Hello

[emartinez]

Hello fellow entrepeneurs, new to the site I am an aspiring business owner. I am in the process of starting a sexy maid service which will include a series of other services as well, for example; party hosting, car washing, promoting, personal assistants, etc, with the focus of it being around the sexy maid concept. I joined this site to not only network but to get some help along the way in starting the business. I have the idea I just need to make it a reality. I've decided to open up an LLC and branch off from there and open up the cleaning service under the master LLC. Is this a good idea? Am I going about it the right way? Also, any help in the whole process for anyone who's started this type of business would be appreciated. (for example what difficulties would I experience in acquiring licenses and permits?) Ultimately, it will be listed as an adult only oriented business. Any advice?

[gregdavidson]

Interesting business. Welcome to the forum!

[ucavik]

Hello and welcome! but why this stress on maids being sexy?

[emartinez]

Thats the whole idea, men want a beautiful lady to clean, pamper, and serve them, chances are they might not be able to get this top notch service on their own without paying for it. So to fulfill their fantasy they can pay for the service, get their house clean and enjoy the vew. The idea is not one dimensional, there's many avenues that I can take this, party hosting, I can have the girls or men do promotions, run masquerade party's, the sky's the limit, but the whole premise is revolved around the sexy maid service.

[emartinez]

Thank you I'm happy to be apart of like minded people.

[akula]

I am in the process of starting a sexy maid service which will include a series of other services as well

..aha..i'll avoid the obvious innuendo

ummm, no, i don't think there is a market for your thing

i can't see bachelors paying models to actually clean their houses instead of just kinda skimping around in lingerie
realistically, who would pay for that sort of service? if i want my place cleaned, i call a 60 year old hispanic lady named brenda instead of a hooker pretending to be a maid.

promotions, yes. cleaning kitchens and toilets, no.

alas, real life isn't like a porn movie. there is in actuality no point to having a sexy maid, unless she is there for reasons other than cleaning.

[emartinez]

I appreciate your input, I know that real life isnt like a porn movie...lol that was actually pretty funny. Here's my thing I've done my research and there are a few business out here in the area they seem to be doing pretty well. And I think it's important to note that there are people who would be interested in it, remember the models aren't going to be getting down and dirty and cleaning carpets and stuff. It's actually light cleaning and dusting maybe cooking and some pampering. This would especially appeal to bachelors who are having a party and want to spice it up a bit. I've asked around and if priced right people are receptive to the idea. The business wouldn't only be marketed as a cleaning service. I would branch out and do promoting as well and party hosting and maybe offer personal assistants. I think if marketed well, this could really take off.

[akula]

the models aren't going to be getting down and dirty and cleaning carpets and stuff. It's actually light cleaning and dusting maybe cooking and some pampering.

))) so the models don't clean and there's no sex. if people wanted that, they could just get married.

nahh...seriously, look, let me break it down for you;

the problem

1) what you're selling is a consumer service. therefore, by definition, the demand for it is unpredictable. you're not solving a quantifiable problem for a corporate client with quarterly reporting requirements. you're selling kink to people who might buy it once for shits and giggles. by definition, the quality of demand for your service is entirely up to the changing nature of consumer tastes. this low quality of demand does not allow for clients to be locked into long term service contracts. it's improbable that you'll have the bargaining power to sign up a client for a year's worth of cleaning from a sexy maid. this is a sign of low quality demand.

2) what you're selling is a luxury, niche service. you're not selling subway sandwiches. you're selling over priced, quasi-sexual services to a small number of curious people who both have the means and the inclination to buy this sort of thing. the probability of finding wealthy people who can spare money to have their place dusted is low. the probability of finding kinky wealthy people who can spare money to have their place dusted by a maid wearing a corset, is even lower. because you're niche, this creates marketing difficulties, exit issues etc etc

..and that's just the problem side of the equation. the problem you're solving is either nonexistent, or it's niche and unquantifiable. neither is a good thing.

the solution

..after that, the solution is not a substitution without substitutes. it's neither scalable nor inimitable. you're not marketing some sort of a proprietary technology, or an exclusive distribution agreement. instead, you're trying to compete with existing home cleaning businesses by proposing a differentiating factor which does not correspond to consumer demands. what people are after when they want houses cleaned is; low prices, trustworthiness and wide range of services. what you're offering is high prices and narrow range of services.

conclusion

..so yeah, the opportunity fails to favourably complete the silver equation. ...both the problem and the solution are of low order (without commenting on the suitability of the founding team, which may also be unsuitable)

for these two reasons it's a low quality opportunity in comparison to other potential opportunities.

[emartinez]

Thanks, for your advice, I am taking this as constructive criticism, you sound like you know what you're talking about. You obviously took some time to, for one reply, and for two give me such a lengthy response. So how do you think I should approach this idea? Should I lean more towards the promotion and models, and party hosting aspect of the business, and offer the fantasy cleaning as a side thing? I am new to the whole concept of starting a business. If it's one thing I know is that sex sells. If marketed right I know I could be successful. Your thoughts are appreciated I already have a partner willing to dish out time, effort and money, but i want to do it right.

[akula]

Thanks, for your advice, I am taking this as constructive criticism, you sound like you know what you're talking about. You obviously took some time to, for one reply, and for two give me such a lengthy response. So how do you think I should approach this idea? Should I lean more towards the promotion and models, and party hosting aspect of the business, and offer the fantasy cleaning as a side thing? I am new to the whole concept of starting a business. If it's one thing I know is that sex sells. If marketed right I know I could be successful. Your thoughts are appreciated I already have a partner willing to dish out time, effort and money, but i want to do it right.

sure no prob. yes, when it comes to startups, i know what i'm talking about

overall:

entrepreneurship is a very difficult, technical occupation. like brain surgery, engineering or any other skilled occupation.

when you ask me, "how do i do it right?", it's the same as asking "what's the best way to do brain surgery?". to answer a question like this with any meaning requires me to revert back to basics and explain to you what entrepreneurship is and what entrepreneurs do. unfortunately for you, i won't do that now because that's not what's been asked of me.

to answer your question, "how do you think I should approach this idea?", my answer is "do nothing". tactically, that's the most correct answer i can give you. the reason is that right now you don't know what you are doing, and therefore, anything you do will end up being a mess. with startups, when a mess happens, it's expensive and as someone giving you advice, my foremost responsibility is to try and protect you from getting into a messy situation. the most important decision any founder can make is to pass on an opportunity. when founders pass on opportunities, it shows that they have training in selecting and distinguishing opportunities using a set of homogeneous criteria. the ability to do this is part of the essential skill set for founders. it's called opportunity selection. the starting point for opportunity selection is problem definition rather than coming up with "ideas".

on opportunity selection

right now, because you haven't studied the stuff, you don't have the skills at the moment to perform opportunity selection. you don't have the conceptual insight to define what a good opportunity is or to differentiate between good and a bad opportunities. without this insight, i can't discuss with you whether "fantasy maid", "promotions" or "party hosting" are good opportunities.

i encourage you to find out what entrepreneurship is and what entrepreneurs do. after that, you'll have the necessary vocabulary and conceptual background for successfully asking questions like "how do i kickstart a particular venture?" one of the first steps in the process would be for you to understand that founders do not pursue "ideas", they pursue "opportunities". the two are different. when you get the language right, things will start to make sense.

[ServiceBizBoost]

welcome to the forum.

[emartinez]

WOW...I'm not sure how to take that. I am not jumping into it. I want to make sure I do all the research I can before I continue. I am abitious and I am not a quitter but I'm not stupid either I am doing my homework, and believe it or not, even though we don't even know eachother at all I've taken what you told me during the past few days and am doing my best to put your advice to work. You are right about my knowledge when it comes to starting a business, I am not all that knowledgable in regards to starting or running a business but if i dont try at all I've already failed in my eyes...but I am learning and I know enough not to move forward unless I have all the details correct. In my research I realized that the closest thing that resembles what I want to ultimately do is a Concierge service. Did I know this when I joined this forum? No, I didnt, but after checking into it, and doing my homework a bit I realized that this essentially what I will be operating. Surfing the internet I came across a website which got me excited because the same service that they are offering is what I would like to provide as well. fivestarsconcierge dot com This back and forth is fun keep it coming. As long as you're not telling me to f*** off. Theres no need in being a d***. I appreciate your advice believe it or not. I am searching for help as I said in the beginning. So....I dont know the terminolgy as of yet so sue me...As each day passes I will learn more and I will be better able to begin to start a business. I am not going to quit though.

[akula]

WOW...I'm not sure how to take that.

yeah man the way forward is for you to get better at selecting opportunities
all this concierge, fantasy maid, promotions etc ventures are nonsense
they don't fit the standard criteria of what a good opportunity is.
they are unscaleable solutions in search of problems.
find out how to pick businesses worth starting
to find out, study how venture capital investors identify opportunities
once you know how to spot opportunities, you'll be on your way to building a successful, vibrant, exciting business that'll make you wealthier beyond your wildest dreams
until then, do nothing

exercise: post a link to an article written by a vc describing what defines a good opportunity