“I hated being disabled and was determined to get out of my wheelchair. I would hear the doctors telling my parents that I might not be able to have a job.”
Josh Hough says his experience as a young man fuelled the fire which saw him found home care software company , which today produces revenues of over 拢3.5 million and has 42 staff.
Born with a rare genetic muscle weakening illness called Minicore Myopathy, Hough was written off by doctors at an early age. It meant walking was difficult, and he needed a lot of treatment.
Also, going to school in a wheelchair was often an unpleasant experience. 鈥淚 think it made me very determined and single-minded. From an early age, I learned I could prove people wrong,” he says.
“It was just bloody bad luck. It鈥檚 a condition which you only get when both parents have a specific gene. I had a lot of specialist treatment when I was young. I went to school in a wheelchair which wasn’t nice as kids can be very cruel.”
Nonetheless, Hough did well at school and considered university. But he was also entrepreneurial, setting up a publishing company with his sister Zoe when he was just 14.
“I was more interested in business than in studying and had a desire to change things. I think I saw the world differently to a lot of people. I was often looking for new and different ways of doing things. You have to when you literally can鈥檛 do things in the same ways everyone else does,鈥� he says.
Indeed, when Hough was young, he was often exasperated by the inefficiencies of the healthcare system. “I was visited by countless nurses, doctors and healthcare professionals.
“Every time I met someone new, I had to go through the same routine 鈥� answering the same questions, explaining my condition. It was very repetitive and boring.
鈥淢eanwhile, they were filling out paperwork or leafing through thick folders of information. It wasn鈥檛 very efficient and even as a young child, I was thinking: ‘This could be done better.’鈥�
In January 2010, when he was aged 18, Hough set up the MAS Group, providing managed IT services to companies. The company was doing well, but the idea of improving home care wouldn’t leave Hough.
“My grandfather was receiving care and the family struggled with the lack of communication from carers. Everything I felt and saw as a child came flooding back. I just felt there needed to be a better system and, ultimately, that I had to be the one to create it.”
Hough had a client in the home care space that was still using a paper-based system for much of its client work. It became CareLineLive’s first client and the idea of creating a ‘circle of care’ emerged.
“We created an app that joins up everything in a home care business, from patient notes and visits to invoicing and staff rotas. Family members can access it so they know what鈥檚 going on. But also, critical healthcare professionals like ambulance drivers can access it, too. Because, if they are attending an emergency, they really need to know whether or not someone has had their medication that day.
“The idea of the 鈥榗ircle of care鈥� is that everyone a patient needs is brought into the loop. People no longer need to spend long periods of time hunting down paperwork. All the information is in one place, it鈥檚 very efficient and it provides a clear audit trail.”
CareLineLive was launched in 2018 with a mission to transform a sector lagging behind much of the digital world. There鈥檚 substantial demand for its services but business growth hasn鈥檛 been without challenges.
Initially, Hough took out personal loans and used credit cards to get the business going. He’s gone through several funding rounds and, at the time of writing, has raised 拢6.7m. 鈥淔unding is an ongoing challenge, I spend a lot of time fundraising,鈥� he says.聽
Also, as a tech business, Hough is engaged in the battle for talent for much-needed coders and software engineers; however he says he has created a culture and sense of mission among his team.
Since launching commercially in 2018, CareLineLive has expanded rapidly, now supporting over 600 home care agencies across seven countries, including Australia and Ireland.
Ultimately, Hough鈥檚 own experiences have shaped how he approaches business.
鈥淚鈥檝e been through a lot of surgeries and challenges, so I understand the importance of flexibility,” he explains. 鈥淚f a member of staff or their child needs to go to the doctors then I tell them to 鈥榡ust go鈥�. People might think I鈥檓 too lenient, but we have a team that sticks with us and, sometimes, even returns, because they appreciate the flexibility and support we offer.鈥�
Reflecting on his journey, Hough says: “I鈥檝e had to prove myself repeatedly 鈥� to investors, customers and employees. It鈥檚 a vicious cycle of needing experience but not being able to get it. But that鈥檚 been my driving force 鈥� proving people wrong and showing that something is achievable. Building CareLineLive is something I鈥檓 incredibly proud of.”