be prepared to do everything on your own.
5. Are you emotionally strong?
The long hours and hard work of running your own business can take a toll on your emotions. You must be strong enough to push through those dark times in order to be successful.
6. Are you a risk taker?
No one can start a business without risking something. You have to know what you will lose if things do not go as planned, and decide if you are willing to risk that.
7. Do you work towards your dreams?
Anyone can have a dream, but it is the true entrepreneur who works hard every day to achieve his or her dream.
8. Do people trust you?
You will be in the homes of the consumers. They must trust that you will show up on time to your appointments, and that their personal possessions are safe around you.
9. Do you enjoy people?
You must enjoy people because you will be working to help them all the time. You must have a true desire to make their lives better.
10. Are you passionate about your career?
No one can be successful without a passion for what they are doing. Your passion is your fuel for motivation and success.
11. Are you a confident person?
You must be confident that your business will be successful when you start it, or you will have trouble taking the necessary risks. It is also important for your consumers to trust you. You must be confident in what you are doing for them if you want them to trust you and your professional expertise.
12. Are you full of energy?
Running your own business can be exhausting at times, and you need a great amount of energy to accomplish your goals. Even if you are drained from working overtime, you must have the energy to treat each consumer like he or she is your first appointment of the week.
13. Are you organized?
Many problems arise from being unorganized. You will need to keep things in order such as appointment calendars, consumer billings and service reports in order to run your own business successfully.
14. Do you make good decisions?
Everyone has regrets, but you must not consistently make bad decisions or you will not succeed in your business. You will need to do research and planning to ensure that you make good decisions and not blind, bad decisions.
15. Do you trust your “gut feeling?”
Your “gut feeling” is your sixth sense as an entrepreneur. When making a difficult decision, you must be able to trust that your “gut feeling” is the right choice.
16. Are you likely to chat with strangers?
Most consumers will be complete strangers to you, and in order to make your relationship with them comfortable, you must be able to converse with them. This should also make working more pleasant for you.
17. Are you calm in emergency situations?
In your line of work, you will mostly be working with elderly people who have health problems. In the case of an emergency, such as a consumer falling, you must remain calm and know what to do.
18. Do you finish the projects you start?
Your entire business is a “project.” You cannot forget about it or quit it without paying major consequences. Your work with each consumer can also be considered an individual “project.” You must completely satisfy each consumer’s demands to the best of your ability to be successful. They depend on your help, so you can never quit any of your “projects” early.
19. Do you stay focused well?
Your business requires your full attention and focus for many hours a day in order to be successful. Remember, you deliver your services to consumers. You must be able to focus on your work in their homes with many distractions happening around you.
20. Will you do anything to achieve your goals?
You must be willing to do whatever it takes to start your business successfully.
21. Can you overcome small failures?
No one is perfect, and you will have at least a few small failures as you run your business. However, you must not dwell on your mistakes, and you should learn from them instead. This will help you grow as an entrepreneur.
22. Do you demand more from yourself?
Once again, no one is perfect. You should be aware of your faults and weaknesses and constantly work to improve upon them.
23. Are you a good problem solver?
You will encounter many problems when dealing with consumers, and you must be good at solving them. This makes you very valuable as a provider, as consumers want someone who can help them solve their problems.
24. Can you visualize every step towards your dreams?
Simply seeing one step ahead of you isn’t enough for an entrepreneur. You need to see the “whole big picture” in order to successfully plan the step-by-step path to your dreams.
25. Are You Competitive?
The business world is full of competition. There are many other entrepreneurs, like you, who you will have to compete against for business. In order to succeed, you must have the competitive drive to get more consumers, give better help and make more money than the other Providers!
If you answered “Yes” to more than half of the 25 questions, you have the personality of an entrepreneur! Move on to the next section.
Your Business Plan
Simple is Good!
Your Business Plan will not be full of complicated technical documents, complex financial information or intense research. It will be simple, yet effective! Your business plan will prepare you to become a successful provider. As you read through the next section, you should write short answers to each of the questions and save all of your information in a binder for safe-keeping and easy access. You should also keep your certifications and any other business-related documents in this binder. Remember, there are no "right" or "wrong" answers, as the purpose of this plan is strictly for YOUR benefit to help plan and grow your future business.
Why am I Starting a Business?
It is important to list your reasons for starting a business. Your answers to these questions should be used as motivation throughout the business planning process.
1. Do you want to be your own boss?
2. Do you want to work on your own?
3. Do you want more money?
4. Are you having trouble finding a job?
5. Were you laid off?
6. Do you have extra time on your hands?
7. Do you want to add excitement to your life?
8. Do you want to earn respect?
9. Do you want to run your own schedule?
10. Do you want to receive all the money YOU made?
The 3 Basics of Business
Every business attempts to do 3 basic things:
1. Sell the product or service to the consumer.
2. Serve the product or service to the consumer.
3. Collect payment from the consumer and maintain finances.
Therefore, your business plan will be based on these 3 categories.
1. Sell
Marketing and Sales
You may be the best provider on the market, but you will not secure any consumers unless you find them yourself! The Ohiohcp does not provide the consumer for you- it only provides the resources for you to find your consumers. To search for consumers in need of providers, go online and visit the “ Requests for Service/ Help Needed” page on the Ohiohcp website. Here you can click on any counties within a reasonable distance (remember that you are responsible for your own transportation to reach the consumer). This is your resource for finding and contacting consumers that are in need of an provider like yourself. Once you secure a consumer you will be assigned a Case Manager by the Ohiohcp.
1. What services do you offer?
2. What is your value? What makes you more desirable to consumers than your competitors?
3. How will you connect with consumers in need?
4. How far are you willing to travel?
5. How will you market your value above competitors and attract the business of consumers?
6. Devise a strategy for successfully reaching consumers while spending the least amount of time and money possible.
Skills
As a provider, you will need to be an expert at your profession. If a consumer requires a special skill that you are unable to perform, it is your job to learn about it in order to cater to that consumer’s needs. Otherwise the consumer may take his or her business to another provider who does know how to perform the skill. It is also crucial that you attend continuing education courses and training sessions to stay up to date with current practice. No consumer wants an obsolete provider.
1. You are liable for everything you do. This means that your reputation could thrive if you are flawless, but a mistake could threaten it. How will you cope with the pressure of full-responsibility?
2. What consumer needs are you able to satisfy with the knowledge and skills you already have?
3. How will you increase your skills in the areas that are lacking?
4. Do you have the necessary equipment to meet your consumers’ needs?
2. Serve
Operations
You must devise a way to keep written daily records, keep appointments and run a working schedule with consumers to be successful.
1. How will you deliver your services to your consumers on a day-to-day basis?
2. How will you record your hours of service for the consumer?
3. What steps will you take to ensure you arrive at every appointment on time?
4. How will you keep your schedule organized and prevent scheduling conflicts/cancellations?
Communication
Your relationship with the consumer is largely affected by your ability to communicate. You must present a positive and confident attitude at all times in order to make your consumers comfortable. They want to feel that they are “in good hands.” This is why even in the most difficult and stressful situation, it is critical that you never lose your composure. Blowing your cool or getting an attitude is the quickest way to destroy your relationship with a consumer, along with your reputation as a provider.
1. How will you remain patient with difficult and demanding consumers?
2. How will you communicate with consumers?
3. How will you instruct consumers to take care of themselves when you are away?
3. Collect
Financing
Although you may not possess a degree in Finance and Accounting, it is essential that you know the basics of financing to run your own business. You will want to keep track of all consumer billings, along with records of all your earnings, expenses, fees, taxes, etc. This will help you to stay organized and know what to expect financially each week, month and year. Another importance of keeping financial records is to have proof of all consumer billings, tax payments, etc. available for your defense if you were questioned at any time.
1. How much start-up money will you need? Keep in mind such things advertisements, insurance, continuing education fees, application enrollment fees, background check fees and any other forms or fees.
2. How much money will you need per month after your initial start-up? Keep in mind such things as transportation and gas prices, food, taxes, appropriate shoes and clothing, etc.
3. How will you bill your consumers?
4. Do you understand the way you will be taxed for your service as a provider?
5. Are you able to save your financial earnings to pay your bills, fees, insurance and taxes? How much money do you need to make to “break-even” financially?
6. What time allotment will you put aside in order to keep track of accounting and tax records each month? How will you keep these records?
7. What if there is an unexpected consumer death, vehicle break-down or any other undesirable instance? What is your back-up plan?
8. Are you able to survive a period of time when you are not able to find a consumer? Keep in mind that this is your own business, and consumers are the only people that pay you.
9. If you are injured while working independently, you will not receive “worker’s compensation.” This means you are on your own. Is that a risk you are willing to take?
Congratulations! You have completed your Business Plan!
Review Your Plan
Now that you have completed your Business Plan, you should create a basic review for the future. Write down your answers to the following questions and keep them as a personal guideline for success.
1. What are your overall goals?
2. How will you achieve those goals?
3. Are you aware of your key weaknesses? How will you improve upon them?
4. Can you list four or five of your key strengths?
5. Why will you be successful? What gives you more value than the next independent provider?
6. Have you developed a clear sense of direction or mission?
Your Enrollment
Enrollment Application
To enroll in the Ohio Home Care Program, you must first know what type of provider you want to become. Click here for more information about the different provider types. When you are ready to enroll as a provider, you must select the appropriate Enrollment Application link below and follow the directions.
Steps to enrollment for Home Health Agencies
Steps to enrollment for Supplemental Transportation
Steps to enrollment for Other Provider Types
Steps to enrollment for Non-Agency Personal Care Aide
Steps to enrollment for Non-Agency Licensed Prac. Nurse
Steps to enrollment for Non-Agency Registered Nurse
More Help and Information
These sites offer additional information and tools for planning your business successfully:
SBA Small Business Primer (Video Tutorial)
The Small Business Administration -(SBA) U.S. Government
The SBA provides small business counseling and training through a variety of programs and resource partners located strategically around the country.
The 1st Stop Business Connection - State of Ohio
A program sponsored by the Ohio Department of Development's Small Business Development Centers and the U.S. Small Business Administration. It provides FREE state-level information needed to get started or continue on your independent journey.
Women's Business Centers (WBC)
Women's Business Centers represent a national network of more than 80 educational centers designed to assist women to start and grow small businesses. WBCs operate with the mission to level the playing field for women entrepreneurs, who still face unique obstacles in the world of business.
You are an Entrepreneur!
You have completed the first 3 steps to becoming a successful provider- You are an official entrepreneur! Now that you are enrolled in the Ohiohcp, there are rules and procedures you will need to understand. In the next 3 steps you will be provided with the tools and information you need to successfully run your business within the program.
Go to the Next 3 Steps!
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