Dan Fisher once had a client tell him the caregiver he sent her was the greatest thing she had seen “since bread and butter.” Two weeks later, she called again to tell him she was miserable.
“I asked her why and she said, ‘she eats popcorn every day for lunch and I can’t stand the smell.’ So the very next day, we had someone new,” Fisher said. “If a client doesn’t like the caregiver, we can change things within two hours and usually within an hour. Being a registered nurse, I feel it’s the right thing and the safe thing to do for our clients”
Fisher, president of A&D Home Health Solutions, Inc, of Newington, has been named the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Connecticut Small Business Person of the Year. This is SBA’s top award, according to an announcement made by Bernard M. Sweeney, Connecticut’s SBA district director.
“The company has also been recognized by INC. Magazine as one of the fastest growing companies in 2009. Mr. Fisher has exemplified what it is to be an entrepreneur, thorough hard work, vision and commitment. It is individuals such as Dan Fisher that find ways to strengthen the local economy by retaining jobs,” Sweeney said.
Fisher, who spent 10 years in the military, founded his business in 2004 after spending several years supervising home care agencies in the Hartford area. His wife and two sons now work with him in his 1,250-square-foot Newington office space. Six years ago, he was working in 200 square feet.
Today, his business is generating $2.5 million in annual revenues. It started at $400,000, he said. Fisher manages eight internal employees and places about 100 certified nursing aides and live-in companions in jobs throughout the Greater Hartford area. On average, they earn $9-12 an hour, he said.
“I started the business on a credit card. We needed a very small amount and we started growing quite rapidly. I hired my first employee right away and pretty much kept my fingers crossed, I couldn’t be out there marketing and leaving the office; in this business, we need to recruit (in office) on a constant basis,” he said.
One entrepreneurial lifesaver for Fisher has been the small business assistance nonprofit, SCORE. At no cost, Fisher has been meeting with SCORE counselors every week for over a year.
“I’m a great nurse, I can manage services, but I’ve never managed a company of this size. I jumped in blind. (SCORE has) been a huge benefit to me. They’ve helped my bottom line so much it’s ridiculous. They spend a lot of time teaching me the financial aspects,” he noted.
Laura Shea, of Seymour, is one of Fisher’s happiest customers.
“My aunt and her husband, when he was alive, have had people from Dan’s agency for about four or five years now. They’ve always been so good. When my uncle was too sick, (Dan) did everything for me. He took such good care of everything. It’s great to know someone can do that,” Shea said. “Dan’s agency is very responsive. I can call anytime, ask them questions if I don’t understand something. They go a little extra to offer suggestions.”
It’s clear that Fisher takes pride in running his company as though his clients were his own family.
“People get into this business for many different reasons. Some do it primarily for the money. But, people need help out there. There’s a lot of seniors with no relatives close by or relatives at all. You really need to care about these individuals and the communities you serve,” he said.