If you WAH, please come in...

cp760 · March 2010

Dh and I have a new brainstorm (as if I don't already have enough to do...), but we're really putting some thought into it.

I have my own business and I work from home. I have tons of friends who work from home. We're all do different things (sign rentals, graphic design, custom jewelry, cake decorating, hairbows/tutus, mary k, premier jewelry etc...) We all have one thing in common... we find it hard to find time to sit in peace and quiet and work on our business during the day. Many of us can't justify hiring a babysitter and so we end up trying to work with little ones hanging off us or we're up late into the night working. Also, sometimes I don't know that I need to do a specific project until the last minute and it's too late to try to find someone to come watch the kids. I just wish I could go somewhere and work when I needed to for as long as I needed to.

So... we're thinking of opening up an office with childcare for wahm's. We have something similar in my area, but it's a coffee shop with childcare. The moms can come in and relax with friends while their kids are supervised in another room. This would be an office that is fully stocked with everything a wahm would need (printers, fax machine, desks, wifi etc..) and there would be childcare in another room. We would also use it as a way for moms to network with each other, share wah ideas, market their business etc... I would love to have a place to take my kids like 2 days a week where they can play for a few hours while I work. We would sell different memberships - some moms might want to come only 2 or 3 times a month and some moms might want to come every day. We would also have pay-as-you-go. It would also be good for moms who want to simply scrapbook in peace and quiet. We would also possibly have a small conference room for moms to use if they want to host any sort of meeting. I often go to local mom-entrepreneur meetings at local coffee shops and stuff, so I know there is a need for small conference rooms.

Again, at this point it's only a thought in our head. We just thought of it yesterday when dh and I were taking turns watching the kids (we both wah). We just wish we could go somewhere and have someone watch the kids whenever we have something important we need to get done.

I don't know if the idea would fly or not, but just wanted to get your opinion (please feel free to be honest). It's not like we're going to jump right on this, but we just wanted to see if other moms (dads) would like this too or if it's just us.

We have several indoor play places for kids that the local moms swarm to, so this would have that appeal, but would also give moms a place to get other stuff done while the kids play.

I guess I just worry that it might be too much like the local coffee shop that has the childcare. I figure the difference though is that we would have good workspace areas (vs tiny little coffee cafe tables). Plus we'd have the office equipment and business networking opportunities etc. We could also have monthly events - speakers to speak about different wah opportunities, wah marketing idea seminars etc... We could also have activities for the kids - events and such.

Any thoughts? The local coffee shop/play area charges $5 per child for 90 min. and $4.50 per child for each hour after. But we have indoor play areas in the mall that are always packed and they charge like $9/hr.

GeminA1 · March 2010

That definitely sounds like something I would look into!

Since you do have the coffee shop w/ a somewhat similar idea, I would definitely try to get an idea of WAHM in your area that would be interested. Not sure how you would do that....perhaps a website and get the word out to try to get a poll of how many would be interested??

Stacyc625 · March 2010

Wouldn't be something I would use - but i wish you all the best if you follow through with your idea.

The reason why I decided to WAH- is because I would be in my home and able to manage other activities, errands, chores etc. So going to a different place to use a laptop/fax/phone etc really cuts down on my options to multi-task. Sure the added bonus is someone to watch my child- but honestly that could be accomplished by a MDO program (which i don't buy into either- me personally)

What might be more interesting/accepting for me is maybe doing a 'WAHM's time bank' where childcare could be swapped for time banked- meaning when you watch another child (to help another WAHM out while she works) you accrue childcare credit- doesn't have to be from the same mom. And you 'bank' childcare hours. So for every hour i watch Suzy's child- I accrue an hour of time- for someone to watch my child. And the time bank hours are kept, logged and banked. Make sense? ~~~~ Personally by doing it this way- organizing it would be much more efficient, no overhead, no costs, and the moms get to work at home an hour (or two or three) from home in peace and trading off sitting services to accrue more peaceful hours of WAH.

I do this now with another WAHM tax accountant who lives close by- she watches Gisele for a couple of hours a week and I swap sitting services for her son.

I am involved in a number of 'time banks' - where I trade my services for services I need done. I trade acounting/bookkeeping/tax service (and a few others like sewing and DH does IT services)--- for carpentry- carpet installation, house cleaning (I do taxes for a woman's housekeeping service and she cleans my house for free)--- so its like a pay it forward but get in return. Without paying money. Barter system extraordinaire.

Totally just offering another thought- cheaper and no overhead and much simpler.

2dogmom · March 2010

I think it sounds like an amazing idea! I work p/t from home in software development, which requires quite a bit of focus (for me anyway). Usually I can get my work done during naps or in the evenings when my dh is home. I love the ability to work at home and would choose that over anything/anywhere. BUT...there have been many times where I'm up against a tight deadline and there aren't enough nap hours in a day where I would absolutely use a service like the one you are considering. I personally wouldn't use the career enhancing aspect b/c I am working for the extra money more than to advance my career...but that's just me. All in all I think it's a wonderful idea. And in this economy with SAHMs trying to make some bucks to make SAH possible, companies allowing employees to work from home to save office costs..etc I think it's one of the few ideas that would stand a chance in this market. GL!

hs & js baby #1 · March 2010

Sounds like a great idea if there's enough demand for it. Just a thought (and forgive me if someone already wrote this - I admit I didn't read through all the other posts

- it might be helpful to have a few small rooms or at least one room that's designated as a quiet area. I do a lot of phone calls to clients and have to put DS in his PNP while I step out for a sec or save all my calls for when he's asleep. For me, a place where I could make calls if I had to without a lot of background noise would be great!

tabi_ja · March 2010

I agree entirely with Stacy. I would be more likely to use her system than the office you describe.

jinnymb · March 2010

yeah that would be great for myself!! I do freelance work so i just need a few hours a week of time to focus. Currently I do it when DH gets home but it cuts into our family time.

I didn't realize how hard it would be to do some work with DS around even when he's napping.

You could also set up work buddies, like the other ladies said where you have women team up and on certain days watch each other's kids for free while the other one does work and vice versa.

I have thought about proposing that to some of my mom's group friends, or even if a mom just wants to go grocery shopping alone.

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If you WAH, please come in...

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