Home Maintenance Business Will Help Seniors 'Stay Put'
Mark Maduza wants to help seniors tackle basic home maintenance and general exterior upkeep, allowing them to stay in their homes.
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As spring blooms, many will take to their yards once again to tackle the chore of maintaining their homes.
But the task might be more difficult for some homeowners and renters than others, and has the potential to eventually force them from their homes.
Mark Maduza wants to help seniors with basic exterior home maintenance, softening the burden of upkeep.
"As we age, it becomes increasingly difficult to keep up with the demands of home ownership, and alternatives such as moving to a condominium or independent/assisted living may not be desirable or affordable," he said.
Come April 1, Maduza plans to launch Stay Put Home Services, offering a range of services.
Maduza said after witnessing older relatives and neighbors struggle to keep up with the work, he felt he could help.
"I've seen a lot of elderly people struggle with the services I want to provide," he said. "I want to help with the day-to-day things that seniors struggle to keep up with."
He said a neighbor on his Shorewood block was recently forced from their home because they couldn't physically do the work.
With Stay Put, Maduza will provide yard work including grass cutting, hedge trimming, leaf pickup, weeding and fertilizing. Additionally, he’ll help with gutter and downspout cleaning, and minor exterior repairs like small paint jobs, window washing, winterizing.
House-sitting, running errands and dog walking or pet care are also on the list of services Maduza hopes to offer.
He won't, however, tackle the big jobs like carpentry work or a large paint job.
The retired Johnson Controls communications employee of 34 years said Stay Put has been a small dream of his for a little over a year. It's another career for him, after his retirement.
"It's a great fit for me; I'm looking forward to it," he said.
Maduza will stick to Shorewood, Whitefish Bay and Milwaukee's east side. Lawn mowing will start at $25 and will depend on lot size, while general labor will run $22 per hour.
For more information, visit staypuths.com.
Keith Schmitz
7:18 am on Friday, March 15, 2013
Mark's a great guy with a great idea.
CowDung
8:13 am on Friday, March 15, 2013
Careful with your endorsements, Keith. You might cause him to lose business...
Keith Schmitz
8:49 am on Saturday, March 16, 2013
Fortunately I don't need the approval of fascist thugs like you.
Sunrocket
8:32 am on Friday, March 15, 2013
Sounds like a a good plan and kudos to him, however, sounds like a lot of money for yard work and walking dogs, especially for seniors on a fixed income. If it did include carpentry then I would say you could justify $22. I am sure he means well but I would think people could find kids to do the job for a lot less.
Bob McBride
8:44 am on Friday, March 15, 2013
You're right. He may want to reconsider his hourly rates.
I had a friend who started much the same sort of service several years back and, indeed, they found that in most cases kids would do the jobs for less.
CowDung
9:06 am on Friday, March 15, 2013
There's nothing wrong with charging more if he demonstrates added value of what those kids would provide. As an example, instead of just cutting grass and throwing on some fertilizer, he can provide 'yard care'--tailor the fertilizer application to the needs of the yard, prune trees/bushes/flowers, etc.
Bob McBride
9:26 am on Friday, March 15, 2013
If he's targeting the elderly on a fixed budget, they're most likely going to be less concerned with the "value-added" portion of it than they are getting the lawn cut so the house doesn't look neglected. Assuming he's going to go after those possibly interested in more of a full service maintenance arrangement, at $22.00/hour he's going to be competing with smaller lawn service companies that can come in and do the job in maybe half the time he can. It's a very competitive market.
I'm not trying to rain on the guy's parade here. But hopefully he's not investing in a lot of promotional materials like my friend did in the hopes that they've come up with something unique. Their approach, as well, was that they'd be providing a level of "trusted" service above that of the average school kid. What they found was that, in most cases, the elderly weren't willing to pay the extra amount of money to secure their services. Most had a neighbor with a kid or relatives with a kid or belonged to a church congregation that provided services to the elderly of a similar nature at a lower or no charge.
If he's doing this as a convenience to the possibly limited number of folks actually in need of his services, that's great. If the intent to develop a going business of some sort, again, I'd recommend considering lowering the hourly charge and, definitely, not spending a lot on promotional materials.
Sunrocket
9:58 am on Friday, March 15, 2013
$22/hour is a lot of money - I know many educated professional people that do not make that an hour. If he is truly being altruistic he needs to lower his price to about $15.00. He will get more customers in the end and make more money and help more people. This economy cannot support that, especially the elderly with a tight budget if that is really his target customer. Perhaps cleaning gutters could justify that but pruning, raking and fertilizing - no way. A neglected property that the village has targeted and has an eye on could take several hours and those on a fixed income might have to miss a month of medication to just have him do it. Take the kid down the street instead. Sounds like price gouging. As Bob said, I don't want to rain on his parade either but start low and work up to that $22 or start including legitimate skills in to the equation.
NaiveOne
11:31 am on Friday, March 15, 2013
If Mark is looking for people for his business (to do the work), let me know!
Chris
12:42 pm on Friday, March 15, 2013
What about Milwaukee Interfaith?
Keith Schmitz
8:51 am on Saturday, March 16, 2013
They only have so many volunteers. Mark will find a market among those who aren't on Lake Drive but who are also not living off of SS.
Sunrocket
9:16 am on Saturday, March 16, 2013
Aren't those on SS the one's that probably really need it though? If they had some disposable income they probably would be able to maintain things. If the point of the program is to keep older folks in their homes and away from the picky eyes of the village it should be cost affordable for them. That's why they aren't having it done now. He needs to make himself more affordable to his target customer.