When Brian VanHook’s mother was involved in a serious accident that forced her to require home care, it opened his eyes to a problem that needed a solution.
Not being able to find a home care service that he felt was suitable and would take great care of his mother, VanHook and his wife, Blair, launched Perpetual Home Care in January 2010. The agency offers in-home personal and companion care for the elderly, disabled, and individuals recovering from injury or surgery.
“We felt that we could do a much better job than what was out there,” said Brian VanHook. “We knew that we could offer better care and better service. Our passion is that we want to make sure people like my mother are taken care of and that the caregivers will do what we would do for our mother.”
Brian handles the day-to-day operations of the agency including interviewing potential hires, conducting orientations, scheduling staff, and handling payroll and invoicing. Blair handles the marketing and social media efforts of Perpetual.
“Most of our clients are elderly individuals who are 70 years old or older,” said Blair VanHook. “A lot of them have Alzheimer’s or dementia. We have several with ALS, Parkinson’s, and some that are bed bound because of accidents or other issues.”
The Meredith MBA program taught them how to write their business plan and how to make accurate projections early on. It also developed their leadership and public speaking skills.
“We would not have been able to start the business without having the experience that we got at Meredith,” said Brian VanHook. “We wouldn’t have had the confidence that we can make it work. And that confidence comes from the skills that we learned over the two years that we were there.”
In five years, the VanHooks would like to open a second office. They currently serve seven surrounding counties, and are hoping to expand into another market.
In January 2017, the VanHooks launched Home Care Assist, a web-based company that matches caregivers with care recipients. The website was developed to match caregivers with clients based on profiles that are submitted, skills, personalities, likes, dislikes, and built-in algorithms.
“It is basically E-Harmony for home care,” said Blair VanHook.
