Advice needed on business idea...

niftythrifty33

I wondered whether any of you have heard of a company that offers home services such as; cleaning; ironing; plumbing; decorating; electrical; admin; finding holidays; gardening etc etc. anything to do with home maintenance but also domestic and admin.

The company would source all the trades in and the client wouldn't need to organise/deal with tradespeople. The client states what they need, the company organises it. Basically a one-stop-shop.

I love to hear any thoughts, ideas, suggestions on this as I haven't found anything through searching online.

Thanks in advance.
(Please be contructive)

I've put this on two boards as I can't work out how to delete the other one on 'employment' board sorry

asajj

I think most I heard will focus on one or two of these. Like heating and plumbing or cleaning etc. All of them I think a bit difficult to manage at the start.

Also there was a thread here about home ironing service - have you seen it? I'll post if I find. May be just would give an idea.

Flyonthewall

There's a site for finding trusted tradesmen, which would cover a few in that list.

I often see local companies advertising on Facebook and people recommending local companies.

So it would probably take a fair bit of marketing and you'd have to prove you were finding trusted companies/people. Also, if the people aren't dealing direct with the people hired what happens if something goes wrong? You'd get the blame and seeing as you're not part of the company doing the work you may find it hard to resolve a problem.

How are you planning on making money from it? Are you charging the person wanting the job or charging the companies for getting them work?

Kayalana99

Companies do better focusing on certain areas, if you are going to do something along these lines finding someone a plumber and a holiday are two totally different things...perhaps you'd be better focusing on being a middle man so basically you bring the customers and the suppliers pay you for the lead...I can't see someone coming to you for holidays to then get sent to a travel agent though (although being a travel agent is a good money maker in itself)

The thing is, these trade people sites etc...scream extra money to me. I would rather google local plumbers then call a middle man most people do realise that the companies you will have on your books are going to me more expensive then the ones out the yellow pages (and I got quoted £300 on one of those trade sides compared to £200 for same job from someone I found myself)

There must be a market but I think it is based in offering reliable services..not just you giving a number of some random plumbers you found but people that have been in business 10+ years and know what they are doing.

Personally, I wouldn't use a middle man, but perhaps more of a market for people who are financially better off and just want a good job doing rather then worrying about expense...

MoneyMission2015

Purely speaking of my own personal opinion, I wouldn't hire something like this.


If I want a painter I would get recommendations from friends & family, then deal with the person myself. Having somebody do that for me doesn't mean I don't have to deal with anybody, I'd still have to tell 'you' what I'm looking for & would still have to answer any questions, raise any concerns I have etc. It would just mean I'm dealing with a middle man, rather than direct. Same with the other tradespeople.


Holidays - what you're describing is effectively a travel agent, most of the time I just research & book myself through the internet & over the phone directly with the hotels/airlines etc.


Cleaning/ironing services - these are pretty easy to come across so I wouldn't want to pay somebody a fee just to find me these services, or worse pay a higher hourly rate so that you're getting your commission/cut.


I think in most of these situations it wouldn't be worth it because you need to make your money, so either the customer has to pay more (which they won't want to do) or the companies would have to pay you a commission, but in turn they would need to make a profit so would probably quote more for the work in the first place.


Sorry to be so negative.


Kayalana's idea of you bringing the customers to the suppliers is a good idea, but you'd have to work out how you would go about finding the customers in the first place.


What you describe is like a household management or project management type role, but blurs the lines a lot because of the different areas you suggest covering. If somebody was refurbing a whole house & needed all the different trades then a project manager might be exactly what they are looking for, but in return for your fee they would want to see how it will save them money as opposed to them finding the tradespeople themselves. If somebody just needed a room painted I doubt they'd go to a third party just to find a painter.

niftythrifty33

Thankyou all for such great, constructive replies. It all makes a lot of sense. I was really thinking of a home management service but like you all said, each client would still need to deal with the decorator etc to clear up any issues so what would be the point in me?

Good job it was just a thought and not something I'd invested anything into. This is why I love this website so much.

Thanks again all

Knackeredoldbat

There are concierge services, mainly for money rich time poor people. Life management I think. Sounds like the sort of thing you're talking about?

[Deleted User]

It's great that you're coming up with ideas, niftythrifty. Although this one doesn't look too viable I hope you'll keep on trying to discover something that will be a really successful venture for you.

Good Luck, and please keep us posted:beer:

mickaveli2001

Create a layout. Give it a name, get some logo's made up to give it branding, then look into trademarking.


I spent some time in the past, a lot of time actually in learning HTML / PHP / Flash and developing / paying for a website, hosting, logo's and all of that. I didn't get all of my work trademarked. So the domain name (with built in web hosting) logo costs, fliers, posters, literature and all of that was pretty much rendered useless when someone else came in and got it trademarked. I lost approximately £700 in costs, as well as time, having to re-design, re-think, re-do.


My advice would be to have an idea and name first and foremost, and check companies house to see if there are any others out there with the same / similar names. If not, good. Save a couple of hundred pound to set aside to be able to submit an application before/during/after any work has been done

dexterwolf

I had thought of a similar idea a few years ago. But when looking into it I found out that a lot of people wanted quotes so they were not ripped off. As one poster mentioned for the rich it would be a good idea but if I was loaded I would just contact the first person I found or recommendation from a friend. Good luck and keep us posted as I will be interested to see how it goes for you.