How to do a Senior Living Business Plan?

Assisted living facilities enable seniors to live in peace and comfort after their retirement. Seniors feel that they are no longer alone and can lead a very independent and relaxed life at an advanced age. Assisted living implies residential support for old people who are physically fit and do not require any kind of medical support but a comfortable assisted shelter as they cannot stay alone. Group Residential care is the alternative name for assisted living. Different countries use different names for such residential care like boarding homes, rest homes, adult care homes, domiciliary care homes, personal care homes, community based residential facilities, assisted living and adult foster care (AFC). However, the concept is same for all.

Assisted living is a housing and health care option that combines personal care and independence in a residential setting.  Assisted living provides daily activity facilities like bathing, dressing, food etc. However we must be very clear on the fact that it is not a nursing home as intensive medical or nursing care is not required here. A newly constructed assisted living will include latest amenities, privacy, comfort, space and soothing interiors. The assisted living concept has been regulated and licensed in US, UK and other advanced economies. The difference between any independent living community and assisted living can be made out very distinctly as the former offers less expensive residential facility while assisted living offers assistance in day-to-day living.  The senior living business plan should cover all these aspects. If you are working on an assisted living business plan, it should include the support services that are offered by the facility.

The services offered by our assisted living facilities include:

• Staffing- 24 hour  service of staffing is provided in assisted living to meet all basic and emergency needs of the residents.
• Personal as well as supportive services- Assisted living facilities provide personal services to the residents like bathing, dressing, toilet, grooming etc. Other supportive services include transportation, medication etc.
• Medication services- Although assisted living is not a nursing home where medication forms the backbone of the facility, but most of the residents are aged and hence 95% of them are on medication. The support staff gives them medicine on time and they also have option of hiring health care provider from outside.
• Social services-Residents of assisted living will have their own freedom, choice, privacy and individuality in the organization. A social and homely climate is provided so that they can develop a healthy relationship with the community at large
• Meals- Food satisfaction is very important for the residents. The residents taste pattern keeps on changing. The senior living committees are very particular in selecting menus for the residents. The food ranges from simple homemade made style to mouthwatering restaurant style food. Nutritional diet, snacks and food on special choice are provided to them. The regular meal pattern is 3 meals a day 7 days a week which includes the nutritional balanced diet along with snacks in between. The assisted living staff keeps on changing the menus to match the resident’s preference.
• Housekeeping and laundry-The staff takes care of all housekeeping and laundry services. Washing of clothes, linens, cleaning of personal space are provided.

• Recreation/ activities- Recreational services like campus outings, gardening clubs, theaters, shopping is provided to assisted living residents to enlighten and refresh their minds and keep them engaged.
• Wellness or fitness programs like gymnasium, yoga, exercise, aerobics, walking is arranged every morning or evening for residents.
• Transportation-Transport facility like bus or van is provided in assisted living for any kind of personal work like shopping or parlor, medical visits and recreation purpose. According to the survey reports, most of them require transportation facility for shopping or recreational purpose.

There are 3 different parameters to analyze the impact that assisted living will have on the communities:

• Economic Impact- Assisted living facilities will have moderate impact on the community. Sometimes a project will be a combined development of assisted living, retail space and restaurant.  Therefore, it will generate employment for the local community and generate revenue in form of local taxes for the municipality.
• Social impact-Residing in assisted living centers creates a good socio impact for seniors. The residents stay together as a family and have group meals or they go out for shopping together which helps them to maintain harmonious and cordial relations with each other and indirectly with the community that they live in. The cooperation which they show with each other makes it a home for them and not just a senior care facility. The social fabric of the community changes positively as many of them interact with community members and take part in social services, visit the community church or engage in different activities within the community. Weekend visits by family members, shopping activity in the community all add to the social factor and impacts the community. 
• Cultural impact- People from different cultures come and live in an assisted living facility.  Though there is an emerging trend of centers that are developed for people with similar culture, the broader trend still remains mixed. Therefore, when residents of assisted living facilities integrate with the larger community that they live in, they will have some degree of impact on the community. For example a small group of Chinese Americans seniors may want to celebrate their New Year in a traditional way in the community which will expose the community to that culture.  Similarly, the facility may have a roster of events to celebrate festivals and functions of different communities. This will expose the larger community to different cultures of the residents.
  

The business plan should also include the detailed project description. Key details should include the area of the unit, cost of the property, total floors, total number of rooms, total beds, area description including accessibility to hospitals, malls etc. It should also mention whether the project will have central cooling system and heating system.

The other information that investors will want to included in the plan are county per capita income, demographics of the market, price trends of senior living facilities, how will seniors fund their stay in the facility etc. All these factors form an important component of the plan as the success of the project will depend on these factors. 

Another key factor for the success of the project is the marketing strategy. Unlike traditional marketing channels such as social media, print advertisements etc. a senior living plan will require specialized services such as Connecting with the local Ombudsman representative and providing information of our facility, Community Transit services, agencies and support groups in the location that provide senior counseling both online and using physical offices , Social Workers working for senior citizens etc. These specialized strategies will be required to make the senior housing popular in the local community.

Finally the business plan should have a clear outline of the financials. The key parameters that should be provided in the business plan are Revenue, Operational Expense, debt schedule, Profit & Loss Statement, Cash Flow and Balance Sheet. Apart from these some of the data that investors value are profitability ratios, RoI in a 5 to 10 year period, Cash-on Cash return and any other ratios that individual investors want to see in the plan.

The revenue generated from an assisted living facility will depend on the income that is generated from the seniors staying there and also if they avail any value added services. People who are interested to invest in assisted living projects can expect to generate moderate margins over the medium to long term. An assisted living project can also attract grants and other funding that helps the project developer to alleviate the common funding problems and make the project a success.

Depending on whether the business plan is being presented for grants, private equity investors or financial institutions for debt funding there may be certain changes that can be required. An assisted living project can have different funding options that help project developers to raise funds quickly and make the project a success.

If you want to develop a business plan or a feasibility study for a senior living project and want to know more about it, please connect with us at info@intelligentq.co.in.  Depending on your funding options we will provide you the perfect plan.