The 1Heart Caregiver Services franchise operates in one of the fastest-growing segments of franchising: non-medical home care. As America’s population ages, the demand for in-home caregiving is climbing steadily, making this a sector where purpose meets opportunity.

This guide explores everything you need to know—from franchise costs and ongoing fees to services offered, training, ideal owners, and growth potential—so you can evaluate whether 1Heart aligns with your entrepreneurial goals.

This article is sponsored by 1Heart Caregiver Services. The content has been created in partnership with the brand to provide insights into its business model and franchise opportunities.

What Is the 1Heart Caregiver Services Franchise—and Why Does It Matters Now?

The home care industry is resilient because it addresses essential needs—helping older adults remain safe and independent at home. Families rely on providers they can trust, and hospitals, rehab centers, and physicians want dependable referral partners.

Founded in 2004 and franchising since 2015, 1Heart Caregiver Services delivers non-medical, private-duty care such as companionship, meal preparation, light housekeeping, transportation, and specialized dementia support.

What sets 1Heart apart is its structured systems: Caregiver University, Business Academy, and the Circle of Care framework that standardizes outreach, assessments, and caregiver-family communication. These tools help franchisees launch with a clear playbook and ongoing guidance.

The mission—“1Heart, 1 Smile, 1 Family at a time”—captures the brand’s focus on compassion and operational consistency, creating trust with both clients and referral sources.

For entrepreneurs seeking a purpose-driven franchise backed by proven systems, the 1Heart Caregiver Services franchise offers a balance of mission and structure in a growing industry.

How Much Does It Cost to Open a 1Heart Caregiver Services Franchise?

Launching with clear financial guardrails makes planning easier. Item 7 lists the estimated initial investment to open a single territory at $97,625 to $144,510, inclusive of the $55,000 franchise fee and approximately three months of operating capital.

Full Initial Investment.

Category	Low Estimate*	High Estimate*
Franchise Fee	$55,000*	$55,000*
Operating Software (first 3 months)	$360*	$360*
Real Estate / Rent	$725*	$2,250*
Utility Deposits	$0*	$225*
Leasehold Improvements	$0*	$1,500*
Insurance	$2,500*	$3,500*
Office Supplies	$500*	$1,125*
Training	$500*	$3,000*
Signage	$500*	$2,500*
Furniture, Fixtures & Office Equipment	$200*	$2,700*
Initial Inventory	$0*	$0*
Computer Equipment, Services & Software	$1,125*	$3,000*
Dues & Subscriptions	$115*	$565*
Licenses & Permits	$100*	$6,285*
Legal & Accounting	$1,000*	$7,500*
Additional Funds (3 months)	$35,000*	$55,000*
Total Estimated Initial Investment	$97,625*	$144,510*

What drives the range: modest office space and setup, local licensing and insurance differences, and how you budget early marketing, recruiting, and working capital. Because this is an office-based service, leasehold improvements are typically minimal.

What Services Does 1Heart Provide—and How Do They Translate to Daily Operations?

A clear service menu helps you align recruiting, scheduling, and sales with what referral partners and families actually need.

1Heart Caregiver Services delivers non-medical in-home care, including companionship, personal care (bathing, dressing, grooming), mobility assistance, meal preparation, medication reminders, light housekeeping and laundry, transportation/errands, safety supervision, and specialized dementia/Alzheimer’s care using person-centered approaches. Services are tailored, scheduled by the hour or shift, and designed to complement family caregiving.

Operational Implications: Franchise owners build and manage a roster of vetted, trained caregivers who deliver services in clients’ homes. Owners (and their office staff, as the team grows) handle intakes, assessments, scheduling, and quality assurance—ensuring care plans remain updated as client needs change.

By offering a balanced mix of personal care, companionship, and specialized support, the 1Heart Caregiver Services franchise empowers entrepreneurs to meet diverse community needs while maintaining operational consistency and scalable systems.

What Makes the 1Heart Caregiver Services Franchise Different?

Many home care brands promise support. The differentiators that matter are those that translate into client satisfaction, caregiver retention, and market credibility.

1Heart emphasizes proprietary systems and continuing education that franchisees can deploy immediately:

• 1Heart Caregiver University and 1Heart Business Academy for structured caregiver training and owner/manager development.
  
• Circle of Care framework that connects referral outreach, assessment, care planning, caregiver matching, and family communication.
  
• Transitional Care and Quality of Life programs designed to smooth hospital-to-home moves and elevate day-to-day well-being.
  
• Brain Fitness (neurobics and cognitive engagement), fall-prevention practices, and person-centered dementia care methodologies.
  
• AMP (Area Marketing Program) and A.R.P. (Area Recruitment Program) to guide consistent referral marketing and caregiver pipeline building.
  
• A modern technology platform for scheduling, referral management, recruiting workflows, KPI tracking, and mobile access.

These tools help convert your leadership and sales skills into repeatable operating rhythms—so you’re not starting from scratch on training, messaging, or workflow.

Who Is the Ideal Franchise Owner?

Home care is a relationship business. Your background and temperament will shape how quickly you can build a stable book of clients and caregivers.

The 1Heart Caregiver Services franchise is a strong fit for professionals with sales/marketing acumen, team leadership skills, and community-building instincts. Healthcare credentials are not required; what matters is your ability to recruit, schedule, lead, and deepen referral relationships.

Owner roles you can choose:

• Back-Office Manager: Focus on operations—scheduling, compliance documents, payroll coordination, and reporting.
  
• Client Care Manager: Lean into sales and service—intakes, assessments, home visits, and referral management—while an office coordinator handles scheduling.
  

Soft skills that help: Empathy, urgency, attention to detail, and comfort with metrics/KPIs. You’ll balance human needs with the discipline of a service business that runs five days a week (with on-call protocols as needed).

If you thrive on coaching people, building trust with professionals, and keeping systems organized, the 1Heart Caregiver Services franchise profile likely matches your strengths.

A Day in the Life: What Will You Actually Do?

The best way to judge fit is to walk a day in an owner’s shoes. Here’s what a typical week includes.

Most owners start the day on the tech platform—checking caregiver schedules, confirming visit notes, and triaging changes. From there, time divides between referral marketing, recruiting, client service, and team leadership.

Typical weekly cadence:

• Referral development: Visit senior living communities, discharge planners, social workers, physicians, and rehab centers; run the Area Marketing Program; support community talks and CE events.

• Intakes & assessments: Conduct home assessments, finalize service plans, and coordinate caregiver matches.

• Recruiting & onboarding: Run the Area Recruitment Program; interview, background-check, and orient caregivers through Caregiver University.

• Scheduling & QA: Maintain the calendar, manage call-outs, monitor client satisfaction, and address training needs.

• KPI review & coaching: Track conversion rates, hours scheduled, caregiver utilization, client satisfaction, and recruitment funnel health.

Expect a professional office rhythm, on-the-go relationship building, and steady coaching of a small team—balanced by the satisfaction of seeing tangible outcomes for families you serve.

Territory Design, Multi-Unit Options, and Growth Path.

A clear territory and a plan for expansion can accelerate your growth curve and protect your business development investment.

1Heart offers larger territories than many peers and supports multi-franchise discounts for qualified candidates. Territories are typically built around population, age cohorts, and referral-source density. Owners commonly expand by layering nearby territories or by deepening service lines (e.g., dementia programming, transitional care, and caregiver upskilling that allows for more complex care plans).

What to evaluate locally: Hospital/rehab footprints, senior housing inventory, average household age, and drive-time to high-density senior neighborhoods. The brand’s marketing and recruitment playbooks are designed to scale as territory count grows.

If you plan to build a regional presence, discuss multi-unit timelines early to align training, hiring, and capital with your expansion goals.

Technology, Compliance, and Quality Assurance.

In home care, technology and process discipline are inseparable from quality—both for clients and for the caregivers who serve them.

The 1Heart platform centralizes scheduling, referral tracking, recruiting, and communications while supporting compliance needs like care plans, visit documentation, and incident reporting. Owners use dashboards to monitor KPIs and coordinate with the support team for problem-solving and best-practice updates. On the quality side, the brand’s continuing education cadence and program playbooks (e.g., dementia care, fall prevention) help maintain consistent standards across teams.

The combination of workflow software and structured curricula is designed to keep your operation audit-ready, caregiver-friendly, and family-trusted.

Overcoming Common Objections.

Every franchise system has stories of owners who paused or exited—and those stories can clarify the operating discipline required to succeed.

In 1Heart, the most common challenges arise when owners don’t staff adequately or don’t maintain consistent weekday office hours, which can stall both referral growth and caregiver retention. The model assumes you will hire 1–2 core office roles (or step into one yourself) so the business can respond promptly to families and referral partners.

What this means for you: Budget early for your first hires, plan your Monday–Friday office schedule, and use the AMP/ARP playbooks to keep sales and recruiting consistent—even during busy weeks. The support team, with deep healthcare and franchising experience, is there to help, but owners must execute locally.

If you commit to staffing, structure, and consistent outreach, you’ll be aligning your operation with how the system is designed to work.

FAQ.

How much does it cost to open a 1Heart Caregiver Services franchise?
The current Item 7 lists $97,625–$144,510** as the estimated initial investment, which includes a $55,000* franchise fee and approximately three months of operating capital.

What kind of business is 1Heart—medical or non-medical?
1Heart Caregiver Services is non-medical, private-duty home care.

What ongoing fees should I expect?
The brand typically charges a 5% royalty* and 3% local advertising* contribution.

Do I need healthcare experience to qualify?
No. Many successful owners come from sales, marketing, or operations backgrounds.

What does a typical week look like?
Expect a blend of referral marketing, recruiting, scheduling, client assessments, and quality assurance.

How big are territories and can I buy more than one?
1Heart offers larger territories and multi-unit discounts for qualified candidates.

Is the 1Heart Caregiver Services Franchise the Right Fit for You?

The final decision isn’t only about numbers; it’s about alignment—between your skills, your “why,” and what the system asks of you day to day.

The 1Heart Caregiver Services franchise is a mission-driven, professional service business with structured training, proprietary programs, technology-enabled workflows, and a clear referral-marketing playbook. The model is designed for owners who enjoy leading people, building local partnerships, and bringing order to a complex but deeply meaningful service.

Key takeaways:

• Purpose with process: A compassionate mission supported by institutionalized training and continuing education.
• Professional rhythm: Office-based operations, weekday structure, and KPI-driven management.
• Scalable foundation: Larger territories, multi-unit options, and program playbooks that help you add clients and hire confidently.

Ready to take the next step? The Franchise Brokers Association is here to help guide you on your journey into the franchise world. Explore your options with us today.