A halfway house is a community-based facility that has been set up to provide access to community resources and offer transitional opportunities to individuals who are attempting to return to society as healthy, law-abiding, and productive individuals.
Some people go to a halfway house after leaving a long-term addiction treatment center, prison, or a homeless situation, while others go to be in a sober living environment as they begin their journey to recovery. In some cases, people are in halfway houses due to court orders.
Available statistics show that there are now about 400 halfway houses around the United States of America, serving an estimated 10,000 offenders. But researchers found that occupancy rates varied from a low 21 percent to a high 76 percent.
Steps on How to Write a Halfway House Business Plan
Table of Content
1. Executive Summary
King of Boys® Halfway Housing Facility will be based in Chicago, Illinois, and the organization will be committed to providing individualized treatment for individuals struggling with substance addiction and/or a mental health diagnosis. Caseous Steve is the founder and CEO of King of Boys® Halfway Housing Facility.
Company Profile
a. Our Products and Services
King of Boys® Halfway Housing Facility will provide a range of treatment options and therapies to treat patients. We will provide detox services, residential treatment, process groups, psychotherapy, and sober living services. We will offer treatment for individuals with eating disorders, such as anorexia, and bulimia.
Our products and services are designed to help ex-offenders including former prisoners and psychiatric patients, or others unused to non-institutional life return to society as healthy, law-abiding, and productive members.
b. Nature of the Business
Our halfway house facility will operate as a nonprofit organization, we will source finance from donor organizations, individuals, and relevant government agencies. In some cases, we will charge residents or their families for the services rendered. But we are not designed to make profits but to keep the organization going.
c. The Industry
King of Boys® Halfway Housing Facility will operate under the correctional facilities industry.
d. Mission Statement
Our mission is to provide safe facilities that will help ex-offenders including former prisoners and psychiatric patients, or others unused to non-institutional life return to society as healthy, law-abiding and productive members.
e. Vision Statement
Our vision of to become the best halfway housing facility in the whole of Chicago. King of Boys® Halfway Housing Facility will continue to set the standard for players in the correctional facilities industry in the United States of America.
f. Our Tagline (Slogan)
King of Boys® Halfway Housing Facility – The Anchorage of Transformation!
g. Legal Structure of the Business (LLC, C Corp, S Corp, LLP)
King of Boys® Halfway Housing Facility will be formed as a nonprofit corporation at the state level and we will apply for 501(c)(3) tax exemption at the federal level.
h. Our Organizational Structure
- Head of Halfway House (President)
- House Manager (Administrator)
- Nurse’s Aides
- Caregivers/Rehab Counselors
- Fundraiser
- Account Officer
- Front Desk Officer
- Cleaners
- Security Guards
i. Ownership/Shareholder Structure and Board Members
- Casious Steve (Owner and Chairman/Chief Executive Officer) 51 Percent Shares
- Denis Jones (Board Member) 14 Percent Shares
- Napoleon Mills (Board Member) 10 Percent Shares
- Sandra Joshua (Board Member) 10 Percent Shares
- Clarissa Wise (Board Member and Sectary) 10 Percent Shares.
SWOT Analysis
a. Strength
- Ideal Location for halfway housing facility
- Highly Experienced and Qualified Employees and Management
- Access to Pool of Donor Organizations
- Highly Secured and Clean Facility
- Easy Access to Critical Medications, Treatment Drugs, and Other Supplies
b. Weakness
- Budget Limitations
- Lack of Customized Software
- Inability to initially run and manage the organization without the support of donations and grants
- Operating from a leased facility (restriction to fully modify the facility to suit our style and taste)
- Inability to retain our highly experienced and qualified employees longer than we want
c. Opportunities
- Chicago has loads of former prisoners and psychiatric patients, or others unused to non-institutional life.
- Chicago’s crime and incarceration rates are higher than most cities in the United States
- We can pool finance from donor organizations, individuals, and relevant government agencies.
i. How Big is the Industry?
The correctional facilities industry is worth over $9.3 billion in the United States and there are about 2,374 licensed and registered correctional facilities and halfway houses with a workforce of about 34,369 scattered all across the United States.
ii. Is the Industry Growing or Declining?
Available statistics point to the fact that the industry is presently not growing, and earnings in the industry, measured as earnings before interest and taxes, significantly decreased in 2020, directly resulting from the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic. However, profit will likely begin to rebound in the coming year after the decline of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic.
iii. What are the Future Trends in the Industry
The correctional facilities industry is changing, and players in the industry are improvising. Specialized treatment, technology, and social media will change the landscape of the correctional facilities industry going forward.
iv. Are There Existing Niches in the Industry? If YES, List them
Yes, there are niche ideas in the correctional facilities industry, and here are some of them;
- Ownership and/or management of community correctional facilities
- Ownership and/or management of prisons
- Ownership and/or management of juvenile detention centers
v. Can You Sell a Franchise of your Business in the Future?
King of Boys® Halfway Housing Facility has plans to sell its franchise in the nearest future and we will target major cities with high crime rates in the United States of America.
d. Threats
- Increased number of law-abiding citizens
- Lack of support from stakeholders and the government
- Unfavorable government policy and regulations.
- Community resistance
- Liability problems
- Continuously changing consumer demands
i. Who are the Major Competitors?
- Corecivic Inc.
- The GEO Group Inc.
- Cirque Lodge
- Caron Foundation
- Hazelden Treatment Centers
- Betty Ford Center
- Halfway House of Los Angeles
- Co-Ed Recovery Homes|New You Sober Living
- Sober Living America
- Oxford House of Shadow Mountain LLC
ii. Is There a Franchise for Halfway House? If YES, List some of them and their cost
- Vanderburgh Communities
iii. Are There Policies, Regulations, or Zoning Laws Affecting Halfway Houses?
Yes, there are county or state regulations or zoning laws for halfway houses. The law in the United States states that before a non-medical home care facility such as a halfway house can commence operations, there should be at least six residents and at least one trained caregiver there 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. So also, a standard correctional facility/halfway house is expected to have a house manager, night manager, weekend activity coordinator, and 2 or more caregivers depending on the size of the facility.
Marketing Plan
a. Who is your target audience?
i. Age range
Our target market falls within 18 and 55 years.
ii. Level of Education
We don’t have any restrictions on the level of education of those we will accommodate in our halfway house.
iii. Income Level
We don’t have any cap on the income level of those we will accommodate in our halfway house. Besides, most people who are admitted to halfway houses have no source of income.
iv. Ethnicity
There is no restriction to the ethnicity of the people we will welcome in our halfway house.
v. Language
There is no restriction when it comes to the language spoken by the people we will welcome in our halfway house.
vi. Geographical Location
Anybody from any geographical location will be welcomed in our halfway house.
vii. Lifestyle
King of Boys® Halfway Housing Facility will not restrict any inmate from accessing our services based on their lifestyle, culture, or race.
b. Advertising and Promotion Strategies
- Host Themed Events That Catch Attention.
- Tap Into Text Marketing.
- Use FOMO to Run Photo Promotions.
- Share Events in Local Groups and Pages.
- Turn Social Media Channels Into a Resource
- Develop Business Directory Profiles
- Build Relationships With Other Nonprofits and related organizations in our Area
i. Traditional Marketing Strategies
- Marketing through Direct Mail.
- Print Media Marketing – Newspapers & Magazines.
- Broadcast Marketing -Television & Radio Channels.
- OOH Marketing – Public Transits like Buses and Trains, Billboards, Street shows, and Cabs.
- Direct mail (postcards, brochures, letters, fliers), print advertising (magazines, newspapers, coupon books, billboards), referral (also known as word-of-mouth marketing), radio, and television.
ii. Digital Marketing Strategies
- Social Media Marketing Platforms.
- Influencer Marketing.
- Email Marketing.
- Content Marketing.
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Marketing.
- Mobile Marketing.
iii. Social Media Marketing Plan
- Start using chatbots.
- Create a personalized experience for our customers.
- Create an efficient content marketing strategy.
- Create a community
- Gear up our profiles with a diverse content strategy.
- Use brand advocates.
- Create profiles on the relevant social media channels.
- Run cross-channel campaigns.
c. Pricing Strategy
When working out our pricing strategy, King of Boys® Halfway Housing Facility will make sure it covers upkeep, medications, premium, economy or value, and a full rehab package.
In all our pricing strategy will reflect;
- Cost-Based Pricing
- Value-Based Pricing
- Competition-Based Pricing.
Sales and Distribution Plan
a. Sales Channels
Our channel sales strategy will involve using partners and third parties—such as referral partners, affiliate partners, religious organizations, nonprofit organizations, and charity to help refer inmates to us.
King of Boys® Halfway Housing Facility will also leverage the 4 Ps of marketing which are place, price, product, and promotion. By carefully integrating all these marketing strategies into a marketing mix, we can have a visible, in-demand service that is competitively priced and promoted to our customers.
b. Inventory Strategy
The fact that we will need toiletries, medications, and foodstuffs per time means that King of Boys® Halfway Housing Facility will operate an inventory strategy for ordering, maintaining, and processing items in our warehouse. We will develop our strategy with the same thoroughness and attention to detail as we would if we were creating an overall strategy for the business.
King of Boys® Halfway Housing Facility will make sure we work with “Just-in-time (JIT) inventory” – (JIT involves holding as little stock as possible, negating the costs and risks involved with keeping a large amount of stock on hand.)
c. Payment Options for Customers
Here are the payment options that King of Boys® Halfway Housing Facility will make available to her clients;
- Payment via bank transfer
- Payment via credit cards
- Payment via online bank transfer
- Payment via check
- Payment via mobile money transfer
- Payment via bank draft
d. Return Policy, Incentives, and Guarantees
At King of Boys® Halfway Housing Facility, we offer services, and the nature of services we offer does not accommodate return policy, but we guarantee our inmates on the transformation that will occur in their lives if they follow through with our treatment and correctional program.
e. Customer Support Strategy
Our customer support strategy will involve seeking customers’ feedback. This will help us provide excellent customer service to all our patrons, it will help us to first understand their needs, experiences, and pain points. We will work with effective CRM software to be able to achieve this.
Operational Plan
Our operational plan will cover capacity planning, location planning, layout planning, quality planning, and methods planning.
Overall, we plan to expand our revenue by 25 percent in the second year and the plan will include a marketing, sales, and operations component. The operations component of the plan would include attracting grants and fundraising strategies that will enable us to boost our service offerings and support revenue growth.
a. What Happens During a Typical Day at a Halfway House?
- The facility is open for the day
- The facility is cleaned and prepared for the day’s activities
- Inmates are welcomed and prepped for the day
- Inmates are provided educational programs that will prepare them for society, help them learn new skills and morals. They are engaged in active rehabilitation treatment programs throughout the day.
- The facility is closed for the day and inmates go back to their rooms.
b. Production Process (If Any)
There is no production process when it comes to a Halfway House.
c. Service Procedure (If Any)
The service procedure of a halfway house starts with screening and proper documentation of inmates. Once all that is done, the inmates are taken through different rehabilitation and reintegration programs. Tasks are assigned and monitored.
The inmates are designated to stay in the halfway house for a while before they are discharged. Please note that the most time any inmate can get in a halfway house is 12 months. Inmates with a high risk for reoffending, good adjustment to prison life, demonstrated successful participation in prison programs, and a lack of community support systems will likely get more time in a halfway house.
d. The Supply Chain
King of Boys® Halfway Housing Facility will rely on prisons, religious organizations, and government agencies in our city to refer inmates to us. So also, we have been able to establish business relationships with wholesale supplies of toiletries, medications, and foodstuffs et al.
e. Sources of Income
King of Boys® Halfway Housing Facility will make money from;
- Fees paid by inmates
- Contributions for partners and donors
- Grants from government agencies and charity organizations
- Community support.
The cost to live in our halfway house varies and it will range from about $100 to over $2,000 per month.
Financial Plan
a. Amount Needed to Start your Halfway House?
King of Boys® Halfway Housing Facility would need an estimate of $550,000 to successfully set up a halfway house in the United States of America. Please note that this amount includes the salaries of all staff for the first month of operation.
b. What are the Cost Involved?
- Business Registration Fees – $750.
- Legal expenses for obtaining licenses and permits – $7,300.
- Marketing, Branding and Promotions – $5,000.
- Business Consultant Fee – $2,500.
- Insurance – $5,400.
- Rent/Lease – $200,000.
- Other start-up expenses including, commercial satellite TV subscriptions, stationery ($500), and phone and utility deposits ($2,800).
- Operational Cost (salaries of employees, payments of bills et al) – $40,000
- start-up inventory – $15,000
- Store Equipment (cash register, security, ventilation, signage) – $4,750
- Furnishing and Equipping – $80,000
- Website: $600
- Miscellaneous: $2,000
c. Do You Need to Build a Facility? If YES, How Much will it cost?
King of Boys® Halfway Housing Facility will not build a new facility for our Halfway House; we intend to start with a long-term lease and after 5 years, we will start the process of owning (acquiring) our facility.
d. What are the Ongoing Expenses for Running a Halfway House?
- Cost of stocking up supplies such as medications, toiletries, and beddings et al
- Cost of food supplies and ingredients
- Utility bills (gas, internet, phone bills, signage and sewage et al)
- Salaries of employees
e. What is the Average Salary of your Staff? List the Job Position and their proposed salary based on industry rate and your startup capital
- Head of Halfway House (President) – $45,000 Per Annum
- House Manager (Administrator) – $36,034 Per Annum
- Nurse’s Aides – $29,660 Per Annum
- Caregivers/Rehab Counselors – $32,878 Per Annum
- Fundraisers – $36,500 Per Annum and based on target
- Account Officer – $35,000 Per Annum
- Frint Desk Officer – $28,000 Per Annum
- Cleaners – $22,000 Per Annum
- Security Guard – $22,000 Per Annum
f. How Do You Get Funding to Start a Halfway House
- Raising money from personal savings and sale of personal stocks and properties
- Raising money from investors and business partners
- Sell shares to interested investors
- Applying for a loan from your bank/banks
- Source for soft loans from your family members and your friends.
Financial Projection
a. How Much Should You Charge for your Service?
At King of Boys® Halfway Housing Facility, our rental fee will be between $450 and $750 per month, depending on the type of room.
But it is important to note that we will make our facility free of charge especially when we can attract enough grants and funds from donors.
b. Sales Forecast?
- First Fiscal Year (FY1): $250,000
- Second Fiscal Year (FY2): $450,000
- Third Fiscal Year (FY3): $555,000
c. Estimated Profit You Will Make a Year?
King of Boys® Halfway Housing Facility will operate as a nonprofit organization.
d. Profit Margin of a Halfway House Product/Service
King of Boys® Halfway Housing Facility is designed not to make profits hence we don’t have an estimated profit margin.
Growth Plan
King of Boys® Halfway Housing Facility will grow by first opening other outlets in key cities in the United States of America within the first five years of establishing the business and then will start selling franchises from the sixth year. King of Boys® Halfway Housing Facility plans to expand first to the District of Columbia and then to Memphis, TN, Detroit, MI, St. Louis, and Little Rock, AR.
The reason we intend to expand to these geographic locations is the fact that available statistics show that the cities listed above have the highest crime rates in the United States. The District of Columbia had the highest reported violent crime rate in the United States, with 999.8 violent crimes per 100,000 of the population.
Exit Plan
The founder of King of Boys® Halfway Housing Facility plans to exit the business via merger and acquisition. We intend to merge with an international charity organization that has a world spread so that the management of the company can be placed under a trusted hand when the founder retires.
The reason for combining two or more charitable organizations that are into halfway housing is to try and achieve synergy – where the whole (the new company) is greater than the sum of its parts (the former two separate entities) and with a well-structured management team and board of trustees.