Dan Price knew nothing about the senior care industry when he bought his first BrightStar Care® franchise in Leesburg, Virginia, in 2015. Price had left the finance world in the late ‘90s and purchased a farm in northern Virginia, where he raised honeybees and flowers, shared his knowledge of bees and the environment with area schoolchildren and donated cut flowers to senior citizens. By Patty Horansky
Dan Price knew nothing about the senior care industry when he bought his first BrightStar Care® franchise in Leesburg, Virginia, in 2015.
Price had left the finance world in the late ‘90s and purchased a farm in northern Virginia, where he raised honeybees and flowers, shared his knowledge of bees and the environment with area schoolchildren and donated cut flowers to senior citizens.
When a friend who owned a BrightStar Care franchise in Leesburg contacted Price to say he was leaving the business, he suggested that Price, with his love of seniors, buy the territory. Price researched the brand, met with BrightStar Care executives in Gurnee, Illinois, and signed on.
“I liked the story – the whole premium provider, kind of the Mercedes Benz of the home care world,” he said. “It resonated with me.”
Founded in 2002 and franchised in 2006, BrightStar Care offers premium medical and nonmedical home care to senior citizens and others. With more than 380 franchise and corporate owned locations nationwide, the brand sets itself apart by providing superior service, including registered nurse directors in each franchise and a stringent vetting policy.
“I really just followed the formula,” said Price, who has expanded into 17 territories, including northern Virginia, Washington, D.C., southern Maryland and West Virginia.
A major draw for BrightStar Care is its accreditation by the Joint Commission, a gold standard in healthcare. BrightStar Care is the only home health care franchise to be awarded the Joint Commission’s Enterprise Champion for Quality designation for 11 consecutive years.
Digging into BrightStar Care’s tool kit of materials and ideas, Price recruited a managing director and a scheduler to the team. He networked with other senior care agencies and personally visited with his clients. “I knew how to be empathetic, how to keep promises and how to follow through,” he said.
Within two years, Price’s franchise was nearly three times its original size.
“The people, the formula and the brand, those were the things that came together to make this work,” he said. “Instead of just a local franchise, we became a regional player.”
BrightStar Care offers comprehensive training and support, proprietary technology, marketing and a scalable franchise model in a rapidly expanding market.
“For people who have the heart for this, it’s extremely rewarding,” Price said.
Patty Horansky