So you are thinking about starting an assisted living community! 

It is a noble thing to do and we would love to help you with your journey.  Here are ten things you can do to get started. 

1.  Go to www.m-d-s.com and buy the book "Assisted Living Strategies for Changing Times".  Read and study. 

2. Go mystery shopping.  Call a nearby assisted living community and say, "I'm starting to look for a place for my mom.  She does not know about this (so you don't have to give a name!), but I am concerned and want to understand the options."  Ask questions.  Go visit. See what they tell you. Look at the building.  Do this at several locations and learn what others are charging and what services they are offering.  (You need to keep doing this after you open your own community.)

3.  Join the state association.  Go to www.alfa.org/about state organizations to find the contact data.  Start attending their training and events.  Learn who the players are. 

4.  Go to www.theceal.org and start reading some of the white papers like "Person-Centered Care in Assisted Living".  

5.  Build a budget.  This will help you decide many things.  And it will force you to learn things like the cost/resident/day for food.  How much working capital will you need?  How long will it take to fill up the community?  How much staff will you hire and what will you pay.  

6.  Build your team.  You will live with these people for years so choose carefully.  Someone on the team needs to start the state licensing process.  

7.  Choose the location for your community or your first of many!  Do the nearby demographics support the business?  Where is the competition?  Why will people choose your community over others?  If you don't have solid numbers, then there are people who can help you figure this out--feel free to call us for help finding the right people.  

8.  Get financing.  This is hard work and it is going to take months unless you have a rich uncle.  You will need a presentation of not more than 20 slides to tell your story, the budget that runs our for 5 years, deep knowledge of what you are about to do, 20% down payment and enthusiasm and conviction.  Be prepared to personally guarantee the loan... which can be scary. 

9.  Buy, build or refurbish the building and put the systems you need in place.  (Again, call us if you need help finding the right people to help you.)

10.  Open the doors and start!  

Fair warning and full disclosure:  We have hundreds of happy customers and we believe in our software.  We will suggest you use it.  Yes, we will tell you who else provides similar software.  And we will respect your choices.  

We wish you the best!