A home-help company : the ugly duckling ?

• Michel MAZET
  CEO, M&D, home-help company
  

Summary

Faced with the problems of his elderly parents, Michel Mazet found that it was extremely difficult to find any home-help even no matter how much one was prepared to pay : the offer is hugely insufficient. This situation motivated him to set up a business specialising in professional care for old people. In order to develop the best service available, the company created made-to-measure contracts with families, was itself the responsible employer, and recruited only professionals. Their clients recommended the service to their friends, but word of mouth was not enough to develop the company. Michel Mazet therefore tried to make the company known to the network of traditional providers such as the local administration, town halls, pension funds, and so on. He came up against enormous opposition, as if helping old people was the preserve of local associations, voluntary workers and social services. Is such a negative attitude reasonable in the face of the increasing needs associated with an ageing population ?

Summary translated from French by Rachel MARLIN.

• The entire article was written by Élisabeth BOURGUINAT.

To obtain this article, you can :

• download it in French (PDF help) using your password or contact ecopar@paris.ensmp.fr (Reference VC230306).

The entire article appears in French in the Journal de l'École de Paris du management N° 61.