By Andrew Miller
Time is money.
That’s especially true for small business owners. But some parents are taking the old saying to a new level.
As summer kicks off, it’s time to send the kids off to camp. That involves packing the right clothes, sunblock, and even snacks. All of which takes time, effort, and a little bit of love.
Some parents just don’t want the stress. They’d rather enjoy the time before their kids ship off. Others have the means to hire help. Personal assistants can help kids with everything from packing and shopping to unloading their dirty laundry when they eventually come home.
Diana Cooper, the owner of one such company called The Concierge Crew, said “A lot of our clients believe the best thing you can spend your money on is your time.”
Well, that time costs anywhere from $125 an hour for packing to an additional $100 an hour for extra hands. Of course, that doesn’t include the price of the camps themselves.
Elite sleep-away camps across the country charge up to $15,000 for the season, with packing lists over 100 items long. Some cost more than a year of Catholic school in Manhattan. Even less expensive camps run thousands of dollars per child for just a few weeks.
Apart from the cost, there’s another challenge. Popular programs in New York can fill up by September. For the following summer. Parents who don’t make the cut are forced to leave work early or scramble to find short-term babysitters.
But here’s the part that should catch a business owner’s eye. The camps aren’t the only ones cashing in. A whole micro-economy has built up around them.
For example, a boutique in New York and South Florida offers parents “new camper appointments” where they’ll charge $1,500 to $2,000 to personally shop for every item on a 100-piece packing list. A laundry service in West Palm Beach will pick up the camp aftermath of damp, stinky clothes before returning them washed and folded for $450.
Wherever something becomes expensive, hard to access, and important enough that people won’t just opt out, a ring of secondary businesses grows around it. These businesses solve the problems that crop up in the gaps.
Scarcity creates stress. The stress creates the market.
The question isn’t just what people need, it’s what they are stressed enough about to pay someone else to handle. There’s a long and growing list of answers to that question.
P.S. Signet won’t pick up your laundry, but we can help your business get funded in as little as 24 hours. Let’s talk.