The business in one offer
Who it serves
Adult children in a crisis window, often after a parent's hospital stay or a fall, who must find assisted living or memory care within weeks. They have little time to tour, do not know which questions reveal hidden costs, and value someone who has already walked through the buildings.
What to sell first
A family-paid placement review: a 90-minute intake, a shortlist of three communities matched to stated needs and budget, accompanied tours of up to two of them, and a written comparison of base rent, care level charges, staffing questions and move-in terms. Excluded: medical or legal advice, Medicaid planning, contract negotiation and any referral fee arrangement.
A flat family-paid fee removes the referral-fee conflict and makes your advice easy to trust. The fixed shortlist and tour limit keep each case to a predictable number of hours, and the written comparison format can be reused while staying specific to each family.
What could it cost to start?
This is an original example budget for the limited pilot described above. It is not a researched market average or a complete quote for every location.
| Item to price | Example allowance |
|---|---|
| Professional liability insurance quote allowance | $600.00 |
| Intake form, comparison template and contract review by an attorney | $450.00 |
| Mileage and time for scouting tours of 12 local communities | $300.00 |
| Website with fee disclosure page | $200.00 |
| Video calls, e-signature and secure notes, three months | $120.00 |
| Example total | $1,670.00 |
What this assumes—and excludes
Assumes you have relevant background, such as social work, nursing or senior living operations, and a reliable car. Excludes any state referral agency license or registration, which some states require, advertising, owner pay and certification fees. Check your state's rules and get insurance quotes first.
Collect actual supplier, insurance and local-authority information. Add a reserve for delays and unexpected costs; the example total is not a funding recommendation.
How the unit economics work
At an assumed $1,250.00 per family placement and $60.00 in direct costs, contribution is $1,190.00 before monthly fixed costs, owner pay and taxes. With 14 all-in working hours per unit, that is $85.00 per delivery hour before those deductions. These inputs illustrate the arithmetic; they do not establish a market price or expected earnings.
The example also allows $140.00 in monthly fixed costs. Include unpaid acquisition and administrative time when deciding whether the offer is worthwhile.
Try your own numbers
These are editable planning assumptions, not prices we have verified. Calculations stay in your browser.
Operating result = (price − direct cost) × units − monthly fixed costs. Before owner pay, taxes, financing and startup recovery. At these inputs, delivery requires 140 hours per month, plus any work not included in your per-unit estimate. Sales volume is a scenario, not a forecast.
How to find the first customers
Test a small offer before scaling traffic. Record the source of each enquiry, whether it fits the offer, and whether the buyer pays.
- Meet hospital discharge planners and rehab facility social workers and explain that you charge families directly and receive nothing from communities. Ask what information they wish families had.
- Offer elder law attorneys and geriatric care managers a short sample comparison from a fictional case so they can see the depth of your written work before referring.
- Host a free evening session at a library on questions to ask during an assisted living tour, and invite attendees to request a consult through a sign-up form.
- Track every case's source, time spent and outcome, and ask families whether the comparison changed their final choice.
What to validate before spending more
- Check whether your state licenses or registers senior placement or referral agencies, including disclosure and contract rules, before taking a first family.
- Tour at least ten communities yourself and record what their published prices leave out. If you cannot get care-level pricing, note that limit in your comparison template.
- Run two pilot cases at a reduced fee and time intake, research, tours and writing separately. Price from the total, not just tour time.
- Ask two families after a pilot whether they would have paid your full fee and which part they valued most, then trim or expand the offer.
The operational catch
Community pricing changes quickly and depends on care assessments the community does after you leave. A family can choose a building based on your comparison, then receive a much higher care-level quote at move-in. Present every price as quoted on a date, list the assessment step clearly, and tell families to get final pricing in writing before signing.
A practical way to fund the first step
Charge half the fee at intake and half at delivery of the written comparison, so each case funds its own mileage and time. Scout communities in batches on the same days you drive to client tours to keep unpaid travel down.
Separate cash already available from money still to earn. Count only proceeds after direct expenses, and do not spend customer funds needed to fulfill their existing orders.
Questions before you start
Can I accept referral fees and still be objective?
Some advisors do, but the fee is a material connection the family should know about before relying on your advice. If you take one, disclose it in writing at the start, name which communities pay you, and still show options that do not.
Should I recommend memory care for a parent with dementia?
That decision belongs to the family and the parent's medical team. You can explain what memory care units usually offer and what to ask about staffing and security, then shortlist options once the care level is clear from a clinician.
How many communities should a shortlist include?
Three is usually enough to compare without overwhelming a stressed family. More options add touring time and decision fatigue. Note why you excluded others, such as waitlists or cost, so the family can revisit them if needs change.
Source-backed checks
These references support the specific checks below. They do not endorse this business idea or substantiate the example prices, costs or demand.
The FTC explains that a material connection between an endorser and a seller, such as payment, should be clearly disclosed to the audience. Federal Trade Commission: FTC's Endorsement Guides: What People Are Asking.
The FTC's lead generation guidance warns businesses against misleading consumers about who they are dealing with when collecting their information. Federal Trade Commission: Lead generation: lessons from the MediaAlpha settlement.
The Eldercare Locator offers families a public route to local services for older adults, by website, phone, chat or email. U.S. Administration for Community Living: Eldercare Locator.
- FTC's Endorsement Guides: What People Are AskingFederal Trade Commission · Reference checked September 8, 2026
- Lead generation: lessons from the MediaAlpha settlementFederal Trade Commission · 2025-08 · Reference checked September 8, 2026
- Eldercare LocatorU.S. Administration for Community Living · Reference checked September 8, 2026
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