How to Become a Healthcare Provider

Starting a franchise can be an exciting and life changing decision. Becoming your own boss, working to a schedule that suits you, and having an industry-leading business at your back all mean that franchising is one of the best ways to start a business. If you’re looking to start your own healthcare business, here’s what you’ll need.

Healthcare is one of the most important sectors in the UK. While many healthcare providers in the UK work in the public sector, the private sector has also been relied on heavily throughout the pandemic.

There are around 8 million people in the UK with private health insurance and this number is growing all the time [equipsme]. In 2018, the UK’s private health sector was valued at around £8.5 billion and you can expect this market to keep growing [medgadget]. So, what exactly is a healthcare provider?

What is a healthcare provider?

Healthcare providers are on the front line of primary care in the UK and, depending on what franchise you decide to work with, possibly secondary care and beyond. Medical providers can be doctors and nurses, pharmacy workers, hospital workers, lab technicians, clinical staff, therapists, emergency service workers and everything in between. There is a huge amount of scope for specialisation.

Whatever part of the care system you choose to specialise in, however, there are a number of key things you’ll be doing on a daily basis:

• Working with often ill patients in a sensitive and caring way
  
  
• Operating industry-leading and high-tech equipment
  
  
• Administering and distributing medicines
  
  
• Following best practice and industry guidelines

How do you become a healthcare provider?

As you can imagine, this sector is surrounded by legal protections, so if you’re ready to make a career change with your healthcare business, here are some things you’ll need.

1. Assess your background

Many franchisors won’t need you to be experienced in the healthcare industry before starting a health-focused business. However, you may also need a minimum amount of experience to prove you have the ability to work in such a sensitive industry. You should ask yourself the following questions:

• Am I good with people?
  
  
• Am I able to communicate clearly and effectively?
  
  
• Am I organised?
  
  
• What healthcare qualifications do I have?
  
  
• What background experience will be useful in this sector?

This is far from an exhaustive list, but it’s important that when working in such a sensitive industry, you have some minimum skills and experience that will allow you to navigate the demands of the health sector. 

As a healthcare franchisee, you won’t necessarily be delivering primary care—unless your background means that you can—so you should also bear in mind any administrative or organisation skills that will help you run your business.

2. Choose the right franchise for you

There are lots of healthcare franchises working in this industry, so you need to make sure that you choose the right option for you. For example, while you could change your career with a franchise such as Kare Plus, there are also a number of other available healthcare franchises who are specialists in everything from in-home care, to healthcare recruitment.

Based on the skills and experience you have, you should look to tailor your background to one of the many healthcare franchises. But, as you choose the right franchise opportunity, you should also keep an eye out for potential competitors. See where they’re excelling and struggling and make sure you’re aware of how you can cash in on these differences.

3. Put together a business plan

Once you’ve done your market research, found the right franchise for you and are ready to pitch your idea to your potential franchisor, you’ll need to put it all together in a business plan. While there are a number of key tips you should always bear in mind when putting together a healthcare business plan, you should make sure that your plan is concise, accurate and well-researched.

Modern business plans differ in some ways and to an extent, must now be broader than ever. Business plans need to set out how your healthcare franchise will attract revenue, but also how you’ll be able to find new sources of revenue over time, how you’ll market your business, and where you’re hoping to take the business to in the future.

4. Decide how you will recruit staff

If some of the laws around working in the health sector can seem prescriptive, you’ll need to be prepared to guide your new team members through the same process as you look to recruit. As one of the most important sectors in the country, you could be forgiven for thinking that recruiting in this sector would be easy. In fact, you’d be wrong.

The health and nursing industries have many vacancies and attracting staff is proving more difficult than expected. According to a 2020 article, there are around 36,000 vacancies across the National Health Service (NHS), meaning that many qualified doctors and nurses are working across a small number of businesses in the private sector. As a result, attracting the right talent to your business has never been more difficult.

5. Have a passion for your work

Working in the healthcare industry, you’ll be helping people change their lives, and improving their wellbeing and mental comfort through your work. While it won’t always be easy, by working in this sector you’ll be able to enjoy one of the highest levels of job satisfaction as you run your own thriving business. 

Make a career change with a healthcare franchise

This article has given you an insight into what you’ll need to get started in the health industry as a healthcare provider. Making a big career change always carries some risk, but by working in this sector with a franchise to support you, you’ll be able to enjoy the profitability of working as a successful business with good security and job satisfaction as well.

If you want to see more opportunities in the healthcare industry, you can have a look at the sector page. Or, if franchising sounds like the right opportunity for you, but you’d rather have a look at some other sectors, you can see a full list on the UK franchise directory.