Home-based care staffing agency

Care homes, supported living providers and home care companies that need cover for sickness, holidays and vacancies.

You charge the client an hourly rate and pay your workers a lower hourly rate. The difference is your margin, from which you cover insurance, software, admin and your own pay.

• Organised and calm when shifts change at short notice
• Confident selling to care home managers
• Careful with paperwork and compliance records
• Good at judging people when interviewing

• Registration rules differ between England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, so check with the relevant care regulator whether you must register
• Employment agency rules and the Agency Workers Regulations, including holiday pay and equal treatment after a qualifying period
• Right to work, enhanced DBS checks, references, training records and safeguarding duties
• Cash flow: you usually pay workers weekly but clients pay later, so you need working capital or invoice finance
• Public liability, professional indemnity and employer's liability insurance, plus data protection (ICO) registration
• Check with your landlord, lender or council whether you can run the business from home

Startup costs are estimates, typically around £8,000 to £30,000, depending on your recruitment and compliance systems, insurance and the working capital you need. You usually pay workers weekly while clients pay later, so cash flow matters.

Monthly revenue is typically estimated at around £6,000 to £30,000, depending on how many carers you place and how many care homes use you. Around 20 hours a week or more is a typical starting point.

Check with the relevant care regulator in your nation whether you must register, and what employment agency rules and Agency Workers Regulations apply. Also check right to work, enhanced DBS checks, references, training records, safeguarding duties, insurance and ICO registration.