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Working Moms
Business Idea - Viable or Stupid?
In preparing to lose a large portion of my income when becoming a SAHW here in a few weeks, I am scrambling to come up with ideas to bring in some extra income.
When I was working (Well, still am, but now preparing to not be), I joked about wanting everything to be automated. I had a housekeeper, a lawn guy, had my groceries delivered to the house, etc. I was lazy and didn't want to spend my free time doing mundane things.
I had joked about how nice it would be to pay someone a small amount of money to come to my house and move my trash cans out on garbage day. Or come everyday and get the coffee pot ready and programmed for the next morning. Clean my litter box. Empty the dishwasher. Feed the dog while I'm away at work and play with her a little bit.
Basically all of the things that a housekeeper generally won't do but that working wife/mom still has to do...every...day.
In order for it to be worth my while, I wouldn't need to charge much. I figure I would price everything separately. Doing your coffee would be a dollar. Moving out the trash cans would be a dollar. Doing the litter box (Obviously I won't be doing that while pregnant, I know, don't flame me!) would be more like 3 dollars. And I would just have a minimum charge of $10 per visit. I mean, if the work takes me an hour (including driving) for 10... that times, let's say, potentially 20 days per month is an extra $200. Which isn't too bad.
What do you think? Am I nuts and grasping at straws or do you think there is some potential? As far as advertising, I would start with Craigslist and then go from there.
Thanks for your help... even if you're telling me this is a dumb idea, I appreciate it!
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Business Idea - Viable or Stupid?
I think you'd probably go insane trying to do all that driving around with kids, and not to mention would people want you bringing your child into their home, etc? (maybe not at first, but when they are walking).
Plus the taxes would eat up your income fast I'd imagine, unless you were doing it 'under the table'.
However, your idea could be a good one. I heard an ad on the radio here yesterday for a 'rent a husband' service where they come and do all the 'honey do' stuff like fix minor holes in walls, paint, clean up the yard, hang shelves, put up pictures, etc.
I really, REALLY dn't see myself ever paying anyone to do this kind of stuff for me. As much as I may hate the mundane stuff, I would be embarassed to pay someone to do all this for me.
And to DO it ... I guess I just don't know how worth it it would really be for the $$.
~Benjamin Franklin
DS dx with celiac disease 5/28/10
While I love the idea of all that mundane stuff getting handled by someone other than me, I can't say I would pay any one to do it.
In this economy I would think selling an idea like that, for small personal services, would be difficult.
My twins are 5! My baby is 3!
DS#2 - Allergic to Cashew, Pistachio, Kiwi
DS#3 - Allergic to Milk, Egg, Peanut, Tree Nuts and Sesame
~Benjamin Franklin
DS dx with celiac disease 5/28/10
Another idea is this. What if we change it up a little bit to focus on just one thing. My mention of going over to people's homes with pets to play with their dog a bit, feed them if need be and just give them some attention once per day?
We have a dog and although she has lots of toys and a big backyard, we feel very guilty leaving her alone all day, by herself. Neither of us are able to get away from work for long enough during the day to drive home and see her, as we live across town.
I would do this for $10 per visit... figure there's 20 working days in the month, again that's $200. And this way, it would be reliable clients who would get used to having this done and would probably be less likely to cancel.
Also, it's not as embarassing for the clients as the previosuly mentioned idea.
Whaddya' think?
You are probably more onto something there...I'm not a dog person, but several of my coworkers actually send their dogs to 'doggy daycare' because...and I quote.... "They get lonely".
Well, sure, this is fine, but it's not a new idea.... I know many peopel in my neighborhood who hire dog walkers and a part of it involves playing w/ the dogs!
I know people would hire someone to do this!
~Benjamin Franklin
DS dx with celiac disease 5/28/10
You're right. I guess it basically is dog-walking. I'll have to look into that.
Thank you!
My twins are 5! My baby is 3!
DS#2 - Allergic to Cashew, Pistachio, Kiwi
DS#3 - Allergic to Milk, Egg, Peanut, Tree Nuts and Sesame
I hated doing them for myself, after a long day at work, coming home and doing all of this mundane stuff over and over.
I'm not going to be working 8-5 any longer and doing this kind of stuff for other people and making money doing it...even if just a bit, isn't mundane to me.
Also, the reason I am leaving my current employer is because I am working for my parents (Dad and Step-Mom) for two years. I have extreme problems with the both of them as they are just...messed up people. My other siblings also work for them and over the years, they have stopped talking with my parents outside of work, completely. I have not allowed myself to do that, so far, as I didn't feel it was right but can't handle the stress from working from family (crazy family, at that!) everyday. That's why I'm leaving.
Also, though, I want the flexibility of being able to be with my child once s/he comes all of the time. We are fortunate that DH's paycheck will cover all of our bills, but for extra cash, I'm looking for something to do.
When you did dog-walking, how did you advertise?
No, I would not pay someone to come to my house and do all of my mundane daily chores. I may not love doing them, but they take only minutes out of my day and aren't worth paying someone else to do. Really, you thought someone would pay to have you come in every day and program their coffee maker?
And while I would pay for a dog walker, I would NOT hire a dog walker that had a young child in tow.........that's just way too much liability.
While sometimes I'd like to have someone come over and do my mundane chores, I agree with everyone else that I wouldn't pay for it. I don't see how you could charge enough to make any money doing it.
Dogsitter/walker could be more feasible. We have a google group for our neighborhood and now and then, someone will post a flyer for that sort of business.
I would consider giving my husband a BJ every night if HE would do it, though! Hmmmmmmmmmm, waking up to fresh coffee!!!!!
We live in Honolulu and have hired a "pet nanny" to come in on those days when my husband is out of town for work and I'm gone at work for 12+ hours. The pet nanny comes over and walks our dog for about an hour. It actually costs us $25 each time just for an hour walk, but, of course, the cost of living here is much higher. Our dog is our first baby, so we think it's worth it to have someone come over to walk him.
It's definitely worth checking out the services that are already offered in your area and seeing how much they are charging, what they offer etc. to see if you can stay competitive. Also, as someone previously mentioned, you'll have to decide if you're going to do this work "under the table" or not. My husband is self-employed and there are a lot of things that go into forming a "legal business" that I would never have imagined.
Also, I will tell you from experience that walking dogs with a child is only sometimes easy. Depends on their mood, depends on the day....the list goes on. Of course, you could try it and see how it goes.
Oh, and I know a lot of our pet nannies have dogs, but don't bring them along to other people's houses when they are "working," as there is too much liability in having their dog(s) interact with the person who's dog they are walking. So, you'd probably still have to go home and walk you dog at the end of the day too...could be A LOT of walking for one day.
Just my thoughts and suggestions.