Touching Hearts

The question every serious franchise investor must answer before committing capital is deceptively simple: does this brand solve a real, durable problem for a large and growing population of customers who have no viable alternative? In the non-medical senior care space, that question answers itself with striking clarity. More than 58 million Americans were aged 65 or older in 2022, a figure the U.S. Census Bureau projects will reach 82 million by 2035, representing a 41% surge in the core customer demographic within just over a decade. Touching Hearts at Home was built precisely to serve this population, offering compassionate, personalized, non-medical in-home care that allows older adults and individuals with disabilities to age in place with dignity and independence rather than transition to costly institutional facilities. The franchise traces its origins to 1996, when founder Renae Peterson began providing professional caregiving services to seniors in the Minneapolis area, developing a decade of operational expertise before formalizing the concept into a franchise system co-founded in 2006 alongside her sons Ryan Lungstrom and Andrew Lungstrom. The company established its headquarters in Edina, Minnesota, and began franchising in 2007, making it one of the earlier franchise-format entrants in the non-medical home care segment. The culture Renae Peterson built is deeply rooted in family values, compassion, and connection, a legacy she traces directly to the influence of her mother, Melvina Peterson. Andrew Lungstrom joined the business in August 2006 and has been a pivotal operational and strategic force since. Todd Treml currently serves as CEO, having assumed the role in 2022 from Peterson, bringing senior leadership experience from Winmark Corporation, Snap Fitness, United Franchise Group, and Pedal Pub Global. The current network spans over 60 locations across 21 states, with 63 U.S. franchises reported across recent filings and an average gross revenue per unit of $1,012,846 as of 2023. For franchise investors, Touching Hearts represents a brand with nearly three decades of operational heritage, professional executive leadership, and positioning at the center of one of the most demographically inevitable markets in American commerce.

The in-home senior care industry is one of the most structurally sound franchise investment categories available today, driven by demographic forces that operate independent of economic cycles, interest rates, or consumer discretionary spending patterns. The aging Baby Boomer generation, the largest demographic cohort in American history, is fueling sustained, compounding demand for non-institutional care services. Consumer preference data reinforces this trend with remarkable consistency: 90% of seniors plan to remain in their homes for the next five to ten years, and 87% of adults aged 65 and above actively prefer aging in place over facility-based care. These are not soft preferences but deeply held convictions backed by the practical reality that in-home care is frequently less expensive than nursing home placement, which can exceed $90,000 annually in many U.S. markets. The non-medical home care sub-sector, which includes companion care, personal assistance, housekeeping, transportation, and daily living support, is especially attractive for franchise investment because it carries lower regulatory complexity than skilled nursing or medical home health, requires no clinical licensure at the franchise owner level, and benefits from private-pay demand that is less dependent on government reimbursement cycles. The broader home care market is a multi-billion dollar industry with consistent year-over-year growth driven by the aging population, increased hospital discharge rates, and a cultural shift away from institutionalized elder care. The competitive landscape within non-medical home care remains fragmented, with thousands of independent local operators alongside regional and national franchise systems, creating significant runway for branded networks with proven systems to capture market share. For investors evaluating franchise opportunities, the combination of favorable demographics, low regulatory friction, recession-resistant demand, and fragmented competition makes non-medical senior care one of the highest-conviction category plays in franchise investment today.

Understanding the Touching Hearts franchise cost requires examining both the initial capital commitment and the ongoing fee structure in relation to what the broader sector demands from investors. The initial franchise fee is $49,500, with a 10% veteran discount reducing that figure to $44,550 for qualifying military veterans, a meaningful acknowledgment of the community-oriented values the brand was built upon. The total initial investment range for a Touching Hearts franchise currently spans from $63,885 to $93,085, inclusive of the franchise fee, with costs covering office setup, technology systems, licensing, training, insurance, and initial working capital. This investment range positions the Touching Hearts franchise investment well below the non-medical home care sub-sector average total investment range of $70,554 to $114,614, making it among the more accessible entry points in the senior care franchise category from a capital requirement standpoint. A separate source cites a broader investment range of $84,600 to $147,200, reflecting variability tied to geography, office configuration, and local licensing requirements. For investors sourcing through the Australian-facing web presence at touchingheartsathome.com.au, the investment range is cited at $99,950 to $143,700, indicating that the brand has structured its offering for different market conditions. The ongoing royalty structure reflects a progressive model: while the standard royalty rate is 6% of gross revenues, the system operates a shared-risk model with royalties beginning as low as 1% in the early stages, scaling upward as the franchisee's revenue grows. This structure meaningfully reduces financial pressure during the critical ramp-up phase that all new franchise owners navigate. Notably, Touching Hearts at Home charges no marketing royalty and no ad fund fee, a structural advantage over many competitors who layer an additional 1% to 3% of gross revenues into ongoing obligations. The required net worth for prospective franchisees is $250,000, with liquid capital requirements of $75,000. Taken together, the total cost of ownership profile for a Touching Hearts franchise investment places it in the accessible-to-mid-tier range within the senior care sector, with a fee structure intentionally designed to give new owners the financial runway needed to build sustainable operations.

The daily operating model for a Touching Hearts franchise is structured to be manageable for owner-operators with strong business and interpersonal skills, without requiring prior medical training or clinical certifications. Franchisees function primarily as business managers, overseeing caregiver recruitment and retention, client acquisition, scheduling, compliance, and community relationship development rather than delivering direct care themselves. The initial training program comprises 32 hours of instruction, conducted entirely in a classroom setting, covering pre-opening operations, post-opening business management, caregiver hiring, client intake processes, software utilization, and compliance with state and local home care regulations. No prior medical training is required for franchisees or their staff given the non-medical nature of the services provided. Ongoing support is delivered through franchise business coaches who guide owners on best practices, business planning, profit coaching, sales training, and caregiver hiring, with a support team described by current franchisees as highly responsive, always available for questions, and organized with specific contacts for different functional areas of the business. Touching Hearts at Home provides franchisees with best-in-class home care software for managing billing, payroll, scheduling, and care coordination, with in-depth training on maximizing its operational utility. Marketing support includes social media tools, digital marketing expertise, graphic design resources, and personalized campaign assistance to drive client acquisition and brand awareness. Territory protection is a foundational element of the franchise model, with premier protected territories structured around communities with median household incomes above $60,000, meaningful populations of residents aged 65 and above, and proximity to healthcare facilities such as hospitals, rehabilitation centers, and assisted living communities. Franchisees are also integrated into a network of fellow owners that fosters what the brand describes as a family-like bond, reinforced by an annual National Conference for networking, growth strategy development, industry education, and celebration of franchisee accomplishments.

Item 19 financial performance data is not disclosed in the current Franchise Disclosure Document for the Touching Hearts brand as presented in the available Australian-market franchise database. However, the U.S.-market Franchise Disclosure Document does include Item 19 financial performance representations, and those figures are among the most compelling in the entire non-medical senior care franchise sector. The reported average gross revenue per unit for Touching Hearts at Home was $1,012,846 in 2023, a figure that is approximately three times higher than the non-medical home care sub-sector average of $344,581 per unit. This outperformance is not marginal but structural, suggesting that the brand's combination of caregiver quality standards, client retention practices, and local market penetration strategies is producing materially superior revenue outcomes relative to peers. For a franchise with a total initial investment between $63,885 and $93,085 on the U.S.-market cost structure, an average gross revenue approaching $1.1 million implies a revenue-to-investment multiple that compares favorably with many service franchise categories. At a 6% royalty rate applied to the average gross revenue figure, the royalty obligation would approximate $60,771 annually at full system performance, a manageable ongoing cost relative to the revenue base generated. While profit margin data is not explicitly broken out in publicly available disclosures, the absence of a marketing royalty, the low-overhead operating model, and the home-based or small-office format typical of non-medical care franchises suggest that franchisees operating near the system average have meaningful margin opportunity after accounting for caregiver labor, royalties, insurance, and administrative costs. The 2013 network comprised 30 units, which grew to 72 units by 2020, and the system reported more than 50 active locations in October 2020, with more than 70 locations nationwide cited as of June 2022, demonstrating a sustained growth trajectory that correlates with revenue performance at the unit level.

Touching Hearts at Home has built its competitive position through consistent, measured expansion rather than aggressive unit count growth, a strategic choice that has preserved average unit revenue quality at over $1 million per location. The network grew from 30 units in 2013 to 72 by 2020, representing a compound growth rate that reflects deliberate franchisee selection rather than volume-driven expansion. In 2023, two new units were added, with the brand reporting 63 U.S. franchises and 64 total units across the most recent available data, alongside a separate report citing 84 total units, indicating variability in how units are counted across disclosure cycles. The leadership transition from founder Renae Peterson to CEO Todd Treml in 2022 represents a deliberate professionalization of executive operations, with Treml's background across multiple multi-unit franchise organizations at Winmark, Snap Fitness, United Franchise Group, and Pedal Pub Global providing the strategic infrastructure necessary to scale the brand beyond its regional Midwest roots. Key growth opportunities have been identified in the Southeast and Western United States, regions where aging demographics are most acute and where branded non-medical home care networks remain underpenetrated relative to demand. Glenn Leingang serves as Vice President of Franchise Development and Eric Redden as Director of Franchise Development, both actively engaged in expanding the network across the 50-plus states where Touching Hearts is currently accepting franchise inquiries. The brand's competitive moat is constructed from its nearly 30-year operating heritage, its proven caregiver training and retention systems, its technology platform purpose-built for home care billing and scheduling, and its founder-instilled culture of compassion that is genuinely difficult for new entrants to replicate. The no-marketing-royalty fee structure also serves as a competitive differentiator in franchisee recruitment, reducing total ongoing costs below what comparable systems charge.

The ideal Touching Hearts franchise candidate is a business-minded professional with strong interpersonal skills, a genuine commitment to senior care as a mission, and the management capacity to recruit and lead a growing team of caregivers in a service-intensive operating environment. Prior healthcare or medical experience is not required, but candidates with backgrounds in business management, sales, operations, human resources, or community services tend to transition effectively into the owner-operator role. Financial qualifications include a net worth of $250,000 and liquid capital of $75,000, parameters that reflect the working capital demands of a service business that must staff adequately ahead of full revenue ramp. The brand is currently accepting franchise inquiries from nearly every U.S. state, with particular development focus on the Southeast and Western regions where population aging trends are most pronounced and where the brand has fewer existing locations relative to market opportunity. Ideal territory characteristics include communities with median household incomes above $60,000, a strong concentration of residents aged 65 and above, and proximity to hospitals, rehabilitation centers, and other healthcare infrastructure that generates referral volume. The franchise started in 2007 and the Midwest remains its most established region, with 25 franchise locations recorded in the 2017 FDD across that geography, providing a mature operational model that can be transplanted into new markets with confidence. Veterans represent a prioritized candidate segment, with the 10% franchise fee discount reducing the initial franchise fee from $49,500 to $44,550, reflecting both the brand's values and the service orientation that military experience tends to cultivate. Franchisees operate with the full support of the corporate team from pre-opening through sustained operations, with no expectation of prior senior care industry experience.

For investors conducting serious due diligence on the senior care franchise sector, Touching Hearts presents a data-backed investment thesis grounded in demographic inevitability, a founder-built culture that has translated into above-average unit economics, and a corporate infrastructure that has evolved under professional leadership since 2022. The average gross revenue per unit of $1,012,846 in 2023, against a total initial investment range of $63,885 to $93,085 on the U.S. market structure, represents a revenue-to-investment ratio that demands attention from any analytically rigorous franchise evaluator. The combination of a shared-risk royalty model starting at 1%, zero marketing royalty obligations, protected territories, and 32 hours of structured initial training followed by ongoing coaching creates an operating environment where an engaged owner-operator has genuine leverage over outcomes. The senior population's 41% projected growth between 2022 and 2035, combined with the 90% preference rate among seniors for aging in place, creates a demand runway that extends well beyond typical franchise investment time horizons of seven to ten years. PeerSense provides exclusive due diligence data including SBA lending history, FPI score, location maps with Google ratings, FDD financial data, and side-by-side comparison tools that allow investors to benchmark the Touching Hearts franchise opportunity against comparable concepts across the non-medical home care and broader senior services category. Independent analysis through PeerSense enables investors to move beyond marketing materials and evaluate the brand on the metrics that matter most: unit-level financial performance, franchisee satisfaction signals, territory availability relative to demographic opportunity, and fee structure competitiveness. Explore the complete Touching Hearts franchise profile on PeerSense to access the full suite of independent franchise intelligence data.