Elders need care. As of 2019, 16.5% of the US population aged 65 or more and this figure is expected to reach 22% by the year 2050. The rise in life expectancy and better health care and immunity system has led to this rise.
When such a significant part of the country is elderly, the economy and the business plans need to have them in focus while planning further courses of business. It is evident that there are many businesses now that cater to this section of society.
The present population of elders is at 49.2 million as of 2016. There are 6.4 million elders aging more than 85 years who require the most of elderly care service. This article has ten ideas related to elderly care business that caters to the needs of this population.
Here are ten elderly care business ideas that you can start now:-
1. In-Home Health Care Business:
In home health care business has become quite a lucrative business given elderly people end up living alone in their home without any family assistance on a regular basis. Such people require daily caring for at least 3-4 times a day.
There are two categories in this. The first is the medical care given by medical professionals such as nurses and doctors while the second one is the regular daily assistance that involves taking care of daily needs like meal, bathing, toilet activities, dressing up of wounds, proper and timely medication, exercise, daily course, etc.
You can offer your service for any one or both as per your convenience. Providing such services is very rewarding in terms of finance. You will be charging on an hourly basis for certain work.
2. Medical Transportation Services:
Medical Transportation Services are of two types.
- Emergency Services
- Non-Emergency Services
Emergency services are the ambulances that require urgent disposal of cases as they come for critical health issues like cardiac arrest, heavy blood loss, accidents, burns, etc.
One can run ambulance services by getting registered as one and following all the rules and guidelines.
Non-Emergency transportation services include transportation where the patient is not in a critical health crisis but requires medical assistance on priority basis based on prior schedule to clinic, hospital, pathological centers, etc.
Both have similarity of health assistance but differ from each other significantly and have different rules and procedures to run the business.
Read more: How to start NEMT(Non- Emergency Medical Transportation) Business
3. Concierge Services:
Concierge Services are those services that assist people to do their regular course which they are unable to do for certain reasons. Concierge services for elders are similar which requires a person or group of persons assisting the elder in doing his regular daily course.
It can be of different types and as a service provider, one can opt for one or two specific jobs. In general, as a service provider, you will assist the elder person in the job he does every day.
It can be the daily in-home activity, work related job, medical assistance like assisting at hospitals, etc.
The person so assigned the job needs to be hospitable, friendly, well-trained and professional. One can charge close to 25-40 dollars per hour for this job.
4. Medical Tourism Facilitator:
Medical Tourism simply means travelling to outstation, especially to abroad for medical treatment. Some hospitals at some location in some countries offer affordable and exemplary medical services.
People around the globe travel to such places for treatment. Being a patient and then travelling isn’t that easy and simple. For this, there are medical tourism facilitators who help you in finding the right hospital, book and schedule appointments for consultancy and surgery.
Suggests to you affordable accommodation, food, commuting and comfortable return. There are many such facilitators working. This field gives you good income returns targeted mostly at elders who aim to go for certain surgeries and treatment.
Medical tourism facilitators are a business today with norms and laws made to regulate the business. Most of them are associated with some hospitals. You can build your network, build your website and market your business.
5. Fitness Center:
Fitness is necessary for everyone across age but it becomes very necessary for elders to remain fit and active. With age, their activity decreases which leads to an unfit body. Therefore, it is necessary to ensure that elders remain active.
Fitness centers are special centers made for elders for them to exercise and train. It is not just simple exercise but a fully dedicated and comprehensive fitness center that is aimed to train elders of different age groups keeping in mind their probable age related illness.
With a team of trainers and instructors and a space full of training equipment, fitness centers can be seen every few miles in the United States. Elders have been frequenting there spending 2-4 hours everyday.
These fitness exercises are not limited for physical fitness but also for mental fitness. You can exploit this space and build your own fitness center and earn on per hour basis.
6. Senior Friendly Mobile Phones:
Seniors do find it a bit difficult to work with present day smartphones. Thus, it is expedient in their interest to have phones that are elder friendly. There are many phones in the market that deal with this issue.
Though manufacturing such phones might be a costly affair, selling such phones or helping elders learn the usage of such phones can be a good business idea. You can become a distributor or retail seller of such phones.
You can also open a tutorial program to make these elders learn the working of phones and other gadgets. You can also collaborate with elder centers, old age homes, fitness centers, health centers in order to render such services.
7. Food for Seniors:
Senior citizens or elders require a diet that has nutrition, less fat, cholesterol and carbs. They require a very healthy diet that ensures proper health including proper blood flow, pulse, energy, digestion, etc.
In old age, it becomes hard for such elders to prepare such a nutrition rich diet everyday. You can use this opportunity to prepare food rich in nutrition for elders. Network with people who are already into services centric to elders.
You can also use list from public authorities, local resident associations, colonies to locate elders to whom you can market your business of food supply. Prepare a nice, healthy and tasty food chart with attractive pricing.
Pricing should be structured in such a way that it is affordable to the majority and they can select a package that is profitable to both. Only thing you need to ensure is quality food, punctuality in delivery and hygienic in nature.
8. Mobile Salon:
Mobile Salon’s provide personal grooming like haircut, beard trimming, body massage, nail cut, and other such services direct to your home. Generally, one has to visit the salon in person to the location where they are situated but a mobile salon reaches directly to your home.
This is quite comforting for elders who find it troublesome to commute to a particular place for such service. You can just call or book an appointment and the person so requested will come to your home at that particular time to serve you.
You can start your business through mobile phone calling or online booking or through app. Just advertise your business to the targeted location where there are a good number of elders located. This is a good way to earn money on an hourly basis.
You can render additional services as well. Plan accordingly keeping in view the charges incurred due to commuting. Target residential areas and you can easily find your customers in small areas.
Distribute pamphlets, bills, cards, etc. to advertise your business. You can directly approach such elders in parks, etc. You can also collaborate with elder home centers and work for them.
9. Elderly Clothing Store:
Elders require comfortable, quality and lose clothing. The clothing material must be smooth and comfortable to be worn. It should cater to the weather requirements of summer, winters and rainy season.
Elders also require additional care when it comes to dressing. Winters are critical times where they require extra care and clothing. This includes woolen socks, gloves, scarf, jacket, sweater and much more.
Inners are also necessary to give warmness to the body. Overall, the dressing should be comfortable and easy to wear. You can open a store or online service of rendering elder centric clothing.
10. Elderly Diaper Manufacturing:
Mostly bed ridden elders with ailments require diapers 24*7 to cope up with natural calls. Most of them are critical ill, suffering paralysis, or broken bones below the pelvis; all require diapers as they cannot walk.
Elder diapers are as common as for children. You can manufacture these diapers and it is quite easy to start. Leaving aside the legal formalities, only few materials are required to manufacture diapers.
You need non-woven fabric and absorbent pads to make diapers. You may or may not need manufacturing machines. But for quality control, machines are necessary to ensure perfection. Branding, marketing and distribution requires another effort.
Overall, you can manufacture such diapers with ease following simple methods. For mass manufacturing, you can use machines.