Operator vs. Administrator: Key Roles in Assisted Living
Jan 22, 2025
Starting an assisted living business is an exciting opportunity to make a difference in people’s lives, but it’s important to understand the roles that keep a facility running smoothly. Two of the most important roles are the administrator and the operator. While these roles might sound similar, they have very different responsibilities.
Knowing the difference between these roles can help you figure out where you fit best in the assisted living world. Do you want to manage the daily operations, or would you rather focus on the big picture and strategy? Let’s break it down.
Check out the video too:
What Does an Assisted Living Administrator Do?
An administrator is the heart of a facility’s daily operations. They ensure that residents receive great care and that everything inside the facility runs smoothly.
Here are the main responsibilities of an administrator:
-
Managing the Staff
The administrator is in charge of scheduling shifts, training caregivers, and resolving any staff issues. They make sure everyone on the team is ready to provide excellent care. -
Running Daily Operations
From meal planning to organizing resident activities, administrators handle the day-to-day details. In smaller facilities, they often wear many hats and take on hands-on tasks like greeting residents or assisting with care. -
Ensuring Compliance
Administrators must meet state qualifications, like completing training programs or passing exams. They’re responsible for keeping the facility licensed and following all state and federal rules.
In larger facilities, administrators might manage department heads instead of directly overseeing tasks. But in smaller facilities, they’re more hands-on, doing a little bit of everything.
What Does an Assisted Living Operator Do?
Operators focus on the big picture. They manage the business side of things and ensure the facility is profitable and growing.
Here’s what operators typically handle:
-
Strategic Management
Operators decide on growth plans, marketing strategies, and budgets. They guide the overall direction of the business. -
Supporting Administrators
Operators make sure administrators have the tools and resources they need to succeed. They help solve problems, like finding extra funding or addressing maintenance issues. -
Overseeing Finances
Operators keep a close eye on the facility’s financial health. They plan budgets, monitor cash flow, and ensure the business stays profitable.
Unlike administrators, operators don’t need a license. Many operators start as administrators and move into this role as they gain experience, especially when managing multiple facilities.
Can One Person Be Both an Operator and an Administrator?
Yes! In smaller facilities, it’s common for one person to take on both roles. This setup can save money and make decision-making simpler.
But here’s the catch: balancing both roles can be tough. It means juggling daily tasks while also focusing on long-term strategy. To succeed, you’ll need to:
- Delegate Tasks: Share responsibilities with trusted staff.
- Set Clear Boundaries: Define when you’re acting as the operator and when you’re the administrator.
- Stay Organized: Use tools like calendars or project management apps to keep everything on track.
If you’re just starting out, wearing both hats might make sense. As your business grows, you can divide these roles to make things more manageable.
Final Thoughts
Understanding the roles of an administrator and an operator is essential for running a successful assisted living business.
- Administrators focus on the hands-on, day-to-day care of residents and staff.
- Operators handle the big-picture strategy, like finances and growth.
Whether you see yourself as an administrator, an operator, or a mix of both, knowing what each role entails will help you build a thriving business. With the right mindset and approach, you can create a facility that improves lives and makes a lasting impact.
Need help creating a business plan? Download our free Business Plan Checklist to help you craft a successful business plan.
Need help figuring out where to start? Join the next Roadmap Challenge and build your launch plan with me.
Show full transcript 👇
Transcript
00:00:01
[Music] hi everybody i'm brandon gustafson i own and operate two assisted living facilities and i created this channel to help people like you learn the ins and outs of investing in assisted living welcome to assisted living investing in our last video we talked about the process of working with a real estate agent i'm going to have that up here in a card so you can go and watch that video and learn a little bit about that process and today we're going to be getting into what is the difference
00:00:41
between an administrator and an operator in assisted living i hear this kind of those two terms i feel like people use them interchangeably and in my mind there is a difference and so i wanted to give a little bit a bit of a background on the difference between those two the roles that they they play and what that looks like so first off what is an assisted living administrator i'm gonna have a card up here for a video that you can watch uh around you know the daily life of a facility administrator but in
00:01:11
large part a facility administrator is the person who's doing that day in and day out operations at the facility they help manage staff on oversee daily operations an administrator also needs to be able to obtain a license from the state so we've talked a lot about licensing and licensing your facility but a facility administrator is also a licensed professional and they obtain their license the license is going to have certain requirements things like the amount of hours that they've worked
00:01:42
as a caregiver and they have to pass a test and take education and things like that so those are some of the things that your that a facility administrator is going to need to do if you are interested in learning about what it's like to become a facility administrator please comment down below so that i can get some of that information create a video around what it's like to obtain your license as a facility administrator i personally am not a facility administrator i don't have that license i feel like it's
00:02:10
something that i could get easily enough but it's something that i feel like i don't need to because we have excellent administrators at our facilities administrators of of smaller facilities specifically are going to play a much larger role um and they're going to wear a lot of hats they're they're they're busy they will cover shifts they're going to be in charge of doing like activities and food prep and and the food schedule and a lot of those things so they they wear a lot of hats
00:02:39
with the with uh those that are are looking at larger facilities um the facility administrator is going to have more people that kind of report up to them they're more of a people manager i would say than a working manager i would is probably the best way to kind of define the difference between us an administrator of a small facility versus an administrator at a large facility oftentimes in these larger facilities you're going to even have like department heads that report up to the facility administrator the
00:03:11
classification the certification the license is all the same it's just kind of the level of comfort that the administrator has and what you as an owner have with your administrator and what they can do but that's kind of what an assisted living administrator is what is an assisted living operator i'll have another card up here that's going to give you some more information around what an operator is and what the daily life of an operator is but basically an operator is the person who oversees the
00:03:39
operations of the facility generally at a higher level than what i just talked about a facility administrator doing they are there to support that facility administrator and they help remove barriers that may come up that could hinder the administrator's ability to function in in their role as the administrator and the things that they get to do um and an operator does not need a license so i would consider myself an operator of our facilities and i don't have a license to do that and it's not something that
00:04:09
you need to have in order to do it but it is i would say it's quite common especially as you get into the industry to see former administrators kind of slide into that role and become an operator especially of larger facilities or even you know communities or a portfolio of people that have them oftentimes you'll see that administrator that started this level they bump up into that operator level because they have that level of knowledge and they're able to to do those things so it's not
00:04:38
i would say it's quite common to see that type of uh of a person going up into that role but again it's not a requirement um that they they do that um that you know and as you as an owner especially if you're looking at something that's a smaller facility um or you know you might not have hardly any experience working in assisted living you can still be an operator you can still kind of function that way and be more of the the business manager the asset manager the person that is working
00:05:07
through and helping remove those barriers so that the facility administrator can then function and and help residents out and and be much more focused on the facility and making sure everything is running the way that it should at the facility another question i see often is can one person um be and both an operator and an administrator and the short answer for that is yes they can so another question that i see often is can can the same person be the facility administrator and also be an operator
00:05:36
and the short answer to that is yes you can be for smaller facilities especially if you're purchasing that facility you could act as the owner the operator and the administrator of the facility there's no problems with that the only one that you need to have a license in order to operate that way as the administrator um you know you're going through the process to purchase a facility so that kind of designates you as the owner anyways and then you could also act as that operator and if you're living nearby
00:06:05
you're interested in doing it maybe you're a nurse um you've done that in the past you have the capacity and the ability to be an administrator and you're confident in that ability then yeah you could do all three of those roles um something you want to do um is just make sure that you're not putting too much um on yourself and doing that that's a lot of things to do you know acting in multiple capacities whether it's uh you or another person um you hire somebody to be your
00:06:33
administrator and your operator you're doing a lot of those things it's gonna you know it could lead to a reduction in cost if you have multiple people working in in those multiple different roles but it's also going to increase your workload and it's going to blend those responsibilities which could make it more difficult to offload some of those responsibilities as you continue to grow and you know your portfolio increases and things like that as you're potentially looking to bring in new members to your
00:07:02
team as you're blending those responsibilities it's going to be a little more difficult to hand some of those things off so it's just something you want to be aware of and also you want to be aware of burnout you don't want to get have all of these responsibilities on you or on your administrator you want to make sure that you're not killing yourself you know make sure that you really enjoy this process i'll get into that again in a future video um but just just make sure you're aware that
00:07:27
those are some of the things that you want to just be aware of as you're going through the process of trying to figure out do you want to be an owner do you want to be an operator an administrator do you want to be all three do you want to have a few of those roles how do you want to do this just be aware that it's okay to be in those roles but it's also okay to pass some of that work off to other people and delegate to other people so that you can be a more effective operator or administrator or owner or
00:07:53
whatever role you want to be in just make sure that you're aware of those things as they come up in our next video we're going to be getting into what is the day in the life of an assisted living administrator i'll have a card up there for you so you can go in and grab that and and just you know to learn more about investing in assisted living i want to make sure that you are aware that i have a resource out there assistedlivinginvesting.net i'd love to see you over on the website so you can
00:08:17
get other content there and i'm going to be working on setting up a way to set up some consulting calls i would love to to have chats with you and help you along your process as you're looking to get into assisted living and then please follow me on all my other social media platforms and remember it doesn't take a lot just a little keep making progress and you'll be successful thanks for watching and have a great day [Music]
Download Your FREE Calculator
Stay connected with news and updates!
Join our mailing list to receive the latest news and updates from our team.
Don't worry, your information will not be shared.
We hate SPAM. We will never sell your information, for any reason.