Requesting Feedback on an Idea :-)

My only advise is to be careful starting any thing like that right now until the economy picks up... most people are getting rid of their services like that because of costs... But good luck and I hope it goes well for you!
do lots of research. :o)
A. j

I have heard of people starting this type of thing before. Their biggest issue seems to be that although just about every mom says they need help, most or us can rarely afford to pay what you would need to make to be able to run a business. You'd probably be looking at a minumum of $15 hr, more realistically over $20 and more to cover errands. As much as I could really use some help, I couldn't pay that much for it. One thing that could be of use that you didn't mention would be night time help. It would be awesome, especially to moms of newborns to have someone come over at night and not only handle a night feeding or two, but also do some light cleaning. For that, I would have paid well!

It might work, but only if people are still willing to spend money with our failing economy. I'd be careful not to SAY you are limiting who you hire, that may be illegal ....discrimination. People like me (I'm not a teacher, I work for a doctor)who work part-time looking for part-time jobs for supplemental income will be discriminated against. But I commend you for trying and wish you all the luck in your new venture.

I think it's great that you are trying to start a business and I hope you follow through--it's the only way to success! My first thoughts are that you should get some interest feedback first---put the word out to neighbors, friends, family, etc. try to put some flyers out at the elementary schools, churches, etc. to see if there is any interest. You could do something simple and plan on doing it yourself until you see how much business you would get. Then you could decide if you needed more help.

I wouldn't worry about discriminating since that doesn't seem to be your intention--when you go to advertise for help, I would just let whoever wanted to apply, then determine for yourself who would be the best fit.

I guess the biggest factor would be your service price. Would you charge per service, different for different services, per hour, does it include mileage and travel time?

I know some of the SAHM's were mentioning paying for these services, but I imagine your biggest group of clients would be working moms. Now that all of my kiddos will be in school (actually my youngest starts in August--aaahhh!!! I'm not ready!!!) I am going back to work and can't imagine how I'm going to get everything done!

It sounds like a great idea....hey, someone started a handyman or house husband company that I heard of and that seemed like it took off. Once you have the details worked out, you should let us know how it went. Good Luck!

Sounds like a fabulous idea to me! In what area do you live?

What a terrific idea! I am not a business person but would be interested in the 'running errands' part...I'm not a good house cleaner and I babysit a little one 5 days/week.

I hope you can get this off the ground and running!

I think it's a great idea but you might have a million applicants! I would love to have an opportunity like that but what would you do with your own kids while working? Take them with you?

A.,
Hi I am a stay at home mom and well before I became a mom and a housewife. My mother and I started our own cleaning service but it was move in move out make readies for apartments and some rental homes. It was going good but our mistake was the apartments paid in a rears 60 to 90 days late and we started on a shoestring with two nickels rubbed together but we were getting big so I am sure it will go over really well but remember don't pay salary only hourly we added on and we let one of our friends work for us but it got bad because we felt like she was family so we literally paid salary instead of hourly and we really werent in the position to do so. Good luck and hope it works out for you. My name is S. I have a six year old daughter married to my bestfriend and soul mate and have a 19 year old step son which i consider mine. ANywayz it would work. We did the cleaning business for four years. take care S.

Great idea, but what would you do in the summer? Many SAHM's can not work in the summer when the kiddos are home. I think they could still babysit and run errands but not sure about housecleaning..

I love the idea! I am looking for work but I need to bring my son along. not sure if you would allow this but I'm very qualified and reliable

One thing I've found is moms who need help with day to day things like folding laundry and washing dishes. Maybe you can devise a service that instead of a whole house clean every two weeks comes every few days for just an hour to catch up and help out with little things. Because of drive times and gas prices you may have to make it neighborhood based.
Some other moms asked about kids. Maybe you can work that in. My kids are here when my cleaner comes and it wouldn't be a problem to have more. They could entertain each other and try to stay out of the way.

Your business might take off. However, if you look about at who is doing the household cleaning/babysitting in your community, it is primarily immigrants that are being paid cash at a lower pay scale. Only an observing thought. Good luck.

I think that is an excellent idea.

If you decide to pursue it, I highly recommend putting together a business plan and then talking to one of the business advisors at SCORE - www.score.org. It's free and it could help you think through everything more thoroughly before you invest a lot of money, time and energy in the idea. I took one of their one day classes (I think it was $45 and came with lots of materials). It was very useful.

Good luck!!