The Franchise: Scottsdale, Arizona-based Assisted Living Locators provides placement and referral services for seniors and their families seeking senior housing. Founded in 2003 and franchising since 2006, it has about 64 U.S. franchises.
May 2017
Ciccantelli is laid off from his job at Fiserv Inc. in Brookfield. He had worked as an IT developer at Fiserv for about 30 years. At the same time, Ciccantelli’s 97-year-old father is in need of assisted living placement.
“There was a lot of terminology being thrown around and we were wondering, ‘What exactly does he need?’ I think that’s what a lot of people face these days is, ‘I’ve got so many choices, where do I go with this?’”
July 2017
After attending a presentation by franchise consultant Perry Zukowski of FranNet of Wisconsin, Ciccantelli decides to investigate franchising. Zukowski suggests a few franchise opportunities to him.
“The more I delved into what Assisted Living Locators was about, the more it seemed to resonate with me.”
November 2017
Ciccantelli attends training at the Assisted Living Locators headquarters in Scottsdale. He develops an assessment he administers based on a person’s medical needs, the family’s finances and their desired location. Then, he matches the senior with three or four possibilities and goes on tours with them.
December 2017
Assisted Living Locators of Waukesha officially launches. The service is free to seniors and their families. Ciccantelli is working to develop contracts with all the assisted living facilities in his territory to establish referral fees.
“I don’t limit myself to any (particular facilities), although there’s some that are more on my go-to list than others. You don’t really know what a client might need until they come to you.”
The franchise fee
The initial fee to open an Assisted Living Locators franchise is $49,500, and there is an additional $3,000 marketing package the company provides.
