Medical: The Most
Recession-Resistant
Franchises
T
he funny thing about medical franchising—one of the most prominent franchise segments for the last 20 years—is that its franchise model could pertain to any industry. Great systems, good marketing, good branding, strong technology, and well-thought out training platforms all are inherent in successful medical franchises, just as they are in any other business. Recession-resistant thinking is at the core of what makes medical franchises so appealing. Most of these brands offer services that are needed regardless of what is happening in our bank accounts. Even when times are tough, people need to take their children to urgent care centers, like Your Kids Urgent Care. Or when a senior family member is in need—maybe requiring assisted living at Avendelle Senior Homes or driving services from Wheels for the Wise—you don’t pay attention to the economics, you just pay for services that can help. Many medical and senior-care franchises claim recession-resistance, which makes them great businesses and attractive franchises, but there are some things to keep in mind. MARKETING, MARKETING, MARKETING Even recession-resistant businesses require strategic marketing, and medical franchises are no exception. Marketing is always crucial to sell what you do, even in the high-demand, medical service field. So when you’re evaluating a medical service franchise, look at the franchise marketing system and verify that the franchisor has figured out how to market the model in a way that you can duplicate in your own franchise. Several senior-care franchises, like Ideal Home Care, leverage government-funded programs such as Medicare and Medicaid, which assign patients to in-home, senior-care franchises. If you are in a private-pay, medical service franchise, market and sell as you would in any other business. Some medical franchises require an extreme dedication to marketing and selling, and the franchisor should provide a system that can be used as a blueprint in your market. Before you
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