The CarePacket blog

Starting a home care agency, without the hype

Practical guides on licensing, costs, pricing, hiring, and getting clients — written the way we write our documents: plainly, and honestly.

Start here · Step-by-step guide

How to start a non-medical home care business: the honest step-by-step

Licensing, insurance, paperwork, hiring, pricing, and where first clients actually come from — the full sequence in order, without the course-seller hype.

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Startup costs

How much does it cost to start a home care business? (2026 breakdown)

An itemized, honest budget — including the payroll float everyone forgets and what not to spend on early.

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Licensing

Home care license requirements: how to find your state's rules

No federal license exists — here's how the state systems work, what applications typically require, and the six questions to ask your licensing office first.

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Pricing

What to charge for home care: a pricing guide for new agencies

Build your rate from real costs — wages, payroll burden, overhead, margin — and test it with our free calculator.

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Growth

How to get your first home care clients: the referral playbook

Discharge planners and social workers place clients every week. Here's how to become the agency they call.

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Hiring & HR

Hiring caregivers: how to screen, interview, and actually keep them

Turnover is the industry's biggest cost. The screening funnel, scenario questions, and retention levers that work.

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Complete checklist

The 32 forms every home care agency needs before its first client

The full documentation inventory, organized the way your business runs — use it as an audit of your gaps.

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