Day One and Beyond: How HomeWell Care Services Set Franchise Owners Up to Lead

By Helen Bond, Contributing Writer at Franchise Update Media. 
Note: This is a republication. Article originally published by Franchising.com.

When HomeWell Care Services set out to redesign how it brings new franchise owners into the business, the starting point wasn’t a training calendar. It was a harder question: what does it take for someone to walk into a home care business and be ready to lead the day their agency opens its doors?

The answer — after nearly two years of research, owner feedback, and development — is LaunchWell, a proprietary onboarding model that has become a cornerstone of how the national brand now supports its more than 100 agencies across 37 states, a footprint that has doubled in size since 2022. That growth reflects both the increased demand for home care and HomeWell’s commitment to supporting owners at every stage through systems like LaunchWell.

Why Information Isn’t Enough

LaunchWell grew out of a clear business need. HomeWell wanted a better, more consistent path from signing to launch that recognized the complexity of home care ownership.

“New owners need more than a binder of information or a few days of training,” says HomeWell’s Erika Ehlers, vice president of learning and onboarding. “They need to understand the business, build the right habits, and feel prepared to lead.”

HomeWell looked closely at where owners felt prepared, where they felt overwhelmed, and what struggles came up most often after opening, gathering input from internal experts, franchise owners, and launch support teams. What became clear is that franchise support isn’t a single training event. It’s a process.

“Information alone does not create readiness,” Ehlers says. “Someone can sit through a lecture and still not know what to do on Monday morning.”

From Signing to Opening

The LaunchWell journey begins on day one. Owners are paired with a dedicated onboarding coach for weekly sessions and start working through the Learning Lab, HomeWell’s central learning platform. Coursework is self-paced but sequenced, covering owner mindset, care management, recruitment and retention, client acquisition, and leadership.

Live virtual workshops, practical assignments, and milestone activities keep the learning grounded in real application. A visit to a working HomeWell agency shows the business in action, and an on-site session with a Franchise Business Consultant closes out pre-launch preparation.

Every owner brings different experiences, strengths, and LaunchWell’s coaching reflects that, equipping each franchisee to develop and strengthen the areas that matter most for their agency’s launch.

Building Confidence Alongside Competence

In home care, knowing the business and feeling ready to lead it are two different things. LaunchWell gives owners the flexibility of self-paced digital learning without losing the human connection that Ehlers sees as central to real readiness.

“Confidence is often built through conversation, observation, and shared experience, not just content consumption,” she says. Weekly coaching calls, live workshops, and in-person site visits make sure that connection runs through every stage of the journey.

HomeWell knows those first 90 days bring a particular set of challenges — the impulse to master everything before acting, the hesitation to build referral relationships early, the pull toward doing everything themselves, among them.

“We help owners understand not just what to do, but where to focus their energy, how to build momentum early, and how to move forward confidently even while they are still learning,” Ehlers says.

Referral development — one of the most critical and hardest-to-teach skills in home care — gets the same treatment, Ehlers says. LaunchWell breaks it down into teachable behaviors, helping owners identify referral sources, communicate the brand’s value, and build local credibility before opening.

Learning that Doesn’t Stop at Launch

Every phase of LaunchWell runs through the Learning Lab — a hub with sequenced learning paths, live workshop integration, job aids, vendor resources, and operational tools that serves the owner and their team. Once an agency is open, it becomes a development resource for care managers, schedulers, recruiters, and sales staff.

The continuity of education from LaunchWell through Learning Lab keeps owners and their teams connected to additional support well after opening day. Growth Tracks extend development into leadership, business growth, and operational excellence — a learning continuum built to keep pace with the business over time.

Owner feedback shows the LaunchWell model is working. Franchisees are entering the business better prepared, with clearer priorities, and stronger foundations going in. The industry is taking note. HomeWell has been recognized for its innovation in home care franchise education, including awards from Brandon Hall Group and McKnights.

And Ehlers says the work isn’t finished. The brand intends to keep refining the onboarding experience.

“LaunchWell was never designed to be static,” Ehlers says. “It was designed to grow and adapt as the needs of our franchisees evolve.”

About HomeWell Franchising:

HomeWell Care Services®, franchised by HomeWell Franchising LLC, provides personal care, companionship, and homemaker services for seniors and other homebound individuals so they can remain safely in the comfort of wherever they call home. HomeWell is committed to helping people live life more fully and offers special programs for fall prevention, post-medical care, and life enrichment.

HomeWell Franchising LLC is a premier franchisor with over 130 locations representing more than 220 territories across the United States. The company has a strong pipeline of new agencies set to open. HomeWell has been recognized as a Franchise Business Review Top 100 low-investment franchise, an Inc. 5000 company, and consecutively ranked among the nation’s top franchises in Entrepreneur magazine’s Franchise 500®. For more information on HomeWell or to explore franchise opportunities, visit HomeWell Care Services or HomeWell Care Services Franchising.

For press inquiries, please contact:
Andrew Hurst, Communications Manager
817.203.8313, media@homewellcares.com

For franchising opportunities, please contact:
Mike Condon, Vice President of Franchise Development
817-623-4794, franchising@homewellcares.com