How to Obtain Funds for Assisted Living Business in Florida
Assisted living facilities are different from nursing homes in that residents usually don't need 24-hour medical care but need some daily monitoring to ensure health, safety and well-being. According to the Orlando Business Journal, as of June 2010, the number of assisted living facilities in Florida has grown 24.6 percent since 2001. Obtaining funds for an assisted living facility is no different from raising money for a business. You will need to have convincing financial projections and a clear budget, and you'll need to pitch the idea to investors, banks and friends and family.
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Instructions
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Create a business plan. Write up the general idea of the assisted living facility. Describe how many people you will house, how much revenue you expect in the next few years, how you will market your services and how the competition will affect your business. Include trends in the assisted living facility market from local newspaper stories or interviews with representatives from established assisted living facilities. Get industry information from sites such as Florida Affordable Assisted Living or Assisted Living Florida, both of which list facilities across the state.
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Create a budget. Calculate your operating costs. Include rent, employee salaries, marketing expenses, equipment costs such as bedsheets and medicine, utilities and liability insurance. Assume you won't make any profit for the first year of operation and calculate how much you will need to cover all your expenses, including your salary. This is the minimum amount you will seek from banks or investors. Create a detailed description about where all the money goes and be ready to justify why it is important and vital for the operation of the assisted living facility. Contact the Florida Small Business Administration (SBA) branch at 904-443-1900. They can help you polish your business plan and budget, and get them ready to pitch to investors, for free.
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Pitch to investors. Finding investors isn't always easy and requires strong networking skills. Join your local chamber of commerce to mingle with other business owners and develop leads. Join online communities such as the South East Investment Network, which lets entrepreneurs in Florida post their business proposals for free. Independent investors can see your proposal and contact you if they are interested in funding. You can also pitch to friends and family, because this is the most common source of start-up funds for new businesses. Keep in mind that investors will want a good return for their investment and will often keep a large percentage of the business in exchange for the capital.
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Pitch to banks. Use your business plan to apply for loans through your local bank. You will need convincing financial projections and may have to give up some large asset or equity as a sign of commitment to the bank. Use statistics about the assisted living facility market in Florida to show that it is either in a growth phase or very lucrative. Show the bank you are capable of good financial management, or if you aren't, hire an experienced financial manager to earn the confidence of the bank.
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Apply for grants. Contact the local county government in Florida about grants related to assisted living facilities. Grants from the federal government only go to 501(c)3 registered nonprofits or local and state governments. These local governments can then distribute money to businesses like yours in the form of grants. Each grant requires an application with specific requirements. Hire a grant writer to send out grant applications as grants become available.
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