Home-based aged care is an invaluable component of Australia’s aged care system, providing support for senior Australians in need. It’s no small industry either, with billions in government spend to provide more than 275,000 Home Care Packages. Whilst smaller than NDIS in scale and budget, there is significant opportunity for small businesses to improve the quality of life for our fellow Australians, to provide employment and to build strong vibrant businesses.

To get approved as an aged care provider can be hard, with a strenuous application process, many documents, forms, policies and plans, all of which are audited.

For aged care providers, business planning is an essential component of starting and growing a well governed, compliant and efficient business. Not only does it form a component of the application, business plans makes a real impact on the business; taking time out to strategies for the future, to create projections, research the market, understand financial demands, personnel needs and risks better prepare management for the future.

Our team at The Business Plan Company has written hundreds of business plans for aged care providers, so here are our insights into preparing your aged care business plan.

Start with the right template.

Templates are the starting point for all business plans. These are structured documents that have all the sections that you need to complete, sometimes with guidance on what to include in each of them. For aged care business plans, start with a template that was specifically created for aged care providers, so you have the right structure and then will complete it with the correct content. There are lots of templates that you can find online, but most of these are generic and won’t have the right sections for aged care.

Look at (but don’t copy) examples.

Completed business plans are a great resource for business owners to understand how to write them, what to include and how to structure them. What we commonly see, however, is content that is just copied from example plans, which defeats the point of doing the plan. It’s very easy for cut-and-paste to become irrelevant for your business (which undermines confidence in your plan).

Understand how the audit works.

Audits can be daunting, but preparation makes the process easier. Take time to learn what’s involved and what they want from your plans and documents. If you are working with any consultants to set up your business, utilise their resources to really understand the audit process. If you are clear from the outset, the content and structure will answer the questions they have right up front.

Beware of AI tools.

As tools like ChatGPT become more prevalent, more and more content is creeping into business plans that is AI-generated. Remember that the point of your business planning is to prepare yourself for the future of the business – the business plan documents these preparations. Just spitting out a document will lead to a substandard outcome. Plus ChatGPT content looks like ChatGPT content; you can see it from a long way of and it’s clearly not written by you.

Prove your worthiness to be a provider.

One of the key elements of your provider application is to prove that all business owners have the demonstrated skills and abilities to effectively manage an aged care support business. In the sections that describe the Key Personnel, be thorough – you can easily have skills that are overlooked that can show your capabilities. Include things you have done in your past that are transferable to running an aged care provider business, such as financial management, human resources, marketing, compliances and clinical skills.

Governance, rules and regulations.

For aged care provider applications, governance is a big deal, so make sure your team has people that can demonstrate skills in financial management, compliances, regulation, risk management, safety and also clinical experience. That can be difficult for small and new aged care providers, who often don’t have the capacity to employ separate people in these roles. In that case, you can demonstrate this through advisors and mentors. Make sure you describe how you will make your business comply with all the regulations.

Detail and consistency counts.

Your aged care business plan needs to be detailed in all aspects of your business, as it will likely be picked over with a fine tooth comb, so avoid broad unsubstantiated or unreferenced details. All parts of your plan need to match up, so keep an eye on small details that are also reflected in other parts of your business plan, such as everything in the financials matching with other parts (like marketing and wages).

Keep it realistic.

Despite any big ambitions you might have for your business, keep the growth plans in check. If you go too big too fast, you can look unrealistic, lowering the credibility in your plan. Being optimistic about the future of your business is normal, but record-setting growth is unlikely.

Get help.

For many aged care provider business owners, the process getting through registration is daunting enough. If you are finding it all too much, reach out to professionals that do it every day. The Business Plan Company have a skilled team that is ready to help.