July 5, 2007

by MALCOLM PARRY, Vancouver Sun

JOHN DeHART and Ken Sim's Nurse Next Door Professional Homecare Service Inc. has a motivator-right-here feel to its 4,280-square- foot head office at West Boulevard and 39th Avenue. All 25 employees, including the six-year-old firm's founders, wear vests with the corporate name and logo upfront and the slogan MAKING LIVES BETTER printed in large capital letters on the back. They also attend a seven-minute "huddle" at 10:55 a.m. daily, when developments and discrepancies are discussed to "keep everyone aligned," DeHart said.

Every Wednesday, there's a Kaizen Club meeting, where, as the Japanese word implies, "We get together to talk about how to improve our procedures," Sim said.

Those are the procedures DeHart and Sim expect will see the home health care firm -- www.nursenextdoor.ca -- have 10 franchised operations in B.C. within a year and 150 in 30 Canadian cities by 2012. Franchising in the U.S. should begin within 18 to 30 months, Sim said.

With more potential clients reaching the age of 85 every year, their revenue target for 2011 is $30 million.

Franchisees -- Burnaby, Kamloops and New Westminster were awarded in February -- put up $75,000 to $125,000 for their territories. Abbotsford, Kelowna and Victoria are about to be named.

Despite the planning, and their proximity beforehand, the two came together almost by accident. Information-technology specialist DeHart was helping launch high-tech companies in London in 1998, when Sim was an investment banker there. Both lived in Chelsea. "We probably sat next to each other every day in Europe's first Starbucks," Sim said. Independently, they moved to Toronto in 2000, and drank coffee daily in BCE Place's basement Starbucks. A year later, they relocated to Vancouver. "Probably on the same flight," Sims said.

Whatever, DeHart sketched out his plans to HSBC Asset Management Canada chair Milton Wong, who'd also mentored Sim. Wong suggested they powwow. Since each had helped find caregivers for elderly relatives, the idea for Nurse Next Door quickly gelled.

It went solid when Wong said: "Guys, I'm in."

The two then recruited nine investors (who own 25 per cent of the firm) and promised they wouldn't be tapped until they'd spent their own $75,000 initial investment. Dehart and Sim reportedly broke even after seven months, and never did ask for the cash. That and subsequent performance won them the 2006 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award for emerging entrepreneurs.

"There's no real brand in our industry," said DeHart, "and it's time for one." Ergo the vests and winter jackets, the pink-painted Smart and Yaris company cars, and the hard focus on operations every morning at 10:55.

Return to Press Room