Winning Franchisees

Zubin Kapadia has held executive positions with some of the biggest names in healthcare, including Johns Hopkins and Memorial Sloan Kettering, so he knows a strong medical program when he sees one. Now, Kapadia is leveraging that experience as one of the newest franchise owners with Right at Home, the 600-plus-unit senior care franchise.

1851 Franchise: Frame your personal story for us. What did you do before franchising, and how did you decide franchising made sense for you?

Zubin Kapadia: Before joining Right at Home, I spent about 12 years working in healthcare. I was an executive with several major academic medical centers. One was Johns Hopkins Medicine International, where I was a managing director overseeing their Middle East portfolio.

Four years later, I held a similar position in Toronto with Baycrest Health Sciences, one of the world’s leading geriatric centers in brain health, senior care, innovation, and education. There, I was hired to start up and lead a new Global Solutions division in 2012. I developed partnerships with global providers and government agencies, mostly in China and Southeast Asia, to develop new models of care that were culturally sensitive and focused on keeping seniors active and engaged in the community.

I also worked for Memorial Sloan Kettering and the Hospital for Special Surgery, helping both organizations with domestic and international partnerships.

Of all those experiences, my time at Baycrest had the biggest impact on me. When I decided I wanted to go into business for myself, I knew that geriatrics was where my passion lies.

I spoke to several franchisors, but when I found Right at Home, I quickly saw that they had the right support structure and tools I was looking for.

Kapadia: I knew franchising was a good way to go for someone who prefers a structured environment where they can get support from a corporate entity but still own their own business. In some industries, brand matters. For instance, it’s a lot easier to find success with a McDonald’s franchise than it is to create your own burger restaurant from the ground up. The same goes for home care. Clients trust a known brand.

Kapadia: I think two things make us stand out. One is our longevity. The location I acquired has been in the community for 13 years and has a great reputation. The second thing is how involved our team is with families. As an owner, I think it’s important that I know our clients. I talk to them, I take the initial sales calls, I do follow-ups. I tell families about my personal experience and why I got into the business. Families are trusting you to come into their homes and take care of their loved ones. There is nothing more important than that.

Kapadia: It was mostly the positive feedback I got from existing franchisees within the system. They described the extensive support that corporate provides to help you manage your daily operations. However, they also noted that corporate allows you to be an “independent owner” with your own style and way of doing business. In franchising, some brands have a very heavy hand on the corporate side, and they can interfere with your day-to-day work. Right at Home has the right balance between support and allowing you to run your business.

Kapadia: A large factor of potential growth will be thoughtful market evaluation and developing good relationships. It’s important in this business to have relationships with assisted living facilities, rehab centers, hospitals, discharge planners, social workers and various others. If we can build those relationships and do great work for our clients, I believe growth will come naturally, and we will take advantage of those opportunities.

Kapadia: Home care is not a “glamorous” industry in the traditional sense. It is one that is focused on care for elders in our community, many of whom are vulnerable and in need of compassion, empathy, and love. For these reasons, I’d say that you have to be passionate about senior care. If you are not, it can be stressful and challenging. The people you are working with are often in the final chapters of their lives. You need to be willing to talk to families and help them develop the right support structure for their parents and loved ones.