You've started a new homecare business. Congratulations! 🎉 So far, you’ve recruited some care workers, and have a small number of clients on board. But how do you grow?
Here are 5 ideas for how to get private home care clients for your domiciliary care company and help more people in your community.
1. Referrals - from current clients
2. Ratings - good inspection scores
3. Advertising - reaching your decision-makers
4. Networking - at hospitals and GP surgeries
5. Technology - working efficiently
Read the article below or fill in the form to get it as a downloadable PDF.
1. Referrals - from current clients
Keeping your current clients happy with an outstanding quality of care will help you get more business. People talk, and if the service you are providing to someone is a quality experience, then they will talk about it!
Consider a referral scheme; if someone refers someone else to sign up, then a reduction on charges will persuade them to talk more about your company, and advertise for you through word of mouth. A referral is qualified and coming to you, which means a lot less effort to keep your name out there. So keep your service quality high, and you’ll see more clients.
2. Ratings - good and consistent inspection scoring
Inspections in homecare are a guarantee; local councils and regulatory bodies will conduct inspections to make sure that visits are happening correctly, on time, and in a friendly and efficient manner.
England's regulator - the CQC- publicly displays the rating of each and every homecare provider that has registered with it. There are four grades in England: Outstanding, Good, Requires improvement or Inadequate. Outstanding is the most difficult to achieve, with only a small proportion (currently 3%) of the 15,000 or so registered homecare companies in England achieving this rating.
In Scotland, the Care Inspectorate uses a 6 point scale from Excellent, Very Good, Good, through to Adequate, Weak, and Unsatisfactory. Ratings are visible within a care provider's report, which can be downloaded from the Care Inspectorate's website care finder.
Since 1st April 2025, the Care Inspectorate in Wales has also introduced a four point rating system, from Excellent to Requires Significant Improvement. Again, services are legally required to display these and they are visible in reports accessible via the Care Inspectorate Wales' care directory.
And in Northern Ireland the Regulation and Quality Improvement Agency (RQIA) inspects services and publishes reports for the public to read, but doesn't have a formal ratings system.
Making sure that your consistently get good ratings will improve your reputation and make you much more attractive to new clients.
3. Advertising - getting to your decision makers
Advertising costs money, and how to spend this is often the biggest guessing game for homecare providers. Are your clients the decision makers themselves, or is it generally a family member or friend that would decide on a care provider? How can you reach those decision makers?
Watch: Care business strategist, Kate Pym, shares her advice on sales and marketing for new domiciliary care businesses.
There are a number of different ways to advertise, but importantly it must be targeted on a local level. There is no point advertising to people based in London if your company is in Manchester! Try to make sure that your local community knows about you. For example, simple things like dropping some leaflets door-to-door in your neighbourhood, putting an advert in the local newspaper or a poster on supermarket noticeboards can go a long way. If you have an office, make sure you have a nice big sign outside! Bigger projects can be considered too, such as local radio ads or local care events where you can exhibit. You could also hold some sort of open day (with snacks!).
But most importantly, get some kind of online advertising. Having an easy-to-read website, containing all the information about your care service, is essential for bringing leads to you. Most people will start with an online search if they don't know any local care companies. You can also go with doing some local advertising on the likes of Google Ads by specifically targeting those that are looking for new care services in their area. Social media advertising on Facebook or Instagram can also generate a lot of interest and gives you the ability to reach people in a very specific way, even with a fairly small budget.
4. Networking - at hospitals and GP surgeries
Getting to know the professionals who diagnose, treat and discharge patients may help bring you more business; capturing someone before they have even considered options for a homecare provider will help you gain more customers. By networking with staff at hospitals or with local GPs, you can make your company better known, and recommended by them. Personally visit each office with a well-organised summary of your homecare services, and you will see more business being referred your way.
Also remember smaller community organisations, such as mobility shops or social groups for elderly people. One of our Nursebuddy customers, Caroline Cares for You, has some great examples of how they've built networks within their local community, to bring new homecare clients to them.
Watch: Anne Durnion, manager of Caroline Cares for You, shares successful advertising ideas for new home care agencies.
5. Working efficiently with technology
Care management software (like Nursebuddy) can help improve the reputation and the quality of care that your clients receive. Trust in your brand is important, from both a client's perspective but also amongst your care workers. Carers are your frontline team, the ones actually doing the important work in the community. If they have the information and tools needed to do their job quickly, efficiently and communicated instantly, then this leaves more time to develop meaningful relationships with clients.
Find out more about how Nursebuddy can help your homecare company to grow by requesting a free online demo and chat with our team, today.
You might also like to download a copy of our guide to getting more homecare clients.
