New Venture Lab: Equipping Christian Entrepreneurs

Another trend to bet on is services for the aging because of the general graying of America.  And in that general industry category, in-home health care services appears to be one of the most appealing because it enables seniors to remain independent in familiar surroundings for a longer period of time.  This is a short profile of an Oregon company that retrofitting homes for the elderly:

EM West, doing business as In Your Home Lake Oswego formed October 2003 Franchising company, Homelder, formed October 2006

The product: The company offers a range of services that help seniors remain independent and in their homes, including general maintenance and larger remodeling work such as kitchens and bathrooms.

What stage? The company has served about 1,000 homeowners, primarily in the Portland area. It provides free online assessments and is in talks with potential franchisees.

Suggested retail price: Handyman services are $50 to $70 an hour, lower if under annual contact. Prices vary for larger remodeling projects.

The founders: David Dickinson, 51, did marketing research and consulting for 22 years before founding the company with Brian Bartholomew, 52. Both worked at Griggs-Anderson, where Bartholomew had been chief financial officer.

Employees: 12

Where they work: Bartholomew and an office manager work at Bartholomew's Lake Oswego home, the company headquarters, and Dickinson and a vice president of operations work from their homes. Eight others work in the field.

The idea source: The "aha moment" came when Dickinson got a call five years ago from Bartholomew as he was helping his aging mother move out of her home. That reminded Dickinson of his mother's fall seven years before. She had been home alone and tripped, breaking her hip, and lay immobilized just five feet from a phone. It was 48 hours before her son found her. "We had both left corporate life and wanted to do something that was personally fulfilling," Dickinson said. "There was a click."

The money: The two men have put about $100,000 into the main company and $250,000 into the franchise plan.

The dream: "We want to be the company you rely on to address aging issues, when you don't know what needs to be done or how to do it," Dickinson said.

The fear: "The company can always exist as a metropolitan service provider, but we want it to be more than that," Dickinson said. "The fear is we won't be able to scale up."

The forecast: The company, which grossed about $1 million in 2007, should gross $1.5 million to $2 million next year. Dickinson expects the first franchise agreement to be signed this year.

Web site: www.iyhusa.com

By: Jonathan Brinckman

Source: The Oregonian