Founding story February 2024: Care guardian
Did you know that you could be entitled to care allowance if you regularly cook meals for grandma or grandpa as a family gesture? Lawyer Florian Specht has experienced in his own family what it means when a relative suddenly needs support and, together with Goodright GmbH, has developed a portal that helps people with all questions relating to care: from the correct classification for the degree of care to assistance with appeals. Pflegewaechter.de ensures that people in need of care receive the money they are entitled to. If the long-term care insurance fund refuses to grant the corresponding rights, the cooperation lawyers now even provide support in legal proceedings.
© Goodright GmbH/David ErhardtFlorian, what is special about the Pflegewaechter.de service?
We take responsibility for older people and support them in areas where no one else does. Thanks to our support, people in need of care have already received more than four million euros in additional care allowance for their care. When my grandmother became in need of care years ago, we in the family realized how stressful the topic of care is and, above all, how paperwork-heavy it is. Even for me as a lawyer, the care insurance benefits were difficult to access. That's why we offer services to facilitate access to the financial benefits of long-term care insurance. My grandfather was the first financier of this project. Now all my grandparents have been supported by the care guardian services. And unlike with my grandma, this was finally uncomplicated.
What are the biggest hurdles when it comes to needing care?
The initial question is always: Am I in need of care? In Germany, six modules from the areas of everyday competence formally determine the degree of need for care. We have reformulated the procedure into 60 specific questions in layman's terms. The corresponding application can also be submitted directly via the portal. Unfortunately, the actual classifications of the long-term care insurance companies often do not match this, which is why the focus of our service is now on assisting with appeals with our partner law firms - the success rate is currently around 70%! Since mid-2023, we have also been offering support in legal proceedings, which will further increase our success rate. Incidentally, our entire portfolio is free of charge for patients; we finance our services through license fees from our partner law firms. When Pflegewächter is on board, even big players like our cooperation partner Klinikum Wahrendorff get faster results from the insurance companies, which actually have to process care applications within 25 days - otherwise there is a claim for compensation.
What goals do you have for the Pflegewaechter portal?
In future, we want to link our digital offering even further with the analog world in order to provide personal proximity. We are already in talks with the Johanniter to be a digitalization partner for welfare services. This would allow us to offer real on-site support, for example during assessments by the medical service, while also increasing the digital accessibility of welfare institutions for patients.
What tips do you have for other founders?
In my view, the personal hurdles are the biggest problem: it took me three years to set out mentally and actually found a company. Everyone has their own pace and has to learn to endure fears and worries. Networks like hannoverimpuls are very, very important for exchanging ideas. The encouragement from outside during lean periods was fundamental for me. Together with the partner law firms, we are now a team of 19 people in total - but we were unable to pay our founders any salaries for nine months after our EXIST funding came to an end. I learned to endure downward spikes by exchanging ideas with others. That paid off, because we've been making a profit for about six months now.
How did hannoverimpuls support you?
In all areas! For example, I took part in a 4-month boot camp to learn about topics ranging from marketing to sales - and our cooperation with Wahrendorff was also arranged via hannoverimpuls. Our entire team takes advantage of the great training offered by the business development agency.
© Goodright GmbH/David ErhardtPflegewaechter.de
Florian Specht
Goodright GmbH
Black Bear 4
30449 Hanover
kontakt@pflegewaechter.de
Florian on the cooperation with hannoverimpuls:
Unfortunately, entrepreneurship is not automatically in our genes. If I had gotten to know hannoverimpuls earlier, I would have founded a company sooner!
Marcus Rohde, Head of Start-up and Entrepreneurship at hannoverimpuls GmbH, on the collaboration with Florian Specht and the Goodright GmbH team:
Pflegewaechter.de makes an important contribution to the urgently needed digitalization of the healthcare industry. The portal's service is a real problem solver and strengthens the rights of people in need of care. The success figures are already impressive. We are happy that we were able to accompany the company and the team behind it on its way into the market with starting business!