One area we are not doing much in Nigeria is taking care of the aged. Many people are guilty of this and the government even guiltier.
In any case, where is the government not lacking. Education, health, infrastructure, employment, welfare every sector you go, the government is not up to the task.
Now, if the government has refused to take care of our old ones,shouldn’t we take up the responsibility? These aged people were ones vibrant like us and besides, they used their premium years to take care of us.
They gave us the education and later the economic power we are wielding. It is just normal and reciprocal to care for them. All religions preach this.
Some who have refused to take care of their parents when here, would slaughter a herd of cow after their demise. What a waste and what an irony. I think it makes more sense to spend money on them when they are this side of the divide than when they are dead. Dead people don’t eat cow.
There are many people who have the means to take care of their old ones, but they do not have the time. Providing care service for old people is the business idea we are discussing today.
The gap is there, everywhere, every time, all the time.
Before the demise of my mom, I could have paid for this service, but there was none in my town.
What did I do? I started one, but only for my mom. I employed a woman and paid her monthly for staying with my mom 7am to 7pm. When the sickness was getting worse, she was staying overnight and was paying her commensurate.
This experience confirmed to me that there was a product gap to be filled here.
There are thousand having problem to take care of their aged parents and they are ready to pay well for this service. Why don’t you start one in your town.
You wont surprised that your friends will bring their aged parents under your care and pay you gladly for taking a burden off their shoulder, because that is what you are doing.
Now do not just go copy what they are doing in Europe and think it will work here. No, it won’t because our culture is miles apart. You are not just going to have a house with beds and a couple of nurses and fill it up with old people.
No, the average Nigerian will resent that and prefer to star in their homes. If I know our old people well, they will call it a prison. My mom would have resented that and I expect many to resent it as well.
What you do in my opinion is to take the service to them in their houses. In most cases, those who are going to engage your service are economically powerful enough to build a good home for their aged parents. What they do not have is time.
What Do You Need For This Business?
You will need an office.
A computer
You will need to use people who are passionate to take care of old people. There are people with this attribute and you have to search for them. I do not have to tell you that yourself must have affection for old people and taking care of them must be your passion too.
You will need a qualified nurse to take care of small ailments.
You need to have a doctor on retainer-ship to take care of serious cases.
Hire staff to attend to your clientele professionally. The success of your adult care service like all businesses will be determined by the kind of staff you use. Hire staff that will share your principles who will care for the elderly with dignity, humility and respect.
You will need a vehicle for executive patrol.
How Do You Charge.
You will decide this during the research stage and you will charge on individual bases. This business model is similar to those providing security services. Charge your customer, pay your staff and pocket the rest.
Profitability.
It has to be profitable. It is going to be even if you have one client. Charge the child X, pay your staff Y, your profit is X-Y. You simply charge more than you pay. It is as simple as that.
Marketing. You will use the normal communication avenue like business card, posters, radio and TV. In small towns you can reach them through the churches and mosques. You distribute your flyers and cards in big parties in the town.
You know the kind of people you are targeting and you know which party they attend. By the time you have 50 clients, you are in business. If you charge 40k per person, this is N2m monthly revenue. There are people ready to attend to these people for about 15k per month.
This is a sure business I advise you to do. You do not need too much investment and the market is there. It is a green land here, go and cultivate and skim the market.
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