Right at Home was one of the first companies to enter the in-home aged care market and is now a global industry leader with more than 800 offices in six countries. Right at Home Australia marketing manager Megan Sahli takes the Franchise Business Q&A.
How long has the business been trading?
Right at Home was founded in 1995 in Omaha, Nebraska. Daryl and Karen Sahli bought the master franchise rights for Right at Home and founded Right at Home Australia in 2014. They started franchising in 2016.
What does it cost to buy a franchise?
The initial franchise fee is $100,000 plus GST, the training fee is $20,000 plus GST. Potential franchisees should also have at least an additional $150,000 in capital to fund the business to breakeven.
What are the core areas of your business?
Right at Home Australia is a leading provider of quality in-home care and support. We support people living with complex and post-operative care needs, dementia and cognitive decline, older Australians, and adults living with a disability including NDIS participants. Our services include domestic support like cooking, shopping, and cleaning, personal care like showering, grooming, and dressing, and other personal care needs. Right at Home also provides skilled nursing and allied health services.
Who is a typical customer?
Our clients include anybody that needs in-home care and assistance. We support older Australians, people living with disability and those recovering from a hospital stay.
What makes your brand stand out from the competition?
Right at Home has an excellent capacity to support our clients for three main reasons:
- Skilled and experienced nurse care managers who have a proven management track record
- State-of-the-art enterprise management technology, and policies and procedures
- A system that provides a systematic approach to providing the best care possible
Our measurable, mission-driven approach has been successfully supporting franchise owners for 30 years. Our care system is tried and tested and helps our owners achieve (on average) breakeven within nine months from opening.
Industry-leading training programs offer valuable benefits to help Right at Home offices of all sizes become successful and trusted industry leaders. Our two-week RightStart new owner training program covers all aspects of the home care and support business including HR, recruitment, care management, marketing, operations, accounting and record keeping, compliance, and systems.
We visit our franchise owners regularly and ensure they have on-the-ground support from home office. The bottom line is that our owners make a very comfortable living with an excellent return on investment.
Why is this a good business for a franchisee to buy into?
The home care market is guaranteed to grow for the next 20 years and remains insulated from macroeconomic pressures. Australia’s ageing population, shorter hospital stays, and a preference for ageing at home are fuelling the demand for in-home care services. The Australian Government’s new Support at Home Program, effective from 1 July 2025, strengthens consumer-directed care and consolidates the Right at Home system. Entry costs and overheads are very low compared with most businesses.
The foundation of becoming a successful Right at Home business owner is a passion for people and a commitment to providing high-quality care. You do not have to have previous home or health care experience.
Why customers choose Right at Home as their home care provider?
- 24-hour on call service
- All care under direct nurse supervision
- All carers are introduced to clients by care managers at no additional charge
- Assistance in arranging a government care assessment, navigating the My Aged Care website and services
- Care plans designed to meet specific needs and budget
- Consistent carer/team of experienced, screened, and insured carers with a minimum of a Certificate III qualification
- Carers matched to clients based on background and interests
Which element of franchisee support is the most well received?
Our training, government accreditation, and ongoing support system at home office in Brisbane: including care management, clinical governance, accounting, data and reporting, people and culture, systems development, compliance, government funding management, document management, and policies and procedures.
How many hours a week does a franchisee typically work?
48 hours.
What drives your growth strategy?
We grow through new franchise territories across Australia — we can get a new owner into business within four months of their initial enquiry. Training franchise owners on growing their revenue base has proved invaluable and ensures excellent results, realistic targets, and accurate reporting.
What are your expansion plans for the next five years?
We are expanding into the allied health sector and plan to grow our home care franchises from 54 offices to 75 offices over the next five years.
Please share one exciting innovation
Right at Home’s Business Success Training, which leads to our Performance Group system. The program, which has become the standard in performance improvement over the past 15 years, centres around Performance Groups where owners work together to highlight opportunities, sales, and marketing performance, create goals and action plans, and share best practices. Members of Performance Groups perform 40 per cent better than those non-members.