Griswold Home Care is Back in the Franchise Game

After a three-year hiatus, Pennsylvania-based Griswold Home Care has begun franchising again, the company announced Tuesday. The move comes just months after the home care franchising company renegotiated its franchise agreements in May 2017.

The company, which has more than 200 locations in 32 states, is once again prospecting franchise directors. Griswold took a break from the franchising game in 2014, amid incoming regulations for the industry, Mike Magid, COO, told Home Health Care News.

In 2014, Griswold learned of forthcoming regulations that would require home care providers to pay overtime and minimum wage to workers in the industry—something that hadn’t been part of the industry since 1973.

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“The dynamics shifted a lot between the regulations and departments at the federal and state levels,” Magid told HHCN. “We didn’t think that at that time, with things up in the air… [it was] the right time to bring new people in.”

Since those regulations went into effect at the end of 2015, Griswold has allowed the dust to settle and is now prepared to once again start growing with franchises.

“[Now], the regulations are in effect, and of course you have to figure out how to operate the business and meet those needs,” Magid said. “We understand the landscape and how to operate in it.”

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While Griwold paused its franchise prospecting, it continued to operate its 19 company-owned locations in four states. There are no plans to add more company-owned locations, Magid added.

Company changes

However, Griswold also underwent significant changes over the last few years beyond renegotiating its contracts with its franchisees. The company also moved over from an independent contractor model to having full-time employees.

“We’ve now been operating with full employment [status] since the beginning of 2016,” Magid said. “We’re very confident in what it takes to transition to the full employment world. There’s never been a better time than where things are at today.”

On the regulation front, there is also “nothing that we see on the horizon that is problematic,” Magid said.

Griswold hopes to add between 30 and 40 new franchisees per year, Magid said, though if the company does not reach that growth level, executives are “fine with that as well,” he said.

“We don’t have that pressure [to grow at a certain pace],” he said. “We want to grow strategically.”

Written by Amy Baxter

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