[ ABOVE: James Bennett ]
James Bennett’s company is five years old and approaching $1 million in revenue. He started from scratch to fulfill a passion for caregiving. And with the help of a $15,000 loan.
“It was just me out grinding, trying to make things happen,” Bennett, general manager and owner of Upstate Home Health Care Solutions, remembers about his initial efforts in 2011.
The non-medical home-care agency in Greenville assists older adults with daily living in their own homes.
To get help, Bennett turned to CommunityWorks, a Greenville nonprofit organization committed to building a brighter future for underserved families and communities through financial education, lending and investing. Its efforts include training in such areas as business planning and strategy, coaching in budgeting matters and loans up to $50,000.
Microbusinesses, or those with fewer than five employees, are a vitally important part of South Carolina’s economy, said Archie Johnson, small business lending manager for CommunityWorks.
As an economic development strategy, microlending creates jobs, increases the sole source of income for a majority of owners and increases net worth, Johnson said. With the 2008 financial collapse, “so many people lost their job and then so many people couldn’t find jobs,” he said.
Johnson considers Bennett one his organization’s success stories.
Bennett’s business background is in food manufacturing and operations, including work with Country Fresh Inc. in Gray Court.
He left that company to start his own business, with a catalyst being his personal experience.
When his father and grandmother were living, they needed help at home. “We had the family dynamic and resources to help keep them at home,” Bennett said. “My mother was a primary caregiver and, as a family, we would pitch in to help provide care as needed. I understood that we had the family dynamic and resources to do that. But not everybody does.”
With a leap of faith, and knowing more of the U.S. population will include aging baby boomers, Bennett started his company.
The CommunityWorks loan of $15,000 – the maximum at the time – helped him connect with a marketing firm that tackled the branding and marketing sides of his business, including a logo and a video and brochures.
“I’m operations so I know that part,” Bennett said. “But I’m not a sales person. I’m not a marketing person.”
His caregivers, many certified nursing assistants and others with years of home-care experience, help clients with bathing, meals, dressing, housekeeping and personal care.
The goal is to help those who don’t need facility care remain somewhat independent.
His business has been doubling in size each year and he projects revenue approaching $1 million this year.
