Helpful Hand for Seniors

By Carolyn Dunn
For the Economic Development Corporation of Manitowoc County

Some of the most successful business startups out there are the ones whose owners took the time to lay the groundwork for their endeavors—conducting market research, writing a business plan, pounding the pavement. Following this business model, Jennifer Hanstedt launched Senior Service Coordinators in Manitowoc.

Although Hanstedt officially labeled herself a business owner back in December 2008, she says she’s still in the very early stages of entrepreneurship.

“I’ve spent most of my time since December getting the word out about the services I offer to seniors in the area,” she says. “I’ve been meeting with service agencies, lawyers, insurance agents, and pretty much anyone who works with the senior population. I’ve even talked and promoted on the radio.”

Through Senior Service Coordinators, Hanstedt offers private case management for senior citizens.

A free half-hour consultation allows Hanstedt to meet with a prospective client and their family and conduct a needs analysis. She looks at their medical and financial information, checks out the safety and accessibility in their home, and makes recommendations for services.

This, she says, could mean setting up care providers in the home, arranging appointments, providing transportation, or simply making weekly in-home visits.

When she first started investigating the prospect of launching her own business, Hanstedt turned to an entrepreneur friend for advice. The friend told Hanstedt to contact the Economic Development Corporation of Manitowoc County and luckily an E-Seed Entrepreneurs’ Course started the very next week. Hanstedt joined the class of 17 entrepreneurs looking to learn the business of starting a business.

“I wouldn’t have started my business without the support of the EDCMC and E-Seed,” Hanstedt says. “It seemed too daunting. But each week of the class they brought in an expert. And I absorbed it all.”

Once the ten-week class finished, Hanstedt was matched with a SCORE -- Counselors to America’s Small Business mentor who now meets with her each month. Hanstedt says this has been a godsend.

“The SCORE mentor, along with the EDCMC, helps you out of a slump when you’re down. When things are going well, they cheer you on,” she says. “I leave those meetings pumped. I would tell anyone starting a business to call the EDCMC.”

With a Masters in rehabilitation counseling and certifications in gerontology studies and dementia care, Hanstedt has always worked with seniors out in the community and in nursing home settings. After years of seeing seniors leave the nursing home without the information to make it on their own, and watching them end up back in the nursing home, Hanstedt fills that gap.

Now she wants seniors to know she’s available to help with filling out paperwork, making sense of medical benefits, and figuring out if it’s feasible for a client to stay in their home.

Hanstedt explains, “Some people don’t have someone to help with these things. I am there to help them.”

Hanstedt’s systematic approach to her business is paying off and Senior Service Coordinators is currently assisting a handful of clients, with room for as many as 15 depending on their level of need.

“The first thing they said in class was that you’re going to work very hard at your business,” she concludes, “but because it’s your business, you’ll be motivated and like it. I’m amazed how it’s true. It will be 11:00 at night and I’ll find myself working because I want to.”

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