Santa - what do you think about this business idea?

what do you think about this business idea?

My fiance came up with an idea a few months ago. He used to work in the oil field and thank god for me being home to take care of the bills, they got paid on time. There are several men and women who work away from home for weeks at a time and have a hard time getting their bills paid on time or there are just some people out there who don't even like messing with the whole idea. So my fiance came up with the idea that I can pay people's bills for them while they're away working or for clients who don't like to mess with it. It would be great for the person who hates to balance their check books. They only have one withdrawl to me to worry about. This is how it would work. A client comes to me with their bills that need to be paid by a certain time. They leave me with all the money plus my fee in the form of a money order, personal check, or cashiers check. I pay their bills out of my business account, use my envelopes, stamps, gas to the post office, etc. I take care of it all for them once they turn it over to me. I give them copies of the checks wrote and keep maticulous records, and give them a gurantee that if it's not paid on time due to my error, then i pay their late fee. I have a few hang ups and am kind of reluctant to get this started. My fiance hasn't really done much but throw the idea out there, but i would still like to see where it could take me because the opportunity where i live could really be good for me. I already have an EIN number, bank account, PO box and some business cards. I've had to put things on hold for right now and not start it because we're in the process of selling our house and I don't want to get it started and then lose stuff in the process, so right now i've just been chilling out trying to figure out a few things. So here is where you come in to help me.....with out the rude comments and "DUH" remarks! First... do you think $5.00 per account paid is too much. That $5 includes the stamps, envelopes, my time, my gurantee, my gas to the PO, etc. Second.... i live in a town of 600+/-, and think most of my clients will come from out of town, the nearest one is 20 miles away. How should i get my clients bills to me in a timely manner with out making it hard on them, and making sure the bills are not late?? Third....I cannot afford to be bonded right away, but will once the business gets rolling.... do you think that will affect my business? So there are a few of my concerns. Has any body ever heard of something like this before. It's kind of like being a personal assistant i guess, but i will only do a few things. I was even thinking about taking care of clients christmas cards and birthday cards etc. Like i've said before, i live in a small town and have a 1 year old. my fiance is a police officer here and we're well known, but i need to make some money too. I would like for us to live as comfortable as possible and have money incase something were to happen to either one of us. Please leave positive feed back, i look forward to getting some other opinions.... my mom doens't think it'll work. (she's pretty pesimistic about everything though) thanks in advance.

Public Comments

DO not do that. FIND a CPA who can do that; why? Legal liability. If someone thinks you took 1 penny, the police get involved, bonds have to be bought. I will be glad to help you find things you can do with less risk to serve the Alaskan oil crews--or other similar groups
this is a great idea! my relatives always complain about their bills n stuff. this would help people greatly! i know, short answer, but i would greatly appreciate an answer to my question too. hope it works out, from sucksatlove12.
You may get a few people to use your services but not many. First off, we live in a time where identity theft is a major concern. I would not give my billing information and bank account information to anyone. You would have access to any and all personal information. This is a lawsuit waiting to happen. Second, all companies and banks now have on line bill paying service. You can set it up to pay a set amount every month or pay from any computer. It is now also possible to pay by cell phone or have a bill forwarded anywhere. My personal opinion is not to do this business.
well i've never heard of any1 doing it but i cant tell u whether its a good idea or not cause that depends on ur community,, are there lots of people who face problems with their bills? my suggestion is before u start, talk to people about ur idea and say that its just on ur mind and see what they say,, if 2 or 3 people encouraged u and said they would pay for then do it and the 2 will bring another 2 and so on,, good luck =D
Huh, it's like reading a book. Anyway, your 5-dollar service fee is not too much. In larger towns like Los Angeles, where I live, people often pay 10 bucks for their service. First, a town of 600+/- is a pretty large town comparing to smaller towns. If your store has a large signs and is pretty clean. I'm sure that people would come and drop by sometimes. Second, I can't help you with the "Client bills to you in a timely manner" thing. That depends on you. You can't count of much of the people here. YOu shouldn't do your business here in a small town like this. It's too small for medium venturers and high-rollers. Start your business in a bigger town where most of the people hang out. If you plan to make smaller money and a small business stay where you are. Again, I can't help you with your business. I mean, you are the one who is responsible with your clients. Think a way, that's what your brain is for!
I like the idea- BUT Can you charge enough in a fee to cover insurance/bonding ? Can you charge enough to cover your mishaps that you then have to pay for? Now if you were talking $5 a month or so, I'd do it- BUT then I don't think you'd be able to make enough. If your talking $5 a bill, I probably wouldnt do it (thats like $50 a month for me) AND I don't think you'd make enough to cover your costs + a decent margin. Now I'll tell you where it MIGHT be more viable: If you bring in corporate clients. Example: Proctor and Gamble pays you $120,000 to cover all of their employees that are traveling overseas for extended periods. GE pays you $140,000 for the same, and several other companies pay you enough that your now making $650,000 . You may then have a large enough scale to be bonded/insured, cover your mishaps, and you may have a large enough scale to be on a solid regiment to assure things don't go out of whack. I think this is a much bigger undertaking than you are thinking though. Unless you can protect yourself though, don't do it!
It's a good idea, but $5 isn't enough to cover your expenses. Perhaps a flat monthly fee of $30 might be better. If they're working at an oil field, they can afford it. You could offer Paypal payments as well as cash up front for the customers - they can access Paypal anywhere and use their credit cards or a bank transfer or even write a check. Convenience will be the key. Investigate e-billing for your clients - that way, you get the bills right away. Your clients should all have phone numbers or email accounts so that you can question them if things arise. Bonding will help. The great thing about your idea is that you don't have to limit yourself to the nearby oil field - you can do this from anywhere in the world, so you have high growth potential. Oh, and use a tickler file to keep track of when bills have to be paid. Your local stationer probably carries them - they're strips of plastic with the numbers 1 to 31 printed on each strip. You insert the item to be paid in the appropriate date and it sorts things perfectly. They're cheap - buy 2. It looks good.
yOU ARE CORRECT, IUT IS A GOOD IDEA, IT IS EXACTLY LIKE A PERSONAL ASSISTANT, AND IS IN FACTY , A PERSONAL ASSISTANT tO MAKE A LIVING DOING THIS YOU SHOULD IN FACT BECOME A SKILLED PERSONAL ASSISTANT. I TRIESD TO MAKE A LIVING DOING THIS IN MY NEIGHBORHOOD. HOWEVER, I SOON, BEGAN TO SIMPLY LOOK FOR SOMEONE TO BE MY PERSONAL ASSISTANT. I HAVING MANY SKILLS, HAVE MANY OPPORTUNITIES TO MAKE MONEY. I THEREFORE DECIDED, IT WOULD BEST BENEFIT ME, TO HIRE A PERSONAL ASSISTENT. I HIRED A SMALL FIRM, FOR $40.00 A MONTH. i OPENED A SMALL BANK ACCOUNT, WHEREBY ALL FUNDS WERE REMOVED BY A POWER OF ATTORNEY, WHICH I ISSUED TO THEM. iN THIS ACCOUNT, I PLACED MY ELECTRIC BILLS, ETC. TtHESE WERE AUTOMATED, BUT THE ACCOUNT NEEDED HUMAN MONITORING. THIS COMPANY, CLEANS MY HOUSE, DOES MY LAUNDRY, PAYS MY BILLS, LANDSCAPES MY YARD, DOES MY HOME MAINTENANCE,REPAIRS MY CAR, AND EVEN BUYS MY GROCERIES. THEY PLACE MY GROCERIES ON THE FRESHYLY CLEANED SHELVES, IN MY PANTRY,AND THEY EVEN KEEP ACCURATE RECORDS. THEY ORGANIZE ALL THIS , AND MORE, AND ALL FOR THE SAME SMALL FEE! HOWEVER THE COMPANY IS bONDED. tHEY (four people), borrowed money to bond themselves, and opened this way. Believe me, this personal assistant service, would be cheap at twice the price. Yes i have to payt for everything, but i do this with one simple transaction at the bank. I put the money into the account, and i dont even have to worry about a schedule. if my acount is low, something gets reshuffled. I get to use all my time, doing what i do best. "i am a temp for hire". I have no schedule, and all i do, is replace anyone in my network, whom is on a vacation, out to lunch, gone to the doctor, on sick leave etc. I HAVE DID THIS JOB FOR 47 YEARS AND I AM GOOD AT IT. i MAKE AWESOME MONEY, BECUASE I FET PAID BETTER AS A TEMP THAN THE PERSON I AM REPLACING. i NEVER HAVE TO WAIT FOR PAY PROMOTION BECAUSE I GET TOP PAY FROM THE BEGINNING. I HAVE TWO ACOUNTS AT HE BANK. ONE IS MY MY REGULAR CHECKIN/SAVINGS ACCOUNT, WHICH I ONLY USE FOR PERSONAL DAILY EXPENSES, AND SAVING FOR A SECURE FUTURE. tHE OTHER ACCOUNT IS THE ONE I USE FOR MY LIFESTYLE. tHIS IS THE ONE WHICH IS MANAGED BY MY PERSONAL ASSISTANT FIRM. I sleep when i please , work when i please, i do as i please, simply because my personal assistant firm, manafges the details of my life. I never shop for anything for myself. I never do laundry, i never do housekeepingi never service my car etc. i simply pay for it to be done. while i make more money, more money, more money. I hope this helps. I hope you can see how, this business should be viewed.