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| Speed is another reason consumers like businesses such as this at-home computer-repair service. Courtesy of Andy Trask |
Mobile businesses bring the store to you
Two-income couples, convenience spur growth in at-home services, from pet care to computer repair.
from the October 1, 2007 edition
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"We used to spend a good chunk of each Saturday morning doing laundry," Mr. Lanier says. Now he and his wife, Amisha, go to brunch or spend time with friends. "To us, paying the premium for the laundry service more than covers our additional free time together. These home services reduce the stress of either buying or servicing things."
Mobile computer repair has also become popular. Andy Trask, "head geek" of Geek Housecalls in Boston, an independent business, says, "It's clear from the customers who come to us that they're not entirely satisfied with the conventional model – pack up your computer, take it to the store, and kiss it goodbye for a few days."
Dana Korey, owner of Away With Clutter, an organizing company in San Diego, hires a mobile shredding firm to shred papers her clients no longer need.
For mobile franchise owners, a van-based business has low start-up costs and overhead. "Even at $3 for a gallon of gas, it still beats $30 or $40 per square foot, plus utilities, in a strip mall," says Tom Scarda, a franchise consultant in Wantagh, N.Y.
Mr. Scarda uses a mobile veterinarian for his dogs. "She comes to my home with a step-in van so well equipped she can perform some very technical operations," he says. Last week he met an optometrist who travels to homes and offices to fit customers for glasses.
Walker describes a typical mobile franchise owner as a man in his 40s or 50s, though some are younger, some older. "They need a lifestyle change and are looking to do something different. They may be part of a corporate downsizing. Or they may just have different goals now."
Sheehey favors business people for her Norwell, Mass.-based firm. They pay a $29,000 franchise fee for one territory and can lease a $65,000 van for $1,200 a month.
This growing industry is not just for baby boomers, says Dick Rennick, president of American Leak Detection in Palm Springs, Calif. "People are getting into mobile franchising in their 50s, 60s, and 70s. Age isn't a barrier the way it once was."
Another enthusiast, Genma Stringer Holmes, a business owner and mother of three in Nashville, Tenn., offers three suggestions for consumers considering a mobile service: Get lots of references. Don't turn over keys until you have established a comfortable relationship. Pay by credit card.
For Urban, the main questions are the same as for any service business: Will the quality be consistent, and will people show up when they say they will?
When the answer is yes, Ms. Holmes calls these services "manna from heaven."
She adds, "From mobile oil changes to the young man who keeps my business trucks clean to the groomer who parks outside and gives my mutts a flea dip, this is the only way for me at this point."
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