Cassidy’s business serves as the referral network bridging clients
and health care workers. The Upper Black Eddy resident personally meets with
clients to assess their care needs – which may range from companionship, to
nursing assistant, or a nurse – and then provides contact information for
people whose skills match their needs. In all, she has close to 200 health care
workers in her database. Before referring any to a client, she interviews them,
calls references and runs a background check to be sure they not only have the
skills, but the personality needed.
“(Clients) meet with them on their own and do their own
interview,” she said. “It’s super important that everybody’s happy on both
ends. I vet the client and the caregiver. I don’t want to send the caregiver
into a home I haven’t been in.”
Soon after starting her second business (she also launched
a physical therapy business,
Lisa
Cassidy Physical Therapy, LLC, in 2015), Cassidy sought mentoring support
from SCORE Bucks County mentor Brian Sciarrotta. Together they devised a
business plan, a business model, and set Cassidy’s rates for meeting with
clients and assisting with health care referrals and placements.
Sciarrotta brought in SCORE mentor Howard Coff to offer insight.
Coff had previously owned a home health care franchise and was able to shed
light on differentiators between that agency and Cassidy’s business. In an
effort to provide a team approach to mentoring, Sciarrotta also connected
Cassidy with SCORE mentor Dick Kroger whose financial background was beneficial
as Cassidy secured a line of credit.
“I am confident this business will continue to grow and thrive,”
Sciarrotta said. “We are joking about her taking this business and selling it
in five years so she can retire. But there is a serious tone to the prospect of
doing just that.”
Cassidy has plenty of entrepreneurial experience to fall back on.
When she started her physical therapy business it was out of necessity.
“I was taking care of my husband who was on a ventilator at home,”
she said. “I couldn’t really be an employee because I was at the mercy of a
nurse calling out.”
Fast forward to now and Cassidy is helping other caregivers
realize the flexibility of a schedule and pay rate they set themselves.
“A lot of people want to hire
privately, but don't know where to find the caregivers," she said, adding
that she wanted to do more than offer an internet database. "Many times
people don't know exactly what kind of care or even how much care they
need. As a consultant, I can identify their needs and steer them toward the
right person to help them."
Empowering Care Solutions serves
clients in Upper and Central Bucks, as well as parts of Montgomery County and
the Lambertville area in New Jersey. Eventually, Cassidy hopes to bring on
someone to help her run the business, which would allow its expansion to King
of Prussia and West Chester.
She credits Sciarrotta and her
other mentors with providing guidance and ongoing support throughout her
business journey.
“SCORE’s been amazing,” Cassidy
said, adding that Sciarrotta assisted her in setting a fee structure.
"Brian really pushed me to
emphasize that I am a consultant when I go out to meet my clients. I assess
their function and mobility and make recommendations for appropriate equipment
and home set-up. The goal is to make my clients as safe as possible through
education, equipment and assistance."
