According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, as of 2012, there were 12,200 home health agencies on record in the United States. And entrepreneur-turned-author Shashicka Tyre-Hill has gotten a piece of that pie.????
As the CEO and founder of Miracle Home Care, a multi-million dollar home care agency, Tyre-Hill initially didn?t know what her passion was. However, when her grandmother was diagnosed with cancer in 1999, she realized what it was: taking care of others.
For Tyre-Hill?s newfound passion to come to fruition, she knew she had to go back to school ? which she did. She got her GED, became a licensed private home health provider, and opened Tyre-Hill?s home health care agency. Miracle Home Care has now expanded to Miracle Home Care Adult Day Center, and Miracle Transportation. And after a previous bad business venture, Tyre-Hill knew that home health care wasn?t just her passion; it was her gift.
?Never put off what you can do today for tomorrow because tomorrow might be too late,? is a mantra that she faithfully lives by. And it?s paid off. This single mother of one, who debuted her first book ?Blessings and Miracles? in 2013, is in the process of debuting her second book ?The Miracles of Success: Fourteen Diamonds to Help You Dream, Jump and Fly High.?
TNJ.com got the chance to speak with Tyre-Hill. Here, she explains the most important diamond in her new book: how her past failures lead her to the road of success.
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TNJ.com: How did you launch your business?
Shashicka Tyre-Hill: I put ads in the paper. I passed out flyers and business cards. My income tax was a little bit over $5000, so I paid off my bills and I ended up having $720 left then I got a small office space, which I paid $200 for. And that?s how I got started! Everybody that I came in contact with I was telling them about what I was doing and the types of services I was offering and that?s how I started my business.
TNJ.com: From a business perspective, what made you want to start not just a home care agency, but to move past that and do adult day care and now transportation. What was the key to expanding the Miracle Home Care Agency?
STH: Well, I think there was a need, and I like working with elderly and disabled citizens. With the home health care agency, there was a need for clients to be transported from doctor?s appointments, the hospital, and any kind of medical appointment. With the adult day care, I had a lot of clients who were saying, ?We?re bored at home. I wish there were someplace in the area to socialize with other people.? So that?s why I opened the adult day care. Miracle Home Care allowed me to see the needs of the elderly.
TNJ.com: What is your five-year goal?
STH: Five years from now, my daughter is going to take over the company. I want to franchise it in every state, as well as overseas. And, of course, I want to become a billionaire ?I mean why not?!
TNJ.com: Talk to me about your new book ?Miracles of Success.?
STH: I?ve made a lot of mistakes, and from those mistakes, I?ve learned. I?d like to help somebody else avoid the same mistakes. I?m going to teach people the steps they should take towards becoming entrepreneurs.
First of all, you have to get yourself together. You have to know what you want to do. And it should be your passion. Do not open up a business that isn?t your passion because it?ll distract you from pursuing whatever it is that you?re trying to do. There are 14 steps in my book, and if you follow those steps you?ll be very successful. I?ve also done business coaching and motivational speaking. I thought about all the steps I?ve taken and used them to write the book.?
TNJ.com: In your book, what?s the most important step out of all 14?
STH: You have to find yourself. By doing that, you find out what it is that you really want to do and your passion. A lot of people nowadays want to start a business because they want to make money. Money should not be the motive. Of course, you?re going to need the money, and you?re going to have to make the money, but it shouldn?t be the motive.
TNJ.com: Talk to me about Caribbean Express, your Jamaican Restaurant.
STH: I opened Caribbean Express in Georgia and had several locations, which I eventually sold because again, the restaurant business wasn?t my passion. I opened it because someone talked me into it, but I quickly found out that it was a lot of work. I didn?t put my all into it because it wasn?t what I truly wanted to do. So, I ended up selling it and launched the adult day care business.
TNJ.com: What are some of the biggest business mistakes you?ve made and would you consider opening the restaurant ?a mistake??
STH: No, I wouldn?t consider that a mistake. The biggest mistake I?ve made was mismanaging money. In the beginning, when I first started my home care agency, I would take the money to get my hair and nails done without thinking of anybody else.? When I got on the Medicaid program with the insurance companies, I discovered that it takes quite a bit of time for them to pay you. So, here I am getting all this money from private paying clients, thinking the insurance companies were going to pay me quickly and I went from having $20,000 in the bank to $10,000. It was almost to the point where I couldn?t make payroll. So, I think that?s the main mistake I?ve made. I had to make a change if I expected to continue being in business.
TNJ.com: With this book, what do you hope to achieve?
STH: I would like to be able to help and inspire people to go ahead and pursue their dreams. A lot of times we think, ?I would do it, but I don?t know the outcome.? You never know what will happen unless you go out there and try. Hopefully, the book will inspire a lot of people to make their dreams come true. Not everybody can be a business owner,? CEO or entrepreneur, but for those who are willing to, but don?t know the proper steps to take, I want to be able to help guide them in the right direction.
