Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

Hi Guys,

I`m still in the developing stage of this business idea.  It`s a delivery service for stay at home moms.  It`s quite hard for moms with little kids to do grocery shoppings or even just go somewhere.  Between the diaper bag, purse, the kids, it`s just not very convenient.  I`m focusing on the heavyly used/necessity items only, for example diapers, wipes, milk, eggs..etc.  If you have little ones at home, you know, how fast those little monsters can go through milk, diapers...etc.

So, my idea is to set up a price structure.  (Maybe once a week for this dollar amount, or twice a week for that dollar amount.).  As far as the orders from customers, they can email, phone or IM.  I`ll pay for their order upfront, and charge to their paypal account....(I`m not too sure what`s the best way to charge here)

So, this is what I have so far.  Please jump in for any ideas or suggestions.  Thank you so much!

I will try to play the devil advocate here, but in a (hopefully) constructive and meaningfull way :

- We`ve a toddler and my wife ask me to purchase all the baby stuff over the week end or after work (we tend to buy a little stock that last for a month because I hate doing groceries)

Now let`s assume my wife was a single mum, there are about 4 stores like Carrefour (basically it`s Wall Mart in France), where you could shop online and get everything delivered at home.

If you`ve no companies which offer this service you might have a winner, are you sure that you`re in an area where there are a lot of little monsters that would requires your service.

Why don`t you extend your service to older people or disabled people who cannot easily go out do their own shopping ?

Good continuation & good luck to you

Exactly.  Tarek.  I`m planning to extend this service to older/disabled people if this works out good.  The major of people around here have little guys.  There is no store in 35 miles radius doing any delivery service.  Well, not a lot of old people as well, actually.

I`m not too sure about the process though.  Let`s say the customer needs 2 cartons of milk and a pack of diaper.  Should I pay for it first?  Or charge the customer for the cost first?  If I pay for it first, that would increase my overhead.  Hmmm, what do you guys think?

Personally, I would advise your to use online payment trough a web site, cash flow is king in business, I would start safely by implementing the following equation :

No Payments = No Shipments

Once you see how the business is going, with regular customer you can maybe start to be more flexible as far as payments is concerned

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Hi Rhung

What you are talking about basically is what I offer in my concierge business. I started with the elderly and built on from there.  If you are interested in learning about this business feel free to email me

concierge lady

Yes, concierge lady.  In a nutshell, it`s very similar to personal assistant, but I`m not planning to charge big bucks for it.  It`s more for the convenience.  Of course, that`s just the starting point, like you started with the elderly and went from there.

I would like to pick your brain.  Any suggestions for starters in this field?

Well Rhung - this is what I would do:

I would start with the basics and see what people want and need. Start out with general services so you only need to purchase general liability insurance. The more specialized you get (like travel planning, event planning, transport, pet walking/sitting), etc means you need separate insurance policies. Dont forget to get a good accountant, legal service and someone to help with your graphics for a website, logo, etc. Its all well and good that you dont want to charge big bucks but I would make sure that all my costs are covered like: insurances, overhead, gas & tolls, maintenance, business equipment (digital, computer, fax machine/scanner, calculator),  books, client files, business apparel, office supplies, legal  concierge forms, online classes/concierge schools, professional fees (legal, accounting); networking & professional/ association fees for starters.  Make a list of all of your expenses either using word or a software program (Quicken is good) just so you are not doing errands and creating a loss for yourself.  Hope this helps a little