Alcoholism is one of the most common forms of substance abuse in the U.S. One in every 10 Americans over 12 years of age has a problem with alcohol abuse. A sober living home can be an important resource for individuals looking to overcome their alcohol addiction.
It provides a safe, secure, and supportive environment for them to live in during their recovery.
Starting your own sober living home can help you fill a need in your community and help others in your area who are struggling. But starting your own sober living facility isn’t without some challenges. Keep reading to learn the first steps you should know to start establishing a sober living home.
Start With an Analysis of the Market
As with starting any kind of business, the first, and perhaps the most important thing that you can do, is to do a market analysis. Through analysis, you’ll want to take a look at the market you’re hoping to open your sober home in.
Look to see if there is another sober living facility already in operation in the area. If there is, research the type of facility that it is, how it operates, and whether it tends to be at capacity.
You can do a simple market analysis on your own. However, outsourcing this step to a professional analysis company can help you get a better picture of the market.
A professional market analysis company will have more resources and expertise than you have on your own. This will allow you to make smarter choices about starting your own alcoholic rehab program.
Make a Plan
After using market analysis to check out the local area, the next step is to make a business plan. This plan should be as in-depth as possible and cover everything about your facility and how you’ll bring it to life.
Some questions that you should answer in your business plan include:
- Will you renovate an existing property or build a new one?
- Will you offer a structured program for your residents or simply a sober home?
- What services will you provide to your residents?
- How many residents will you accommodate?
- Will your property be located close to resources like stores, sobriety meeting centers, or places of employment? If not, how will your residents reach those?
- How much will you charge your residents?
- Will you narrow the residents you choose by demographic, such as men or women?
These questions are just a starting point. You’ll use your business plan to seek investors and bring your vision to life. It’s important to make sure that you’re answering any questions that investors, contractors, partners, or potential residents would ask about your sober living home in your business plan.
Get Funding
With your business plan ready, it’s time to seek funding for your facility. This might include business loans or financing from investors.
Use your business plan to get an idea of the amount of funding that you’ll need. Beyond the cost to build and furnish your facility and hire employees, don’t forget additional expenses, like bringing in third-party staff for services like therapy, food for residents, or transportation to sobriety meetings or doctor’s appointments.
Draft Your Policies
Another important step in creating an alcoholic rehab facility is drafting your policies and procedures. These will include any rules that your residents must follow, how you’ll deal with a broken rule, the roles your employees will fulfill, and more.
These policies may change a few times before your sober living home opens. But you’ll want to create a rough draft to work from during the rest of the planning process.
Apply for a License
Depending on the state that you’re located in and the types of services that you plan to offer, you may need to apply for a license or accreditation to open your sober living home.
Research the necessary licensing in your area. Then, find out what kind of materials you’ll need to give to get your license or accreditation.
Design Your Space
Whether you’ve chosen to build your own home from the ground up or are redesigning an existing space, the next step is to design your layout, decor, and design.
This includes choosing your furniture, paint colors, interior design style, and more. This step can be one of the most time-consuming, but it’s also one of the most important. You want your facility to be comfortable and welcoming to residents. But it’s also important to make smart design choices, keeping in mind your budget and how durable furniture and other decor items will be.
Hire Your Team
The last of the first steps to opening your own sober living home is to begin hiring your team.
Sober living homes often have a small in-house team of staff. You might have a few counselors or attendants, janitors, chefs, and other employees to help with the day-to-day operations of your facility. You can choose to outsource or hire your own therapists and other professional staff as well.
Establishing a Sober Living Home
Starting your own sober living home is a great way to give back to your community and meet the needs of your area. Doing so isn’t without its challenges. But starting with these key first steps can help to simplify the process. It can also ensure that you’re covering all your bases to help set your sober living home up for success.
If you’re ready to learn more about creating your own sober living home, we can help. Taste Recovery is a free search tool that lets users find peer-reviewed sober living homes across the country. We also help connect qualified clients to the right sober housing options for them. Check out our search tool today to learn more.
