Compassion in business helps spur success

While the recession has battered other small businesses, our in-home adult care facility in Portland, Ore., has remained largely untouched.

My mother and I opened our house as an in-home care operation in June 1994, after I graduated from college. Our clients move into our seven-bedroom, seven-bath home and receive specialized nursing care, tailored to individual needs.

Our business, Maria Lupas Adult Care Home, has survived because we're a residential-based business with low overhead, and most of the patients' equipment and supplies are provided by their insurance. Overhead costs represent an average of 60 to 75 percent of our monthly income.

Depending on the level of care needed, the client can expect to pay from $2,500 to $4,000 per month for room, board, housekeeping, laundry, outings and medical treatment. We have three other employees who earn $10 to $16 an hour.

It's helped, too, that we picked the right industry. In-home care business is booming, especially in Oregon, one of a handful of states setting the standard for adult care. In Portland's Multnomah County alone, hundreds of in-home facilities are in operation. I meant this job to be temporary for me, but I discovered I enjoyed interacting with the elderly, their families and their medical providers. Two years after starting the first home, we opened another.

The responsibilities of our business are many, but so are the pleasures. It's not just profit that makes our business successful. The children growing up in this environment learn from a young age to be compassionate and caring. The elderly, who often have no nearby family, benefit from the constant interaction with little ones.

As with any small business, passion for your work and a good fiscal plan are mandatory for success.