Elder care or your small business: Which gets priority?
Lidia Vetturetti has had two moments in her life when her marketing research business, Pulse Group Inc., almost came to a grinding halt.
Fourteen years ago her father became terminally ill. “For a year I had to step away from the business a lot to manage the medical side of things. I got very immersed in that and didn’t really think about the business.”
While she had an employee who could manage the business without her, she wasn’t able to concentrate on new business development. By the time her father passed away, she returned to a business that had no new prospects and a $50,000 line of credit.
“I literally sat down with an accountant thinking I had to close my doors because I didn’t know how to get out of it. I knew it would take months to rebuild the pipeline. There were lots of tears and agony in deciding what to do.”
Adding to the challenge was the energy needed to rebuild her business. “I wasn’t feeling up to it, but didn’t really have a choice.”
Ten years after getting back on track, her mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s at a time when Vetturetti also had a young family to take care of. “I was getting constant unplanned emergency calls. You’re trying to focus on business, but also thinking of them all the time. It was crisis after crisis.”
The interruptions meant having to work all night to catch up. “The business problems don’t go away while you’re attending to things with your family. You have to pay your overhead, while at the same time make enough to justify the costs of long-term care. As a business owner, I don’t have a pension coming so I also need to always be thinking about how much I have for retirement.”
This time she opted to get advice from an elder care specialist to explore her options. Now she says she is managing two businesses – her professional team and another group of people caring for her mother that include caregivers, accountants and others. “They’re staff, too.”
She also had to face some realities, such as the hours she would be available for work, reducing overhead costs, and accepting the fact that she could not be on a growth plan. “I learned that I can’t just walk away and abandon a business for a year. But I did have to step back and recalculate how much I could do.”
Today, 35 per cent of employed Canadians are unpaid caregivers, reports Audrey Miller, managing director for Elder Caring Inc. in Toronto. “A majority spend up to nine hours a week on average, but that can jump up to 30 hours or more depending on what is going on. For a small business, that can impact the bottom line to the point where they might not be able to manage, not to mention the added emotional and physical strain.”
Unlike employees, business owners simply don’t have the resources to protect their livelihood. “Many employers have supports in place for employees who are caregivers. Business owners don’t.”
Planning ahead is critical, she advises. That may include a full assessment of the older person’s diagnosis and financial status. “Education is a big piece – what is available, what care costs are, what the government can provide. That can give families the ammunition and ability to be as proactive as possible. There are a number of resources that can be provided, such as transportation to shopping or appointments. Another important piece is setting some boundaries without feeling guilty.”
Plamen Petkov, vice-president of Ontario and business resources for CFIB, says that on average, approximately half the owners of small- to medium-sized business are in the 50-to-64 age bracket. This means elder care will become an increasingly common issue. “Many have just finished taking care of their young kids. Now they have to focus on parents. That’s something that is not always top of mind for business owners.”
The best approach is to treat it as you would with any other disruption, he advises. “It’s important to plan in advance and formalize it. What happens if you need to take a week or month off? What protection do you have as a business owner? Who can step up as a manager or supervisor on a temporary basis? Share the plan with your team and other family members.”
Unfortunately there will be cases where the owner is an integral part of running the business, he adds. “They may not be able to continue if they have to take time off.”
For Vetturetti, the key has been getting professional advice and surrounding herself with good people. “I am now equipped to know how to deal with it all … At the same time, I would rather not have to.”