new ironing service, but i'm deaf

danielle1977

sounds good to me too-good luck with it

alona1

Yeah seems good to me and I think most people would rather text these days anyway. Well the people who dont have time to do their ironing anyway. Good luck with it!

Hermia

aron80 wrote: »

thanks for your replies everyone. just a little background- i lost my hearing when i was 4 years old, but by then i could obviously speak so i can speak perfectly now, and wear an hearing aid but have to lipread, so face to face communication isn't too much of a problem.

what i think i will do is put my email address, and a phone number asking people to leave their name, address and when they want the ironing collecting. then if i need to contact them i'll ask my partner to phone them back. do you think this will be ok?

I think that sounds fine. I think you should mention your deafness as a footnote on any flyers etc. I think people might be suspicious if you won't talk to them, but won't tell them why! Most of the people I know who employ ironing services are people who work long hours and would actually find it more convenient to email someone.

aron80

thanks for replying. It would be a good idea to mention my deafness on the flyers I suppose, but i wouldn't feel comfortable about it because i don't like people treating me differently. But yes, it does make sense doing that.

joolsybools

As others have said, I think you should put an email address and moby no with a little note along the lines of 'please text me as I'm deaf' next to the phone no. I think it could be a good selling point actually, if I got 2 cards through the door offering the same service and one said that then I would choose you (hope that's taken in the spirit it is intended x)

NGlady

Have you got a grown up child a husband perhaps? Could they deal with the telephone side of your business for you?

maryjane01

So many busy people prefer email and text. As long as the ironing is up to scratch I don't see any problem with your business idea.

I sail with disabled people, all sorts of disabilities but not many deaf people unfortunately. People love to hear me talk about it, it goes down really well in job interviews when there is a question about diversity (I am terrible in job interviews, hence why I have been to a few, but part of my feedback is I always answer the diversity question really well, I wish I could do just as well in the rest of the interview :rotfl:) Don't underestimate how interesting some people can find it.

If you are genuinely good at ironing I would expect more word of mouth referals than a regular ironer. People may talk about 'their deaf ironing person' in conversation for some reason when they would not normally talk about their otherwise proficient ironing person at all, and the people they speak to may coincidentally want some ironing done.

Mazzy_2

Just wanted to say hello as I'm partially deaf too and fully understand the 'phone problems that we have. I have a minicom which I use with the RNID relay service, but with that minicom I have to type in, and then the operator tells the caller what I've said, but as she's reading as I'm typing it's quite stilted and strange to those who aren't used to it. Like you I have normal speech, as I had more hearing as a child, so I really want one of the new 'phone models which you can buy from the RNID, where you are using the Typetalk Relay service but you can actually talk to the customer yourself, then the relay operator just had to type in what the other person is saying, and it comes up on a screen on the 'phone so you can read it, which is great. Problem is these new 'phones cos over £200, so I haven't managed to get one myself yet, but just thought I'd mention it in case you had any starting money for setting up, as I think being able to speak to your customers would help a lot. Good Luck and I hope it works well for you!

aron80

joolsybools - thanks! can't quite see why you would want to choose me, but thanks anyway!

i do have a partner but he works so it's not really practical, and i don't want to have to rely on someone else.

everone thanks for your replies, i feel more confident about this now!

Geebee

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