Alyshia Vogt knows two things really well: marketing and recruiting. Becoming an expert in these two areas helped Vogt become one of Nurse Next Door's fastest growing franchise partners since she began her franchise in Victoria, BC in 2008. While she admits to putting in long hours and a great deal of effort, she acknowledges the hard work has paid off.
“Having worked so hard and seeing the success that has come has been an incredible experience,” says Vogt. “The greatest achievement for me has been making lives better for seniors in Victoria and touching so many families.”
Vogt spent years working as a registered nurse in a hospital setting where she regularly saw seniors enter long-term care facilities when they truly wanted to remain at home. She also saw the lack of emotional care provided to seniors in hospitals and facilities due to understaffing and limited resources. Unable to accept the poor conditions in which seniors were placed in many facilities, Vogt knew she could make a difference and decided to start a local Nurse Next Door franchise.
“As a registered nurse, I went to work everyday knowing there had to be a better way to care for seniors in my community,” says Vogt. “After researching the Nurse Next Door concept and meeting with their team, I knew this would be the way to make a difference in Victoria.”
After successfully working through Nurse Next Door's rigorous franchise inquiry process, Vogt spent a week in Vancouver learning the systems behind the medical and non-medical provider whose services range from companionship through to around-the-clock nursing care. While Vogt is a registered nurse (not a requirement of a Nurse Next Door franchise partner), she still admits to learning a great deal through the company's training program.
“I thought my extensive nursing background would give me an advantage over the majority of partners who don't have medical backgrounds,” says Vogt. “This wasn't really the case. I learned that there was a lot more to running a successful home care business than I thought. Nurse Next Door pays attention to the details and we really provide anything to keep a senior in their own home whether that is companionship, meal preparation, personal care or even end-of-life care.”
After completing the training and start-up process, Vogt launched her business in April of 2008 and quickly built up a roster of quality caregivers. After spending time marketing and connecting with her local community, the clients came rolling in. Vogt's launch set records for the fastest growth among all franchise partners for Nurse Next Door at the time and continues to be a model for other franchise partners in the system to follow.
“I had, and still have, the luxury of focusing almost strictly on hiring and marketing,” says Vogt. “I can do this because of Nurse Next Door's 24/7 Care Services Centre in Vancouver which handles a lot of the administrative side of scheduling our clients and caregivers. This gave me the chance to really focus on growing my business quickly.”
Now that the business is humming, Alyshia is able to focus on the strategic side of growing her franchise. New partnerships with local businesses, networking, and speaking opportunities take up most of her time as she continues to rapidly grow her client base and revenues.
“It's been exciting and challenging, but most important to me is that I'm doing something I truly love,” says Vogt. “Making the switch to become a Nurse Next Door franchise partner has been the best career move I could have made!”
