On Location

PeopleCare franchisees save customers time and money with mobile occupational health monitoring for workplaces

When it comes to health, it’s better to have a fence at the top of the cliff than an ambulance at the bottom. That’s even more true in the workplace, where legislation requires that employers take care to protect their staff and provides for large fines if they don’t.

‘Most at-risk industries such as construction, joinery, road building, engineering, forestry and agriculture, do their best and provide staff with protective equipment,’ says Ian Kebbell. ‘But effective health monitoring requires ongoing checks by occupational health clinics, which means staff need time off to visit clinics. In cities, this can take several hours, while in provincial areas it can mean writing off the whole day.

‘This costs employers a lot of productivity – and it’s even worse for someone who is a contractor or self-employed. In fact, I’d suggest that 80 percent of SME’s consider traditional clinic-based health monitoring services as unachievable,’ Ian says.

That’s why Ian has developed PeopleCare – purpose-built, fullyequipped mobile occupational health monitoring clinics. ‘By bringing to the workplace the testing and interpretation of lung function, hearing, vision and the effects of hand/arm vibrations from things like power tools, we reduce time off the job to around 20 minutes per employee.’

And to fast-track the benefits of the service nationwide, Ian has worked with the award-winning Franchize Consultants group to create a genuine business opportunity for the right people.

Full training provided

‘While we welcome enquiries from potential franchisees with backgrounds in health, wellbeing and occupational safety, it’s not essential,’ says Ian. ‘Our internal and external training enables franchisees to operate as technicians and test and carry out initial interpretations. We have an occupational health practitioner in the business to further review results and recommend mitigation actions.

‘It means anyone who has genuine empathy and an interest in people can be trained in operating a profitable and rewarding business.’

Built on experience

Health and wellbeing have long been part of Ian’s life. In a competitive market, Ian bought a fledgling commercial cleaning company in Wellington. SuperCare aimed to create healthy environments by raising the bar for service, reliability and fair ethics.

Since 2012 he has grown it from a staff of just 8 to employing 160 plus around the country, with a client list of national and international companies. ‘A couple of years ago, I started looking at further potential innovations to contribute to workplace health,’ Ian explains. ‘I spent six years as a paramedic with Wellington Free Ambulance, so I was very familiar with the impact poor health can have on people, and thought there was a real need for a mobile workplace health monitoring clinic.

‘Through connections, I found someone in England who was already operating something similar and learned a lot from their years of experience, including the need for specialist features at fit-out and a suite of leading-edge testing and diagnostic technologies. After combining them with our own experience and developing our own proprietary business software, we took PeopleCare out on an extensive road test. Response proved the market to be huge, so we have a unique business opportunity here for the right people.’

Inside a mobile clinic

New and repeat business

The franchise package includes full training, marketing support and an exclusive territory large enough to provide a high level of income once established. The investment for new franchisees is around $200,000 +gst. ‘The largest part of that is the fully-equipped, purpose-built, mobile clinic, which can be financed as an asset, so in practice you need a lot less to get started,’ says Ian. ‘Depending on your circumstances, you may also want to budget for additional working capital to cover living expenses over the first few months.

‘Providing annual health monitoring means that, after the first year, a lot of your income should come from repeat business, offering plenty of opportunity to grow. As you build the business, it’s also feasible to employ suitably-trained staff to enable the clinic to operate for more days or longer hours, maximising its earning potential.

‘All territories are greenfield, so new franchisees need to be prepared to put in the effort to promote their business locally, armed with our training and marketing toolbox. But to be honest, we’ve found that driving on to a worksite with your mobile clinic attracts a lot of attention and, once workplaces have found out what you do and how much time it can save, that can pretty much seal the deal.’

Life-changing

Summing up, Ian says that this is a life-changing opportunity that also protects others’ quality of life. ‘PeopleCare offers you a chance to make a real difference while also building a profitable and successful business of your own. You’ll be dealing with people’s health and livelihood, so we have very strict criteria for franchisees and we expect you to have a lot of questions for us, too.

‘PeopleCare is a brand new franchise so we have opportunities all over the country, but it’s also a carefully developed business model from a very professional company. To learn more, contact me and let’s talk.’

Advertiser Info

Contact Ian Kebbell

P 0800 50 80 30 or M 021 629 626

ian@peoplecare.co.nz

www.peoplecare.co.nz