We sat down with Senior Vice President of Franchising Mimi Zeller to discuss LivHOME franchisees and what makes this senior care franchise so special.
How did you become involved with LivHOME? What does your job entail? I became involved with LivHOME because I believe in the LivHOME business model and at-home senior care is something I strongly believe in. As Senior Vice President of Franchising, it’s my job to oversee franchise development and the franchise operations for the entire company. It’s a unique and rewarding opportunity to offer a franchisee.
What makes it a unique at-home senior care franchise? What about the business model attracted you? LivHOME’s home care model gives clients a better quality of life in their own homes. The model also provides franchisees the opportunity to compete on quality, not prices, and deliver a differentiated, higher quality home care service to their community. I’m delighted to be part of a team that can do this for families and business owners.
Have you ever been a franchisee? What’s your business background? I’ve never been a franchisee, but I have worked with more than 5,000 franchise operators in my 25 years in the franchising industry. I began my career in franchising while working with Domino’s Pizza, Inc. in their world headquarters. While at their west coast regional office, I oversaw 725 franchise locations in 8 western states as the Franchise Operations Director. Later, I was the Senior Vice President of Operations for Mail Boxes, Etc., now The UPS Store, for 3,400 domestic franchises. To round it all out, I was also the CEO of a regional fast-casual food franchise.
Wow, that’s quite a bit of franchise industry experience. What’s been the most rewarding part of being a part of a franchise? The most rewarding part of working in a franchise is seeing individuals realize their dreams of owning their own business. LivHOME also offers the opportunity to do something good on a daily basis and help seniors in need.
Could you quickly describe for me the franchisee selection process to me? What do you look for in a potential franchisee? Do you have a profile in mind? We look for franchisees who are passionate, driven, can follow LivHOME’s process and standards, and are interested in working full-time in the business.
How extensive is the training for your new franchisees? Do you try and develop personal relationships with them? LivHOME has five training stages: pre-training, training in Los Angeles, post-training, on-site opening training and ongoing training.
Tell me more about the ongoing training and support you provide. Ongoing support is one of the key components of our overall franchise support process. We believe in effective communication with our franchisees and offer face-to-face support as well as extensive online programs a franchise intranet, and sharing of best practices.
What do your franchisees cite as the most rewarding part of their jobs? LivHOME franchisees experience a rewarding and personally fulfilling life by providing much needed services on a daily basis to those in need. And making a great living doing it.
What can we expect from LivHOME in the years to come? You can expect national expansion of a professionally led home care franchise.
How’s business? Is LivHOME growing? Yes! Our model has a very reasonable initial investment as compared to other franchises.