Module 1 Know your customer and market 4 hAnalyse
Every sound business in care for disabled and elderly people begins with one clear customer and one clear problem. In São Paulo and the wider state, demand is real but crowded, so a small, well-described customer group wins before a broad one.
- In care for disabled and elderly people: Start with the person: abilities, preferences, routines, and the family's role.
- Write the customer in one sentence: a person and their family. Add the place, the moment of need and what they use today.
- List five rivals or substitutes within reach. For each, record price, strength, weakness and how people reach it.
- Interview at least eight real customers with open questions. Record exact words, not your summary.
- Count the market in units: how many care days could one area buy in a month? Use two public sources and your own count, then take the lower figure.
- Choose one first segment and say why the others wait.
Worked example. Weak: 'Everyone needs daily support and care.' Strong: 'Our first customer is a person and their family within 8 km of the centre, who today pays R$ 242 per care day and complains about delay. We target 240 care days a month by month three.'
Second worked scenario. Scenario: ten customers are interviewed for care for disabled and elderly people. Seven say price, two say speed, one says trust. Question: which first message do you write, and which interview record backs it? Model answer: lead with the care day price and speed promise, keep trust proof as the second line, and cite the seven price answers by date.
Activity. Write the one-sentence customer, a five-row rival table and eight interview records. Share them with a peer for a challenge round.
Standard to meet. Define a specific customer, build a rival table with prices, and trace every claim to an interview or a source.
Module 2 Rules, registration and data duties in Brazil 4 hUnderstand
Brazil asks every trader to be visible and accountable. Know which register, tax regime and sector rules apply before the first sale, and check each against the current official text.
- In care for disabled and elderly people: Care services follow social and health authority rules; check registration, staff checks and complaint routes.
- Choose a legal form: micro-entrepreneur (MEI) only if your activity appears on the official MEI list, or a company registered with a CNPJ. Regulated activities need their sector authorisation first. Check the current limits and lists on the official portal.
- Learn the tax regime that fits your size and write down which taxes you will collect and pay, and when.
- Find the sector rules for care for disabled and elderly people: licences, inspections, professional registers. List each with the office that issues it and the renewal date.
- Personal data of customers falls under Brazil's data protection law (LGPD). Collect only what you need, say why, keep it safe, and name who answers questions.
- Consumer law gives buyers clear rights on information, returns and complaints. Put your terms in plain Portuguese.
Worked example. Checklist for a new care for disabled and elderly people trader: 1) legal form (CNPJ, or MEI only if your activity is on the official list); 2) city operating licence; 3) sector licence or register; 4) tax set-up; 5) privacy notice; 6) written terms. Each has an owner and a date.
Second worked scenario. Scenario: a neighbour says registration can wait until the first R$ 1.100 of sales. Question: what do you do? Model answer: do not delay; write the compliance table first, confirm the register, tax and sector licence with the official office, and start only where the table shows no open blocker.
Activity. Build your own six-line compliance table for your first location. Mark what is done, what is pending and who confirms it.
Standard to meet. Cite an official source for every line, assume nothing, and date every pending item. Local law always wins over this course.
Module 3 Design the offer 4 hCreate
An offer states what the customer gets, how well, by when and at what price. For daily support and care, the offer must make the quality visible and the next step easy.
- In care for disabled and elderly people: Write a care plan the person and family agree and sign.
- Describe the core offer in three lines: what is delivered (daily support and care), the standard it meets, and the time it takes.
- Add one proof for each promise: a sample, a test result, a guarantee or a customer record.
- Price from cost upward and from customer value downward, then pick a price inside both.
- Write a simple one-page terms sheet: what is included, what is extra, how to cancel.
- Create two options at most, so choice stays easy.
Worked example. Offer: 'Daily support and care, delivered within agreed time, checked against a written standard, price R$ 220 per care day. Proof: a dated record the customer can check and sign. Changes or cancellation by written agreement before work begins.'
Second worked scenario. Scenario: a customer asks for a discount from R$ 220 to R$ 198 per care day. Question: decide with numbers. Model answer: contribution falls from R$ 70 to R$ 48 per care day; offer an extra of value (for example faster service) before cutting price, and accept only if the lower contribution still clears break-even.
Longer notes. Define the care you can give safely: bathing help, meals, medicine reminders, walking support or company at appointments. Interview the family and the person receiving care, then write a care sheet with routines, allergies, mobility limits, emergency contacts and the doctor's written instructions. List tasks you will not do, such as injections or dose changes, and name who handles them. Practise bed-to-chair transfers with a trainer before any home visit. Calculate the price per shift from hours, travel and meals, and ask a labour adviser which contract fits before hiring a first carer. Keep a visit log that the family signs each week.
Extra worked example. A family asks for 40 care days in a month, an invented request for this example. At R$ 220 per care day the price is 40 x R$ 220 = R$ 8.800. Variable cost is 40 x R$ 150 = R$ 6.000, which leaves R$ 2.800, or R$ 70 per care day. Against R$ 12.000 of fixed cost a month, break-even is R$ 12.000 / R$ 70 = 171,4, so 172 care days. Show the family each line, wages, transport and supplies, before they sign the visit plan.
Activity. Write the offer card, the proof list and the terms sheet. Test them with three customers and note every point where they hesitated.
Standard to meet. Check that promise, proof and price are consistent, fit the terms on one page, and record three customer reactions.
Module 4 Run the work step by step 5 hApply
Good operations make results repeatable. For care for disabled and elderly people, write each step so a new person could follow it on their first day, and measure each step.
- In care for disabled and elderly people: Daily routine: medication prompt, meals, mobility, hygiene, activity; log each visit.
- Map the process from first contact to paid and closed. Typical stages: enquiry, quote, preparation, delivery of the care day, check, payment, follow-up.
- Name the key resource at each stage: a trained carer and a care plan. Note what happens if it is missing.
- Write a one-page standard procedure per stage: who, what, tool, time, record.
- Choose three measures: speed, quality (errors per 100) and customer rating. Review them every week.
- Fix the cause of a defect, not the symptom. Ask 'why' five times and record the answer.
Worked example. Stage record: 'Prepare. Owner: lead. Time: 30 min. Tool: checklist. Record: signed sheet. Defect found on 1 of 100 care days last week; cause: missing check on a trained carer and a care plan; fix: add check at start, review next Friday.'
Second worked scenario. Scenario: of 400 care days last month, 24 had a defect traced to a trained carer and a care plan. Question: what is the defect rate and what is your first action? Model answer: about 6 defects per 100; stop the cause (add a check at the start), correct affected customers, log the cause, and re-measure next week.
Activity. Draw the process map and write procedures for the two riskiest stages. Run each once and time it.
Standard to meet. Write procedures a stranger can follow, record weekly numbers for each measure, and trace one defect to a root cause.
Module 5 Safety, quality and risk 4 hEvaluate
The most serious risk in this field is a fall, a missed dose or neglect. A calm, written risk routine protects people first and the business second.
- In care for disabled and elderly people: Falls, medication errors and neglect are core risks; use checklists and two-person checks.
- List ten things that could go wrong. Score each for how likely (1 to 5) and how serious (1 to 5). Multiply and sort.
- For the top five, choose a control: remove the hazard, replace it, guard it, train people, or use protective gear, in that order of preference.
- Write who does what in an emergency, and rehearse it once a quarter.
- Keep an incident and near-miss log. Near-misses are free lessons.
- Check that insurance and legal duties match the risk you actually carry.
Worked example. Risk row: 'Hazard: a fall, a missed dose or neglect. Likelihood 3, severity 5, score 15. Control: written check before each care day, trained staff, log sheet. Owner: site lead. Review monthly.'
Second worked scenario. Scenario: a near-miss occurs: a fall, a missed dose or neglect nearly happened but no one was hurt. Question: what do you do in the next 24 hours? Model answer: make safe, record the event, ask the five whys, add or tighten one control, brief the team, and set a review date; near-misses count as lessons, not blame.
Activity. Build a ten-row risk register and a one-page emergency plan. Run a ten-minute drill with a peer and note two improvements.
Standard to meet. Rank controls by preference for the top risks, run the drill, and start the log. Where a regulation applies, follow the official rule.
Module 6 People, skills and service 4 hApply
People deliver the promise. Define roles, train to a standard and give feedback in the open.
- In care for disabled and elderly people: Train carers in safe lifting, dignity, dementia basics and emergency response.
- Write a role card for each person: purpose, five tasks, the standard for each, and who to ask for help.
- Train by showing, doing with support, then doing alone with a check. Record sign-off per task.
- Set service rules for answering customers: reply times, tone, how to apologise and fix.
- Hold a ten-minute team check each day: yesterday's problem, today's plan, one risk.
- Build a growth path: what a new person can do in week 1, month 3 and month 12.
Worked example. Training record: 'Task: process a complaint. Shown 2 May; done with support 4 May; done alone 8 May, checked: apology, fix, follow-up call. Signed by lead.'
Second worked scenario. Scenario: a new hire completes training but a customer complaint shows a skipped step. Question: whose gap is it? Model answer: first the system: check the role card, the training sign-off and the checklist; then coach the person and fix the document so the step cannot be skipped.
Longer notes. Set up a circle of support around one person: family member, caregiver, nurse or doctor, and a trained substitute. Write a handover note with five lines: mood, meals, medicines given as prescribed, falls or pain, and needs for tomorrow. Train the substitute by letting them shadow two full shifts, then watch them perform a transfer and a meal while you tick a checklist. Agree an emergency call order with the ambulance number first. Rotate shifts so nobody works eight hours without a rest break. Keep a notebook of complaints and praise and review it monthly with the family.
Extra worked example. At 400 care days a month, variable cost is 400 x R$ 150 = R$ 60.000, mostly carer pay. Suppose you raise pay by R$ 10 per care day, a worked-example figure: variable cost becomes R$ 160 and the margin R$ 60. Profit falls from 400 x R$ 70 - R$ 12.000 = R$ 16.000 to 400 x R$ 60 - R$ 12.000 = R$ 12.000, a loss of R$ 4.000. Weigh that against what lower turnover and fewer substitute shifts on the night rota would save.
Activity. Write two role cards and a training plan for one new hire. Role-play a hard customer conversation twice and review.
Standard to meet. Write role cards with measurable standards, show the sign-off steps in training, and write the service rules in plain words.
Module 7 Money: cost, price and break-even 5 hAnalyse
A business lives or dies on a few numbers. Know your contribution per unit, your fixed costs and the volume you need.
- In care for disabled and elderly people: Rates per day or hour; staff cost dominates; watch overtime.
- Contribution per care day = price minus variable cost. Fixed costs are paid whether you sell or not.
- Break-even units = fixed cost divided by contribution. Plan to pass it by a safe margin.
- Make a 12-month cash plan. Cash timing matters as much as profit: customers may pay late, suppliers may want money first.
- Keep money for business and money for the owner apart.
- Test the plan: what if sales fall by a quarter, or cost rises by a tenth?
Worked example. Worked example, all figures in reais: price R$ 220, variable cost R$ 150, contribution R$ 70 per care day. Fixed cost R$ 12.000 a month. Break-even = R$ 12.000 / R$ 70 = 171,43, so 172 care days a month. At 400 care days a month, profit = R$ 70 x 400 - R$ 12.000 = R$ 16.000. These are teaching figures that belong to this example only; later examples and the case study use their own figures. Use your own.
Second worked scenario. Scenario: sales fall to 300 care days a month. Question: what is the monthly result? Model answer: R$ 70 x 300 - R$ 12.000 = R$ 9.000; compare with break-even of 172 care days and decide whether to cut fixed cost or raise volume first. Teaching figures only.
Activity. Build your own table: price, variable cost, contribution, fixed cost, break-even and a downside case at 75% of sales. Show it to a peer or mentor.
Standard to meet. Calculate correctly, give every figure a source or mark it as an assumption, and show a downside case.
Module 8 Grow, measure and renew 4 hEvaluate
Growth should follow proof. Measure, learn, then add; and keep returning to the customer.
- In care for disabled and elderly people: Grow through family trust and good outcomes, not advertising claims.
- Pick one growth lever at a time: new customers, a higher repeat rate, a better price, or a new offer.
- Set one measurable target for 90 days, such as 'raise repeat customers from 20% to 30%'.
- Ask each customer how they found you, and record it. Spend more where the record shows results.
- Review monthly: numbers, defects, complaints, cash. Write three decisions each time.
- Plan the renewal of licences, equipment and skills a year ahead.
Worked example. 90-day plan: 'Lever: repeat customers. Action: follow-up call after every care day. Target: repeat rate from 20% to 30%. Check: weekly count. Review date: day 45 and day 90.'
Second worked scenario. Scenario: you can add 80 care days a month by one of two levers: a follow-up call to past customers or a price rise of R$ 22 to R$ 242. Question: how do you choose? Model answer: test the cheaper reversible lever first (the call), measure for 30 days, and only then try the price change, so you can tell which one worked.
Longer notes. Measure growth by hours booked, families who stay and falls or hospital visits written in the visit log. Count how many clients remain after three months and ask the others why they left. Compare two ways of meeting families, referrals from clinics and talks at community centres, and record the hours each one costs you. Check capacity before saying yes to a new client: list caregivers, free hours and travel time between homes. Evaluate each month whether a new client lowers quality for the others. Write a short monthly report for the families and update your care sheets from the mistakes you found.
Extra worked example. Suppose your carers offer 440 care days a month (a worked-example capacity) and clients use 400, leaving 40 free. A new client asks for 30 care days at R$ 220, which brings 30 x R$ 220 = R$ 6.600. Variable cost is 30 x R$ 150 = R$ 4.500, so contribution is R$ 2.100. Profit rises from R$ 16.000 to 430 x R$ 70 - R$ 12.000 = R$ 18.100. Only 10 free days remain, so decide whether they could absorb a sick carer; if not, hire one more carer first.
Activity. Write a 90-day plan with one target, three actions and a review date. Present it in five minutes and take questions.
Standard to meet. Set a measurable, dated target, break the actions down small enough to start this week, and put the review date in the calendar.
