Personal concierge service getting off the ground in SBC
When Greg Dolan wanted to plan a snow trip for his employees and
their families, he knew he didn’t have the time to handle the
arrangements. The owner of Shamrock Funding and a busy father of
seven, he turned to
”
Maid To Shop,
”
a budding personal concierge service in Hollister.
Personal concierge service getting off the ground in SBC
When Greg Dolan wanted to plan a snow trip for his employees and their families, he knew he didn’t have the time to handle the arrangements. The owner of Shamrock Funding and a busy father of seven, he turned to “Maid To Shop,” a budding personal concierge service in Hollister.
Donna Silva and April Greig, co-owners of the new company, launched their services in December and are still getting off the ground. The duo offers to do those tasks that busy professionals or parents have trouble getting to at the end of the day.
Both Hollister natives, Silva has a background working in customer service and real estate, while Greig studied fashion in Southern California.
“The initial idea was to be personal shoppers – get the clothes, [clients] try them on and we would return what they didn’t want,” Greig said. “That’s how the first initial idea came about.”
Their first client didn’t come to them for help with shopping – but for help planning a company trip.
“For the price and the headache, it was worth it,” Dolan said. “We wanted to accommodate everyone in the office and their kids. Silva had everything, down to the size of the beds, what sheets to bring and the nearest shops.”
He and his staff couldn’t have planned it better, he said, and using Silva as their trip planner left them to focus on other things at work or home.
“What got me, too, was the whole new idea of it,” Dolan said. “It just blew me away that it is so simple and yet so original and no one had come up with it before.”
The idea of a personal assistant is nothing new – celebrities and company executives have them all the time – but the concept of “Maid To Shop” is more of a personal assistant for the average Joe.
“Being a mom, there are times I forgot to give the kids lunch and it would have been great to have someone who could have delivered it for me,” Silva said. “There’s just not enough time in the day.”
Silva and Greig, who run all the errands themselves, will do the grocery shopping, wash the car or even wrap presents. Basic errands such as picking up dry cleaning start at $25. Other more time-consuming tasks – such as waiting at home for the four-hour window often given out by cable, telephone and other repair or installation places – costs $50. More complicated tasks such as party planning have varying fees.
“The prices and services we offer pretty much came from the needs that need to be met around here,” Silva said. “I haven’t really had too many people questioning the pricing.”
In addition to helping others with day-to-day tasks, Silva and Greig wanted to have some flexibility over where and when they work.
“It was important to find something we could do that would keep us in town so we wouldn’t have to commute,” Greig said.
As such a young company, they couldn’t say which service is the most popular, though car washing has been at the top of the list for their first month. Their clientele continues to grow and they hope to increase the people they work with by joining the San Benito Chamber of Commerce in the coming months.
“We sill attend Chamber mixers and other networking events,” Greig said. “We have started going to businesses and giving out brochures – doing a lot of footwork.”
With Valentine’s Day on the way, the women are offering to shop for gifts or hand deliver them for clients.
“In Hollister, there is a need, with all the commuters we have,” Silva said. “Within six months, it will be a necessity for those people who commute.”
For more information, visit www.maidtoshop.com or e-mail do********@ma********.com.
