Company Sells Home Solutions Business is up to about 25 clients a month, with projects ranging from a hand grab bar for a bathroom costing around $84 to an aluminum ramp for $630. Prices include materials, consultation, and guaranteed installation. The company also offers less common items that anyone with arthritis or other physical difficulties would appreciate. These include a key turner that gives 300% more turning power and a wave-action dimmer that turns lights on or off just be waving a hand in front of a sensor. Besides relying on word of mouth to get business, Life@Home uses direct mail and has been establishing relationships with physical and occupational therapists, who can refer their clients. The company will soon have a web site up where people can order items. One advantage to the business is that no other company in the area focuses on installing and selling these types of items, Fry said. The work is mostly the domain of independent handymen, as larger construction firms don't like to come out to a client's home for a job under $100. Fry, Ferguson and Simmons travel to trade shows to keep up on the latest home modification products. They have a six-page catalog and feature items that blend into a home, such as grab bars in different colors. "The biggest thing is getting the seniors to admit they need these things," said Simmons. For now, Life@Home takes jobs within 20 miles of its office. Farther than that requires a travel fee. The company's goal is to franchise into Knoxville and Memphis by the end of this year and have a national presence in five to seven years. "This is not something you leave," Simmons said. "We're thinking about it all the time." Fry, who earned his MBA at Belmont University and was a fundraiser at David Lipscomb University for more than two years, said he realizes he'll eventually have to leave MKF and devote himself full time to Life@Home. "We want to keep expanding our products," Fry said. "And where we can offer the." Life@Home can be reached at (615) 831-5411. |