AIBU Would You Pay For This?

[lottieproc1]

Hello everyone I'm looking for your opinion I am about to start a business offering a personal shopping service for people within my 8 mile area for supermarkets that don't offer home delivery so Aldi for instance. I plan to charge £10 for a weekly, £15 for a Fortnightly & £20 for a monthly. I would also run errands (post office, Click & collect etc) for £1 each when booked with the shop. I plan to offer discounts, refer a friend get a free delivery, share the cost with a neighbor
I have discussed this with friends & family, some think it's a really good idea but a few have said they think I'm charging too much & wouldn't pay for it.
What are your thoughts?? TIA

@AnUnoriginalUsername

Yeah if I heard one of my elderly relatives was contacted by someone like this I'd definitely think it was dangerous. Either you're going to turn up with cheaper or missing items and over charge, or you're just looking for vulnerable people with alot of money, perfect for burgling. I also think you are majorly over charging. For 20quid you could get a taxi to my asda and back.

Just to clarify I wouldn't be contacting people I would be advertising my services

Royal Mail pick up parcels from your home address to post for a very small fee so not really sure what PO services you could offer? Also Prime is only £7.99 a month and they offer free same day delivery on groceries (plus same and next day delivery for millions of other items).

As PPs have pointed out, I don't see how you would make much money from doing this, either.

@FortunesFave

As others have said, it's a bad business model. For many reasons.

Set yourself up ironing and washing if you can. Charge to collect and iron. There's loads of advice online about this.

I doubt there's much demand for that at the moment because of people working from home.

Have you checked to see how deliveries affects your vehicle insurance? It's crazy expensive.

@FizzyPink

What about setting yourself up as a “friend of the elderly/lonely” with your social care background.

I live too far away from my grandma to see her very much and before she went into a home I know she was lonely and didn’t see many people day to day. I’d 100% have paid for someone to take her out once a week, just to another town to look around the shops or to the cinema or to bingo etc.

How much would you have paid, though? Because the OP would have to go to the cinema, too, so that's 2 x entrance fees, plus petrol, plus about 4 hours of time.

Doing anything that involves money unless they are there making their own purchases I wouldn't touch with a barge pole. So many ways for either side to rip people off. And just like the young, not all old people are nice. So you also have to factor in your personal protection to be able to get out of someone else's home if they pull a knife on you.

I'd be getting my paid mate a carers card so they didn't pay if they didn't already have one. There's lots of places that allow the carer in for free.

@Ponoka7

Research what care agencies there are in your area and see if they've got all bases covered. What some people are suggesting is usually available via them. the agencies I've worked under all offered your service, one woman hired us for an hour a week to take her to her husband's grave. People want accountability and agencies have that. For your set up costs and time, you'll probably make more signing up to an agency for the hours you want.

I worked for an care company who specialised in supporting the elderly when I was studying Social Work and I was disgusted by the service they provided. I did one shadowing shift with them and left the next day then reported them to the Care Commission. I would rather make no money and have only one customer per week than work for another company again. In my experience of a support worker and as a student social worker person centered care does not exist within these companies it is all about the money. I was so disillusioned by my experiences in social care that I left uni 3 months before qualifying because I didn't want to be part of that system. I have spent 10 years studying as a single parent to get to the point after leaving school without any qualifications so it was a very difficult and heart breaking decision to make.

I would pay for this, but only if I could pay you by card. One of the most frustrating things when you have limited mobility (I can’t drive) is services that are extremely helpful but rely on my ability to get to an ATM.

I think this business might be entering the market late: had you started as lockdown hit, you’d have got embedded in people’s routine and that would have stuck post-lockdown.

I have clients in my unrelated business who are "lifestyle assistants" who help cash rich time poor people with their busy lives.
Forget about doing shopping - the money is in taking care of life admin for people who dont want to do this themselves.
I know someone who was hired for several years to help a far away family help their elderly mum in the week - organising her diary, arranging social outings, admin etc. Another is currently organising an international house move for a family.
The going rate is around £20-30 an hour for this type of work - having a background in social work would give you an advantage I would think.
There's a great website [not mine!] which gives loads of info and ideas about this type of work www.vact.co.uk . It's aimed at virtual assistants but the idea is similar.

Agree with all suggestions about helping as a personal assistant or accompanying people shopping. So many elderlies have lost confidence and mobility during the pandemic.
A companion type service for a trip to a garden centre etc. Charge by the hour.
Dbs And previous experience key to advertise. Post offices or chemists etc good places to promote also local carers groups

@GrimDamnFanjo

I have clients in my unrelated business who are "lifestyle assistants" who help cash rich time poor people with their busy lives. Forget about doing shopping - the money is in taking care of life admin for people who dont want to do this themselves. I know someone who was hired for several years to help a far away family help their elderly mum in the week - organising her diary, arranging social outings, admin etc. Another is currently organising an international house move for a family. The going rate is around £20-30 an hour for this type of work - having a background in social work would give you an advantage I would think. There's a great website [not mine!] which gives loads of info and ideas about this type of work www.vact.co.uk . It's aimed at virtual assistants but the idea is similar.

Brilliant thanks so much I will have a look at this

@thesandwich

Agree with all suggestions about helping as a personal assistant or accompanying people shopping. So many elderlies have lost confidence and mobility during the pandemic. A companion type service for a trip to a garden centre etc. Charge by the hour. Dbs And previous experience key to advertise. Post offices or chemists etc good places to promote also local carers groups

Great suggestions thank you so much for taking the time to post

With your qualifications and experience I would be looking for a one-to-one paid position looking after someone. That is often someone with reduced mobility.

Using your car for your business idea would increase its insurance costs. Also, collecting things for people sounds like a great idea but the identity issues (like having to provide proof of identity, or have a letter authorising you) can be a nightmare.

How would you manage the list? Lidl regularly has products not in stock, would you substitute? how would you know which item they want, which ham? there are about 20 different hams. They change the products on offer all the time so you don't always know what they will have that week.

I know of people who did shopping in the pandemic, for elderly, who got told off for buying the wrong yogurt or for not buying something else when item they wanted was not available. It would be a logistical nightmare.

With your qualifications and experience

The OP says they quit their course three months before qualifying because they didn’t want to be part of the system. So potentially no qualifications.

I know it’s a bit of a tangent, but this seems like quite an odd decision to me. Surely you’d do the last few months so at least prospective employers - whether part of the system or not, would know you to be capable of education to a certain standard. I would tend to assume this to be more about fear of failure (real or imagined).

Have a look at the Age UK Help in the Home service if it runs in your area. I have been doing this for nearly 7 years (part-time) and absolutely love it, though it is very hard emotionally when clients die or go into nursing homes. Also the pay and terms are crap.

I have DBS and business car insurance so I can take my elderly clients in my car. I can do cleaning, bed changing, laundry, ironing make them tea/coffee or a light lunch, tidying/sorting (with them), shopping (they give me money and list, or I take them to the shop), taking to short appointments (eg optician, hearing aid, check-up or scan), and most of all, cheerful companionship and chatting! In addition to this I sometimes take letters to post or get them household or clothing items they need from shops I'm going to anyway. I don't charge extra for doing this kind of thing (but they reimburse me for the items of course).

I take pride in giving the best service I can and giving value for money. I know that not all home helpers do. It's up to you. Through my job I have also gained some private clients (I charge less than agencies but more than I earn from Age UK) and also some lovely friends. I have worked for some people for over five years.

I think that what I do is the sort of thing you are really aiming for and would enjoy. For some of my clients, who don't have carers or family, I have been the only person they see all week.

How would people order? Do you have all the supermarkets' goods on a website with prices? Can you accept internet payment? Paypal? Will you have drivers? There is a lot involved.

A friend of mine offers a "PA" service for elderly clients. She visits for about 2 hours, will run errands, do shopping, sit and have a cup of tea and a chat, and if there's time, a bit of light cleaning. She also checks that there is food in the fridge and nothing going mouldy and will alert family if all isn't well.
She turns away a lot of people as she is fully booked up. Often bookings are made - and paid for - by concerned relatives who can maybe only visit at weekends and want reassurance that their loved one has been visited and looked after between visits.

@SeaShoreGalore

With your qualifications and experience

The OP says they quit their course three months before qualifying because they didn’t want to be part of the system. So potentially no qualifications.

I know it’s a bit of a tangent, but this seems like quite an odd decision to me. Surely you’d do the last few months so at least prospective employers - whether part of the system or not, would know you to be capable of education to a certain standard. I would tend to assume this to be more about fear of failure (real or imagined).

I'm in Scotland so I have a BA in Social Sciences rather than a BA (Hons) in Social work I wanted to leave in the 2nd year but continued to finish year 3 which is where when I got my degree level certificate (so that I hadn't wasted my time completely) then thought I was might as well carry on to the end but by the time I left I was so unhappy that it was having such an effect on every part of my life. I decided life was too short stupid or not it was the right decision at the time and something I have no regrets about. I also have HNC in Social Care so I do have the qualifications

And thanks to some of the suggestions given to you, I think I may try to expand my private client base and go completely private. Only downside is of course I won't be able to offer holiday cover which Age UK do. Never thought of advertising in the local chemist!

Trips to charity shops are also popular! I even have a folding wheelchair now which I bought cheaply second hand and which I use for my lovely lady who's 97 but very keen to go charity shopping!

@LimeJellyforBrains

And thanks to some of the suggestions given to you, I think I may try to expand my private client base and go completely private. Only downside is of course I won't be able to offer holiday cover which Age UK do. Never thought of advertising in the local chemist!

Trips to charity shops are also popular! I even have a folding wheelchair now which I bought cheaply second hand and which I use for my lovely lady who's 97 but very keen to go charity shopping!

I know me neither I have debated over the last few days whether to post or not I am so glad I did! Some fantastic ideas!

I'd only be likely to use it on an ad-hoc basis - rather than committing to weekly, fortnightly etc.

Alternative idea - offer a sort of personal PA service and charge an hourly fee. I'm paying my friend's 15 yr old £10/ph to do errands for us and we're easily able to use 10 hrs a week, it wouldn't take many busy families where both work to need something like this. She's got keys cut, found and arranged tradesmen to come around, taken bikes to be serviced, dry cleaning, clothes for alterations, sorting our cupboards, posting things etc etc

@ChampagneLassie

Alternative idea - offer a sort of personal PA service and charge an hourly fee. I'm paying my friend's 15 yr old £10/ph to do errands for us and we're easily able to use 10 hrs a week, it wouldn't take many busy families where both work to need something like this. She's got keys cut, found and arranged tradesmen to come around, taken bikes to be serviced, dry cleaning, clothes for alterations, sorting our cupboards, posting things etc etc

I might actually set up two different companies based on the amazing suggestions (thanks everyone I'm very grateful) I've had one aimed at the social care/befriending aspect and the other aimed at the time poor busy people like yourself as a PA service!