- Thread Starter
- #41
Azone
WKR
Lots of great advice in the above posts. I'll add my own experiences. Did 26 years in the military and when most of my peers were taking on lucrative post-retirement contractor jobs in the same industry I decided to go another direction. With the help of my girlfriend we opened an assisted living facility in a rural community. Because of our exceptionally high standards we were successful and soon bought out or competitor and now we are getting ready to purchase two more. From zero to 82 beds in 10 years. From the 20k foot level that sounds great. Pull back the curtain and you see lots of 24 or 48 or even longer stretches of nonstop work covering for staff that because of some minor reason they were not able to come to work. I am regulated to have a certain staffing level at all times so when someone decides they are going to ghost their job we have to fill their shifts often with no notice. I'm often left wondering how I can work 26 years without missing a single day yet the folks I employ rarely make it two weeks before calling in for some reason or another. Every person is different and money can't buy integrity. If you plan on getting into an industry that employs people at or near the minimum wage you will have a unique set of challenges. Colorado's minimum wage increased approx. 50% over the last few years. Aside from writing bigger paychecks - nothing has changed. Job ghosting is still prevalent, collection notices for employees are prevalent, requests for pay advances are still prevalent. The industry doesn't support significant pay increases. My revenue sources are largely fixed so when some lawmakers see fit to increase minimum wage we can't simply pass the cost increase on but have to cut costs in other areas. As owners, having the soft skills to understand and deal with these issues is what has made us successful in our area. Not to mention I can always rely on my military pension and insurance. Our industry is the 2nd highest regulated industry in the state - we are subject to unannounced inspections every year. Those challenges pale in comparison to finding, hiring and retaining qualified staff. Consider the industry you are getting into and your labor pool. You might think you are the hardest worker around - you might find out it's true.
My wife worked in a care home briefly before her current job. It takes a special kind of person to actually give a damn about those that cant take care of themselves. There would be days she use to come home bawling because someone she had been helping passed. That is definitely a tough line of work.