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Texannie
Member
07-16-2001
| Saturday, March 26, 2005 - 4:30 pm
I have been toying with starting a business where I run errands....flier might read "Got a To Do list a mile long, not enough hours in the day to finish it? Have kids needing to be at different places at the same time? Have presents that need to be mailed and don't have the time to stand in line at the post office? Let me help you. I will run your errands for you." what do you think? would you pay someone to do that? would any of your co workers? how much would you pay?? any input at all would be appreciated.
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Goddessatlaw
Member
07-19-2002
| Saturday, March 26, 2005 - 4:32 pm
Please move to Indianapolis. Please?
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Karuuna
Member
08-31-2000
| Saturday, March 26, 2005 - 4:38 pm
Tex, there are a couple of companies in and around our area that do this type of work. One is called "Girl on the Go", another is called "At Your Service". Here's one from a neighboring town. They have a website that might help you with some ideas: http://www.errand-service.com/ Good luck! ETA: just found this website with instructions on how to set up an errand service. Hope it helps! http://www.moneymom.com/errand_service.htm
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Landi
Member
07-29-2002
| Saturday, March 26, 2005 - 4:47 pm
please move to napa! i need someone to go to dmv, and pick up the daughter from swim practice, do some grocery shopping, etc. etc.
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Tess
Member
04-13-2001
| Saturday, March 26, 2005 - 4:54 pm
Good luck, Annie. Sounds like a great idea. Btw--Minnesota is very nice and we could use someone like you. 
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Hippyt
Member
06-15-2001
| Saturday, March 26, 2005 - 4:56 pm
I think around here that could be successful. I have no idea how much to charge. With the price of gas, you'd have to figure that in.
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Mocha
Member
08-12-2001
| Saturday, March 26, 2005 - 4:58 pm
Interesting idea Texannie. But I wouldn't pay for it as I wouldn't be able to afford it and neither would anyone in my working circle. Sorry.
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Colordeagua
Member
10-25-2003
| Saturday, March 26, 2005 - 5:17 pm
A little bit of a red flag for me -- transporting children = possible accidents, therefore insurance. If I felt I could afford it, there are times when I'd love to have someone do some errands, etc. for me. Good idea!
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Texannie
Member
07-16-2001
| Saturday, March 26, 2005 - 5:30 pm
Color, I thought of that too. Thanks ya'll for the encouragement. Catering/organzing parties would be my first love, but i really like the idea of this errand service too. Thanks Karuna for the link...That website in incredible!!!!! pricing it has been one of my questions. Mocha, I know what you mean. I would want to price it where someone thought "hey that really is a deal" while being worth my time to do it.
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Maris
Member
03-28-2002
| Saturday, March 26, 2005 - 5:32 pm
On paper it is a great idea but in all honesty as a working mom when I had a small child I would never contemplate calling a total stranger to pick up my kid. I just would never call a service. I would pay between $10 and $15 an hour for someone to run errands for me.
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Mocha
Member
08-12-2001
| Saturday, March 26, 2005 - 5:35 pm
Now if you could walk the dogs and do laundry then I might be able to squeeze a few bucks outa the budget.
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Maris
Member
03-28-2002
| Saturday, March 26, 2005 - 5:36 pm
Yep, take care of my dog or my cat if I am out of town, that is fifty bucks a day.
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Texannie
Member
07-16-2001
| Saturday, March 26, 2005 - 5:38 pm
Thanks Maris. I was thinking more about my friends and neighbors with the two kids/diff places situation, but ya'll are absolutely right, not sure I would hire a stranger to haul my kids around either! I have seen things call "Mom Taxi's" where they do that though. Bet the insurance is more than I could afford.
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Texannie
Member
07-16-2001
| Saturday, March 26, 2005 - 5:39 pm
LOL!
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Maris
Member
03-28-2002
| Saturday, March 26, 2005 - 5:53 pm
Texannie, I am serious, if you have time in the day people will pay for their dogs to be walked. I know in my neighborhood it is ten bucks a walk, that is ten minutes of your time.
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Hippyt
Member
06-15-2001
| Saturday, March 26, 2005 - 6:21 pm
Dang,Maris I had always wondered what the NYC dog walkers make. That's some pretty good money for something I like doing. I don't know how that would go over around here though,most people have backyards for their dogs.
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Wargod
Moderator
07-16-2001
| Saturday, March 26, 2005 - 6:30 pm
Some people may love the idea of paying you to drive their kids around, Annie! Especially if they're friends or neighbors of yours, people who know and trust you. There is a day care across the street from my kids school. For the past couple years, I've watched a ton of little kids out in the yard playing, watch parents come pick up their little ones then head across the street to pick up their older kids. Recently I've noticed something new. One of the women pulls up everyday about 2:45 in a minivan and gets out with several older kids, obviously none of them hers. So finally one day I got to talking to her about the day care and how great it must be for parents who have babies and school age children, able to pick them all up from pretty much the same place. She got to telling me about her new service. What's she's started to offer is for those who have older kids (elementary age who don't go to our school and jr high kids mostly) is that she will go and pick them up for their parents for a price. Now these kids all have younger siblings in the day care, but I'm thinking how great it must be not having to make several stops to collect all your kids, lol! She did say she had to up her auto insurance and that she's had to hire another day care worker so they have the mandatory amount of adults to kids ratio, but that once she broached the idea to her clients the response was so overwhelmingly positive that she went ahead with it. Again though, these are families she has worked with for awhile, they obviously trust her to care for their children. You might be able to sell the idea to people you know, maybe not so much to perfect strangers. Heck, if someone I knew and trusted was doing something like that, there are quite a few times I'd pay to have them take my kids to practice, lol!
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Texannie
Member
07-16-2001
| Saturday, March 26, 2005 - 7:02 pm
WOW, Maris, that is a great salary! I am sort of with Hip on this in that most people here have yards, but I am sure there are those working folks that need their dogs walked. War, that's kind of what I have been thinking too.
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Tishala
Member
08-01-2000
| Sunday, March 27, 2005 - 12:33 am
Annie, in LA they get 20-25 bucks per walk. It's a huge industry here. If you have a second dog, that costs about $15. It's amazing. Personally, I can't imagine being rich enough that I'd pay somebody else $25 to pick up my dogs poop for me. 
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Texannie
Member
07-16-2001
| Sunday, March 27, 2005 - 2:55 am
WOW! maybe I need to rethink the errand running and look into dog walking.
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Resortgirl
Member
09-23-2000
| Sunday, March 27, 2005 - 6:09 am
Annie, I think it's a wonderful idea!! I've toyed with a similar idea in the past. I agree that most people probably wouldn't want a complete stranger picking up their children, and then there is the liability concerning that. But drycleaning, legal papers, groceries, ect. might be the ticket! And then after you have established clients that know and trust you you may be able to incorporate the child pickup. I'm not sure what your area chamber offers, but here a business can send out flyers in the monthly newsletter we produce for a small fee of $50. It goes out to all Chamber members (about 400 here) and is a great way to reach the people you would probably want to target. Busy busy business owners. IF they don't have a newsletter they probably have a database of all their members and could print out mailing labels so you could do a direct mailing. We charge $10 for that service. Good luck on your new venture, and let us know how you're progressing!
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Texannie
Member
07-16-2001
| Sunday, March 27, 2005 - 7:33 am
Thanks for the idea, RG!
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Pcakes2
Member
08-29-2001
| Sunday, March 27, 2005 - 7:48 am
I have a home business and around the holidays it gets extremely busy. I have hired people to do deliveries for me. I pay them $10 an hour plus 35 cents per mile.
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Colordeagua
Member
10-25-2003
| Sunday, March 27, 2005 - 8:31 am
Another similar idea / service I'd certainly be interested in. In my younger years, I moved a few times locally from apartment to apartment. Never collected comparatively many possessions. Now I've been in this condo for 20 years. If I ever move -- somebody please pack up my stuff. Short haul movers probably wouldn't do it. And I don't know that I'd trust long haul movers. (Don't have experience with them.) I'd like to have somebody I "know" and trust to pack me up. Pack up everything for me.
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Spygirl
Moderator
04-23-2001
| Sunday, March 27, 2005 - 9:32 am
I know you asked for input from moms, but I have often thought that I'd like to have someone help out with details that I don't have time to do during the week/day...like run to the bank, pick up a few things from the store, take this to this place for that...and on and on. Those things would be worth it to me to pay a few dollars here and there. It would be nice to be familiar and comfortable with a business that I could call upon in times like that. Believe it or not, even with a yard and a doggy door, I'd love it if someone were to come and walk my dogs. When I don't get home until after dark, it doesn't allow time for me to take them. Frankly, they don't care if I take them, they just wanna go 
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