Ron Gold was riding his bicycle in Northern New Jersey when an SUV struck him head-on without braking.
The driver had fallen asleep at the wheel. And Gold, having just come around a curve, didn’t have enough time to change course.
By all accounts, the accident should have killed him. But his active lifestyle before the accident essentially saved his life. However, it still put him in a wheelchair for the rest of his life.
That was about three years ago. And while he’s still in a wheelchair, life has improved for Gold and plenty of others who need extra care in their homes.
Those improvements are thanks to LeanOnWe, a home care business that Gold started after realizing the high cost of agency home health care and the difficulty of finding help outside of an agency. He told Fast Company:
“I started asking around about finding a caregiver at less than the astounding $25-an-hour agency rate. I found out that not only did so many others need daily care – albeit many were much older than my 51 years — but they also preferred to hire a caregiver on their own. The problem was there was no good way to do that.”
LeanOnWe provides a way for families to access information about caregivers so they can hire one on their own, bypassing the standard agency fees. The company does background checks on caregivers.
And staff are all people who have either received help from caregivers, trained caregivers, or hired caregivers for their family members. So they are available to answer any questions from customers.
It was surprising to Gold and plenty of others who use caregiver services that a service like this didn’t already exist, since it presents benefits to both families and caregivers. But for those who are unfamiliar with the industry, it’s a void that largely went unnoticed.
While Gold’s path to starting LeanOnWe was certainly not traditional, he simply saw a void in the market and went for it. He used some of his own savings and resources to start it, knowing that it would not only help his family but others as well. Aside from that, all he needed was the initiative to start something that he knew would solve a major problem for families across the country.
Image: Ron Gold, LeanOnWe
Aira Bongco
This is one of those cases when the business is more than a business – it is his destiny.I love how businesses are crafted with the desire to help in mind. It is bound to be more successful because it has more heart.
Annie Pilon
So true – when you’re in it to actually help people then they’re more likely to actually find value in your business.