Built From Scratch: How to Launch and Grow a Successful Non-Medical Home Care Agency

by Brian Turner

Thinking about starting a home care agency but don’t know where to begin?
This straight-talking guide walks you through every step of launching and growing a non-medical home care business — without the fluff or false promises.

Author and entrepreneur Brian Turner built multiple home care agencies from the ground up — across three licensed states — and ran them remotely. In Built From Scratch, he shares exactly what it takes to enter this booming industry with clarity, confidence, and a realistic understanding of the work involved.

Whether you're exploring franchise vs. independent models, hiring your first team, building referral relationships, or avoiding the most common mistakes, this book delivers honest insight and actionable steps based on real experience.

You'll

What no one tells you before you launch

The true costs of starting up — and where to save

How to get licensed, build your brand, and stay compliant

What caregivers look for (and how to recruit & retain them)

How to attract clients and scale sustainably

What to watch out for when dealing with the VA and state programs

This isn’t theory — it’s the blueprint.
Brian shares both the wins and the hard from almost getting shut down to building a business that supports his family, team, and future.

If you’re ready to stop researching and start building, Built From Scratch gives you the roadmap to move forward — with your eyes wide open.

70 pages, Paperback

Published July 18, 2025

About the author

Brian Turner is the author of a memoir, My Life as a Foreign Country, and five collections of poetry— Here, Bullet and Phantom Noise; with The Wild Delight of Wild Things, The Goodbye World Poem, and The Dead Peasant’s Handbook due out from Alice James Books in Fall, 2023. He’s the editor of The Kiss and co-editor of The Strangest of Theatres. A musician, he’s written and recorded albums with The Interplanetary Acoustic Team, including 11 11 (Me Smiling) and American Undertow with The Retro Legion. His poems and essays have been published in The New York Times, The Guardian, National Geographic, and Harper’s, among other fine journals, and he was featured in the documentary Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience, nominated for an Academy Award. A Guggenheim Fellow, he’s received a USA Hillcrest Fellowship in Literature, the Amy Lowell Traveling Fellowship, the Poets’ Prize, and a Fellowship from the Lannan Foundation. He lives in Orlando with his dog, Dene, the world’s sweetest golden retriever.