MBA-grade strategy
Financial modelling, market positioning, pricing strategy, M&A readiness aren't add-ons. They're in every monthly call.
Phil Martin MBA spent 13+ years inside the UK home care software industry — selling, supporting and implementing the technology that domiciliary agencies depend on — before building homecareOS because the off-the-shelf options weren't good enough. The home care bundle wraps brand, web, SEO, social, software, sector-essential IT and monthly MBA-led strategy into one accountable practice. Maximum eight active bundle clients at any time — because doing this properly means knowing your business deeply, not running it through an account-management funnel.
For CQC Good or better (and CIW, Care Inspectorate, RQIA equivalents). One bill, one accountable practice, an MBA-led strategy call every month. We don't take eight clients to feel important. We take eight because that's how many we can know properly. When we're full, you go on the waitlist.
Most agencies sell tactical execution. Most software vendors sell features. Most consultants sell advice with no skin in the game. This is the version where one practice does all three — built around a founder who has spent 13+ years inside the home care software industry, supporting and implementing for hundreds of UK agencies.
Financial modelling, market positioning, pricing strategy, M&A readiness aren't add-ons. They're in every monthly call.
13+ years inside UK home care software — selling, supporting and implementing for hundreds of domiciliary agencies. The advice survives contact with rotas, eMAR, CQC visits and payroll because we've seen what works across the sector, not just inside one agency.
Same practice builds the software, ships the brand, writes the SEO, takes the strategic call. No account-management layer.
Maximum eight active home care bundle clients. Waitlist when full. Quality is non-negotiable.
The 1:90 Align method is built into every engagement, every tier. Strategy becomes structured delivery.
Pick the tier that matches your carer count today. You move up when you grow. Pricing is transparent — what you see is what you pay, software licences and all.
Scoped per group, priced per branch — talk to the Principal to scope.
Talk to the PrincipalPremium pricing buys you a practice, not just one calendar. Here's the hierarchy that delivers it — and an honest note on the current state.
Sets strategy direction across every engagement. Leads Enterprise tier and all Fractional CXO standalone clients directly. Attends quarterly strategic reviews on Structured tier and annual reviews on Growing and Startup. Read his background →
Your day-to-day strategic lead on Growing and Structured tiers. Trained by Phil. Also leads Monthly Strategy Retainer and Fractional CMO standalone clients. Currently delivered by Phil during team build-out — Director seats opening as the practice grows.
Your day-to-day execution lead on Startup tier. Day-to-day support on Growing and Structured. Trained by Phil + Director. Currently delivered by Phil during team build-out — Senior Strategist seats opening as the practice grows.
During team build-out, every tier is delivered by Phil directly. Pricing already reflects the team-delivery model, so your cost stays predictable when the practice scales.
The IT in this bundle is intentionally scoped: Microsoft 365 admin, mobile device management on carer devices, endpoint protection, and a troubleshooting helpdesk. Compliance (NHS DSPT, GDPR), networking infrastructure, penetration testing and ISO certification sit outside this scope — we'll guide you to them and coach the work, but we don't pretend to be an enterprise NOC. Honest about what we do, faster about doing it. See the full IT scope →
Mailboxes, file storage, identity, group policy, licence management. The boring done-properly work that quietly stops half your tickets.
Enrolment, security policy, app distribution, remote wipe on every carer device. Scales with tier — 5 devices on Startup to multi-branch fleet on Enterprise.
Antivirus, anti-malware, basic threat detection on every device. The minimum you need to not be embarrassed if an inspector asks.
Day-to-day "this isn't working" tickets. 8hr SLA on Startup, scaling to 1hr SLA on Enterprise. Real humans, not chatbots.
Outside this scope — and we'll say so honestly: NHS DSPT submission delivery (we guide; the submission is yours), GDPR audit certification, networking infrastructure beyond basic wifi, SOC / SIEM / threat hunting, ISO 27001 alignment, penetration testing. Genuinely needed? We refer to vetted sector partners and project-manage the engagement.
Every monthly call covers the strategic ground other vendors leave on the table. Real topics from real client work. See standalone strategic advisory →
Cost-per-carer, retention curves, agency dependency reduction, employer brand. Recruitment is the #1 operational pain — strategy beats spray-and-pray every time.
Self-funded vs local authority mix, what to charge, how to justify it, when to walk away. The most under-discussed lever in the sector.
When does a second branch make sense? Where? What KPIs prove it's working? When to stop.
Outstanding-rated agencies prepare differently. Evidence portfolio, governance, culture audit, mock-inspection coaching.
Change management beats the software. We've rolled this out for hundreds of agencies, so we know where it goes wrong before it does.
Family portal, monthly newsletter, review velocity, complaint resolution. Family satisfaction is your underrated growth lever.
Real UK SME market rates for each component, sourced from typical providers in 2026. The bundle isn't cheap because we cut corners — it's cheaper because we run it as one integrated practice rather than a stack of separate vendor invoices. Software costs are absorbed because we own the software.
| Component | Separate setup | Separate /mo |
|---|---|---|
| Brand essentials (logo, colour, basic guidelines) | £1,500 | — |
| Conversion-led website (5 pages, built) | £3,000 | — |
| Domain · premium SSL · UK hosting | £50 | £40 |
| Business email (Microsoft 365, 5 users) | — | £30 |
| homecareOS Pro (eMAR, rota, CQC evidence, finance) | — | £70 |
| Integrated VoIP / calling (5 lines) | £200 | £120 |
| Local SEO programme (setup + ongoing) | £800 | £400 |
| Business directory submissions | £300 | £80 |
| Social media management (8 posts/mo, 2 platforms) | — | £450 |
| Content (1 article/quarter) | — | £75 |
| Reputation & review management | — | £100 |
| IT managed (M365 admin, MDM, helpdesk) | £500 | £250 |
| NHS DSPT + GDPR consultancy (templates, coaching, review) | £400 | £100 |
| Endpoint protection (carer devices) | — | £50 |
| GDPR review + policy pack | £600 | — |
| AI-search visibility (Claude, ChatGPT, Perplexity) | — | £200 |
| Experts on the end of the phone — sector veterans, same-day answer | — | £500 |
| Access to the business library — MBA-level content, templates, the MBA Essentials book | — | £100 |
| Monthly MBA-led strategy call | — | £500 |
| 1:90 Align planning method | — | £200 |
| Annual Gathering · 2-day peer learning event (£2,000/yr ÷ 12) | — | £170 |
| Buying separately | £7,350 | £3,435 |
| Psychemeta Home Care Bundle — Startup | £1,500 | £500 |
| You save | −£5,850 (80%) | −£2,935 (85%) |
| Component | Separate setup | Separate /mo |
|---|---|---|
| Full brand strategy + identity system + guidelines | £4,500 | — |
| 10–15 page website with case studies + service-area pages | £6,500 | — |
| Domain · SSL · UK hosting (scaled) | £50 | £60 |
| Business email (Microsoft 365, 15 users) | — | £90 |
| homecareOS Pro (≤25 carers) | — | £175 |
| Integrated VoIP / calling (10+ lines) | £400 | £240 |
| Active local SEO (Worcester + 5 nearby towns) | £1,500 | £900 |
| Citation expansion + maintenance | £500 | £150 |
| Social media (12 posts/mo, 3 platforms) | — | £700 |
| Content (2 articles/mo + newsletter) | — | £600 |
| Reputation, reviews, family-comms strategy | — | £200 |
| Google Ads management (ex-spend) | £800 | £600 |
| IT managed (M365 + MDM, 25 users + devices) | £1,000 | £650 |
| NHS DSPT + GDPR consultancy (templates, coaching, quarterly review) | £600 | £200 |
| Cyber-awareness training (quarterly) | — | £100 |
| AI-search visibility (Claude, ChatGPT, Perplexity) | — | £400 |
| Experts on the end of the phone — sector veterans, same-day answer | — | £800 |
| Access to the business library — MBA-level content, templates, MBA Essentials book | — | £150 |
| Strategic advisory (monthly 1hr, Director-led) | — | £1,500 |
| 1:90 Align (monthly cadence) | — | £300 |
| Annual Gathering · 2-day peer learning event (£2,500/yr ÷ 12) | — | £210 |
| Buying separately | £15,850 | £8,025 |
| Psychemeta Home Care Bundle — Growing | £3,000 | £1,000 |
| You save | −£12,850 (81%) | −£7,025 (88%) |
| Component | Separate setup | Separate /mo |
|---|---|---|
| Premium brand system + sub-brand options | £8,500 | — |
| 20+ page website (recruitment portal, family login, multi-area pages) | £12,000 | — |
| Hosting, SSL, CDN (scaled) | £200 | £120 |
| Business email (Microsoft 365 Business, 30 users) | — | £180 |
| homecareOS Pro (≤50 carers, full analytics) | — | £350 |
| Integrated VoIP (20+ lines, ACD, recording) | £800 | £480 |
| Comprehensive SEO + AI-search optimisation | £3,000 | £1,800 |
| Content (4 articles/mo + monthly video + qtly research) | — | £1,800 |
| Social media (20+ posts/mo, 4 platforms, video) | — | £1,400 |
| Paid media management (Google + Meta, ex-spend) | £1,500 | £1,200 |
| Recruitment landing pages + careers SEO | £2,500 | £400 |
| Reputation, review velocity, family-comms ops | — | £350 |
| IT managed (50 users + branch wifi + monthly training) | £2,000 | £1,400 |
| NHS DSPT Standards Met preparation consultancy (your submission, our coaching) | £1,200 | £300 |
| Security policy pack + ICO compliance documentation | £800 | — |
| AI-search visibility (Claude, ChatGPT, Perplexity) | — | £800 |
| Experts on the end of the phone — sector veterans, same-day answer, multi-user | — | £1,500 |
| Access to the business library — MBA-level content, templates, leadership material | — | £250 |
| Strategic advisory (monthly 90-min, Director-led + Principal quarterly) | — | £3,500 |
| 1:90 Align (fortnightly cadence + team playbook) | — | £600 |
| Annual Gathering · 2 days, owner + 1 team member (£3,000/yr ÷ 12) | — | £250 |
| Buying separately | £32,500 | £16,680 |
| Psychemeta Home Care Bundle — Structured | £6,000 | £2,000 |
| You save | −£26,500 (82%) | −£14,680 (88%) |
Why the bundle is so much cheaper than the sum of the parts: (1) we own the software (homecareOS, 1:90 Align) so it's at marginal cost not retail; (2) one practice running everything removes the vendor-coordination tax that turns a £500 monthly invoice into a £700 line item with margin; (3) the bundle is capacity-bound to one agency per local area, so the practice's bandwidth is concentrated rather than spread thin across competing patches.
When you sign the bundle, we close your local area to other home care agencies. We will not take a second client in your patch while you're with us. Your competitors don't get our brand, our SEO, our content engine, our software, our advisory, our reputation machine. Just you.
Pick your local area. We'll tell you the current status — available, taken, or already on a waitlist. Real-time, no email-gate, no string-along.
Territorial exclusivity has a less obvious benefit. Every other bundle client is in a different local area. They are not competing for your clients. They are the only people in the country running their agency on the same operating system, the same software, the same strategic cadence as you.
Once a year, for two days, we put you all in the same room. Ideas land in minutes that would have taken months alone. Decisions get made together that nobody would have risked making alone. Included in every tier.
No phase-of-the-moon billing. No mystery line items. What you see on the tier card is what hits your bank account.
Invoiced on contract signature, payable before kick-off. One number, all-in for the launch scope.
Starts on launch day (typically 4–8 weeks after setup), billed monthly thereafter. Includes all software licences, all agency hours, ongoing strategy and support.
12 months from launch — home care needs sustained presence to compound. After that: 90 days rolling notice.
Third-party ad spend (Google/Meta budget at cost, fully transparent), domain renewals, premium photography or video shoots (quoted on demand).
10% off monthly if paid annually upfront. Optional on every tier.
Multi-branch groups priced bespoke — usually two scoping calls and a written proposal within seven working days. Talk to the Principal directly.
Start with the Business Discovery questionnaire (about 15 minutes) and we'll come back with which tier fits and what the first 90 days would look like.
Home care agencies — domiciliary, visiting care delivered in the client's own home. Not residential care homes (CQC fixed-site adult social care).
If you operate a residential or nursing home and arrived here looking for care home marketing, the bundle is not the right fit. The regulatory model, operational rhythm and software stack are fundamentally different. We focus exclusively on UK domiciliary providers because homecareOS — the software at the heart of the bundle — is purpose-built for domiciliary care: visit scheduling, eMAR, carer mobile app, integrated calling.
Weighing up software options first? Read our honest review of free home care software in the UK, including when a free plan genuinely is the right starting point.
We move you up to the next tier at the start of the following month. No penalty, no renegotiation drama. Pricing scales predictably with you.
Yes. The four tiers are starting points. Once we know your agency we tailor scope. The bundle pricing is the floor — bespoke add-ons quote separately and stay transparent.
Yes. You own everything we build — code, design files, content, accounts. We hand over the keys cleanly. No lock-in.
Phil Martin owns both. homecareOS is the software product. Psychemeta is the agency that designs your brand, builds your site, runs your marketing and ships strategic advisory. The bundle wraps both under one bill so you get operator-built software with the agency that knows it inside-out.
Your area is closed to you and you go on the waitlist. We will not take a second client in a local area where we already have one. If the existing client doesn't renew, you're first in the queue. We tell you on day one — no string-along, no false hope.
Area is your local area — where your agency's primary registered office sits. In the 10 biggest English shire counties (Kent, Essex, Hampshire, Surrey, Hertfordshire, Lancashire, Staffordshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, Worcestershire) areas are at district level — so Worcester is separate from Malvern Hills, Manchester from Salford, Maidstone from Canterbury. Wales, Scotland and NI use council areas. London uses boroughs. Smaller English counties use upper-tier authorities. 306 areas in total. Multi-branch operators can scope multiple areas into a single Enterprise engagement.
Yes — through the Enterprise tier. Multi-branch operators, franchisor groups and regional groups are scoped per group with named local areas locked into the engagement. Pricing reflects the number of areas closed. Talk to the Principal directly to scope.
Yes — included in every tier. Once a year, for two days, every bundle client comes together in person.
Day 1: open idea-share + live roadmap vote on the next twelve months of homecareOS and bundle feature development + an evening celebration of the year's CQC wins and growth milestones.
Day 2: each agency sets its next 90-day 1:90 Align Arc with Principal + Director input, then practical workshops sized to what the room has told us it needs.
Owner attendance is included for every tier; Structured tier includes one additional team member; Enterprise tier includes the full leadership team.
The Annual Gathering works specifically because of the territorial exclusivity policy — every attendee is in a different local area, so nobody in the room is competing for anyone else's clients. They share what works without commercial risk.
No — exclusivity is bundle-specific. We can and do work with multiple home care businesses on standalone services (a website build, an SEO audit, a brand refresh, an Advisory Day). The bundle exclusivity protects the full-stack relationship where we're embedded in your growth. Standalone work is fine for everyone.
Enterprise is bespoke. Multi-branch operators, franchisor groups and regional groups are scoped per group and priced per branch. Pricing reflects branch count, integration complexity (payroll, CRM, HR systems), M&A or exit advisory scope, and the cadence of Principal-led involvement. Talk to the Principal directly to scope — typically two calls and a written proposal within seven working days.
You move to a 90-day rolling notice period. Cancel anytime with 90 days' notice. Most clients renew because the practice gets more valuable over time, not less.
The IT scope is deliberately tight: Microsoft 365 admin (mailboxes, file storage, identity, licences), mobile device management on carer devices, endpoint protection (antivirus + basic threat detection), and a troubleshooting helpdesk with SLA scaling per tier. That's the layer most agencies bolt on later and pay too much for.
What it does NOT include — and we'll be upfront about this: full NHS DSPT submission delivery (we guide and coach, the submission is yours), GDPR audit certification, advanced networking infrastructure, security operations / SOC services, ISO 27001 alignment work, penetration testing.
If you need any of those, we refer to vetted sector partners and project-manage the engagement honestly. NHS DSPT and GDPR guidance is part of every tier's Strategy block — sector-informed coaching, templates, and review — but the submission is your agency's, not ours.
Because the questions that determine whether an agency grows or stalls are strategic, not tactical. Financial modelling, pricing strategy, recruitment economics, M&A readiness — these are the same topics Phil's MBA covered, applied to a sector he has worked inside for 13+ years.
Three-level practice structure: Principal (Phil, leads Enterprise), Director (leads Growing and Structured), Senior Strategist (leads Startup). During team build-out, Phil delivers all tiers directly. Pricing already reflects the team-delivery model — your cost stays predictable when the practice scales.
Day-to-day delivery on Startup, Growing and Structured tiers shifts to the named Director or Senior Strategist on your account. Phil's strategic involvement (quarterly reviews on Structured, annual reviews on lower tiers) continues as defined per tier. Enterprise stays Principal-led throughout.