What do people over 60 need?

Food and groceries delivery… including milk.

“Facebook: Easy as 1,2,3” 20 dollars each person, 2 hour class. Class might be less than 2 hours, but then you can help them set up their profile, etc.

Exercise and good food that isn’t fattening.
Cleaning up after Fido is a no-brainer…
Get everyone who has a cat to get one of those automatic cat boxes and service them once per week…
Easy !

Sending someone to pay bills, get meds, walk dogs, run errands.

Clean out the gutters. My wife won’t let me up on the ladders anymore.

Clean up cat vomit.

Wash outside windows.

1. Hot meals delivery service
2. Window cleaning.
3. Laundry pick-up and delivery
4. Reliable handyman service for odd jobs; gardening, carpentry, electrical etc.
5. Social events club; to organise concerts. speakers, classes, bus trips, meals out etc.

1) Setting up their TV channels when they get a new TV or remote or when the cable company shuffles things around.
2) Classes about potential scams that target the elderly. .
3) changing the batteries in car remotes, watches,

Whenever I visited my parents I’d spend a full day fiddling with their electronics: TVs, internet, and car. (I was happy to do it.)

I agree with the electronics – particularly TVs and remotes. Helping with online banking and e-bills. Driving to doctors’ appointments. Organizing files. Booking travel online.

I assume most of the people in your community are fairly functional but these things can be baffling.

Some great ideas. Thanks!

Yes, they are very functional, but they are the era just before computers, even though most of them do use computers to some extent now (some of them are way ahead of me in computer savvy and electronics).

The billing is a great idea that I hadn’t thought of. Especially when a spouse dies who did all the bill paying for the household.

TV and electronics. Good idea.

Do you think $20 an hour? Or, maybe first hour more expensive than subsequent since we have to drive out to the house?

@JLeslie I was thinking $20 – $25 an hour. I wouldn’t make the first hour higher. And yes to the bill paying. I was always on top of where we were financially but my Ex did the actual bill paying so there was a learning curve. Also, I know that is a skill set of yours.

Now, I need a business name for it, and see if my husband likes the idea. I would need him to help me with some of the tasks mentioned here.

Any business name ideas?

One of the biggest frustrations for me is changing a burned out light bulb. I can’t climb ladders without losing my balance & especially IF I have to look up & reach out at the same time. Fortunately for me, I have a wonderful neighbor who will send her husband over to do some of those little things that I just can’t do for myself. I prefer to do as much for myself as I can still do & I try to not bother my neighbor’s hubby until I am sure that I can’t do it for myself!!!

I have seen several seniors in this apartment complex for seniors STILL ironing there clothes?
They don’t realize that today’s fabrics do not require ironing?
So offering a laundry service would work out for them.
Also some use walkers and can’t get around much so a Grocery pick up service would work.
One lady took a Pedicure course and now offers that service in the building and charges below the $60 range that a professional would in a salon.
Hair salon on site would work too.
Transport service to next Town for shopping at the Mall.
Mail pick up service.
I used to assist in washing there apartment floors while another here does there stove ovens and fridge cleaning.
Pickup Books from the library but here the local library used to bring a cart load of books for them to choose from.
A snack cart ( or vending machine) but they won’t allow that in our building.
Offering to take them out for a walk for exercise ( I take an elderly lady out once in a while to lunch and a walk.
Re: the computer idea..integrate a reason for them to get onto the computer…Researching there family history is a good one as well as digitizing there photographs.

Their driver’s license revoked.

Since they don’t have much of their lives left, people over 60 need more time.

Because of this, they shouldn’t be forced to waste their precious time driving at or below the speed limit.

What I propose is that they be allowed to drive at a speed that’s numerically equal to their age. E.g., if a person is 100, they should be allowed to drive at 100 MPH.

I would avoid anything requiring food prep or food delivery.

Food prep requires a whole bunch of food safety and health courses. You will be held liable if someone claims they got sick from your food. For food delivery, with the advent of restaurant delivery apps and grocery delivery apps, your service will be in a lot of competition with others who will be able to do the job cheaper and more efficiently.

@jca2 I’m with you on that. I actually was looking at things I can just do at their house.

There is actually continuing ed classes here, and I toyed with offering Facebook 101 as a class.

Just remember that some types of odd-jobs can only be done once. Would you rather have repeat business on a very regular basis??

@kritiper Yes, I realize. I don’t care if it is one time type jobs or not. Actually, a lot of people move 2 or 3 times here within the city. Plus, they would recommend me. This isn’t to make a living, but if I get $500 a month out of it I would be fine with that. I just wonder if I need some sort of insurance? Then the math gets all messed up.

@JLeslie: If you do some type of class (teaching a class), and all you’re shooting for is 500 a month, you only need 25 people if you are charging 20 each, on one occasion. If you look into renting a room (conference room for example), you might have to pay for it. You might also have to have insurance. So you could get a few more people or do the class maybe two times a month to cover the additional expenses (the facility and the insurance). You might talk to your accountant about setting up a business, so if something happens, they don’t sue you, they sue the company (and you’d be an employee of the company).

@jca2 Here I don’t rent the room, but they take 40%. They have to approve the class, I don’t automatically get in. Insurance is up to me when I teach, but yes, it might be smart to have some. It might be smart anyway to have insurance. My homeowners might cover me for some things. I think I would set up an LLC if I do it.

Running an airport “shuttle service.” Just driving their grown kids and grandkids too and from the airport. Someone did that in my grandmothers retirement community. I personally used it to avoid the need for a rental.

Someone to play cards with.

If you want $500 a month starting out, you’d better consider something that repeats. You can still do the other one-timer stuff, but branch out, if you want to make it.

I think if I start doing something people where I live will suggest even more ideas.

The tricky part is so much is done for free here. Volunteer. Neighbor help. If I know the person I’ll feel odd charging them. Where I live functions on a huge amount of volunteerism. That’s how we have so much for such low costs and for free.

All above have great ideas.
I’m just spit balling here:
So it sounds like many services could be needed in your community. How about if you have service people lined up that you send to homes, but by being the organizer, you get a percentage.
For example you have a hairdresser, nail tech, gutter guy, painter etc lined up. Your flyer will advertise them and they call you. You set up the appointment and accept the payments and pay the service people.

Anal beads

Another train of thought…

All the retirees in my area are being bombarded with ads from the medicare related companies on new services being offered part of which are dental, eye care, & hearing aids. The one that caught my eye was the transportation for medical appointments. I was thinking that IF you contact some of these companies & offer your services that maybe, just maybe, that you could have a steady stream of participants needing rides to their doctor’s office. This way you’d be paid by the company & not have to worry about charging your friends. Plus, I’d think that you might be able to obtain a higher fee from the company than you could from an individual. You could even have in your contract that you only transport people from your own community IF that would make it more convenient for you. In this case, I’d definitely recommend starting up an LLC to cover yourself just in case soething happens & a child decides to sue!!!

@LadyMarissa and others who suggested transporting people to doctors, airports, etc. I am inclined to stay away from doing this for multiple reasons, but they are good ideas, and companies here already do those services.

@JLeslie Yes, there are many services already providing the transportation services. I’ve also heard many of my friends express their concern about getting in a vehicle with a stranger. With all the crazy things going on in the world now days, they would prefer to be transported by someone they know & feel comfortable with.If you keep your service for your area, your friends should know & feel comfortable with you & you will know them also & should be able to feel comfortable with them. Anyway, it was just another thought being tossed into the idea pool..

Maybe a lending library.

@RedDeerGuy1 Is that a library of books? Or, something else? We have two libraries in my town and a 3 others just outside of town.

@JLeslie Books, tools and clothes. Most Library’s don’t have up to date textbooks.
You can offer classes. Like second languages and computer classes and programming.

@RedDeeGuy1 All good ideas. We already have those classes here both free and ones to pay for. Not the programming I don’t think, but I don’t know how to program anyway, so I can’t teach it. I’d like to learn it though.

@JLeslie How about help with income taxes/ social security/ other forms?

@RedDeerGuy1 For basic tax help we already have that service here for free. Social Security people go tot he SS office. Hmmm, but you might be on to something. Help with forms is along the same lines as helping with online banking. I think maybe I need to just start putting my availability out there and customers themselves will come up with ideas.

30–35 years ago there was an organization called Rent-A-Kid. (Hey! Wipe that smirk off your face!)
You could call it with jobs you needed done and a kid would come over to your house and help. Sometime the parent would come too.
You would pay a previously agreed upon hourly wage or set amount.
it was really helpful for me when I needed to prune the apple orchard. I’d cut branches with the chain saw and he’d pile them between the rows. Then I’d drive the tractor and he’d toss them in the trailer as I drive up and down the aisles. The job went 4 times faster with 2 people.
Everyone benefited.

I’d like to see a service like that again.

Maybe someone to assemble bookshelves.