>On Sunday, August 24, 2003, at 08:03 AM, Kelley wrote:
>
>>National chain business model don't seem to be particularly
>>competitive as you suggest. In Maine, if you want someone to clean
>>your house, you can hire off the books. Let's say the off the books
>>rate is, oh, $10 for one maid/one hour. Since, according to
>>Ehrenreich, 25-30% of the market is for cleaning services, the rest
>>for independent contractors, then probably even in Maine, as in
>>Syracuse, Cortland and Ithaca, you can find the networks of friends,
>>colleagues, and acquaintances that will hook you up with a maid
>>you'll trust. So, Merry Maids is charging $100/hr for four maids. I'm
>>trying to figure out how Merry Maids thinks they can compete when you
>>can probably get four maids on the black market for $40?
>
>answer: they can't. i'm convinced the market for merry maids is people
>who aren't comfortable for one reason or another using independent
>cleaning ladies [sic] or don't want to do the work to find someone
>they trust and like. it's kind of a captive market, in a way. the real
>question, imo, at least for merry maids, is whether their franchises
>(and i think, though i may be wrong, that they're entirely or almost
>entirely franchised) can survive on that market segment, the 25-30%,
>which sounds like about the right number.
i found out last night-we ate at a japanese steak house and had a lively conversation with our tablemates :). at least one reason: insurance. with stair case wit, it didn't occur to me later to ask, doesn't homeowner's insurance cover falls?
but, yes, that's precisely what BE says. It's about trust and about the desire to enter into more rationalized relationships, removing the mistress-maid relationship from the equation. (the boss-employee nexus as I've referred to it) If a Merry Maid steals, I phone the service. I don't have to confront the maid. I also don't have to worry because, next week, the Team will show up no matter what and I won't be troubled by the need to find a new maid and do the work myself in the meantime.
And, as BE points out, this is advantageous for employees, too. When a homeowner tries to get the Team to do more than the contract states, the maid takes on her role and says, in effect, "Not my job ma'am." and kicks it upstairs.
Now, the only way you can appreciate the security of such a set up is to read Global Woman or have been employed by someone who made you feel as if you could lose your job in a heartbeat. We here imagine ourselves to be good employers. This may well not be the case all around.
This trust thing, though, just floored me. Never once occurred to me
that, were I to hire a maid, she might steal from me. But then, as I
started to explain to Michael, I did grow up leaving my door open. In
fact, living in a supposedly crappy neighborhood where gunshots were
heard periodically, I regularly left me door unlocked when I was home
during the day and evening, even when I was sleeping. Never once felt
as if someone would steal. I lock them during the day and night when
I'm home mainly when the cops are around. I'm more afraid for my
personal safety when it comes to sizzlean, than I am with my neighbors.
:)
BTW, we moved out but left some things behind that didn't fit on the truck. Accidentally left the door unlocked for over a week. Nothing happened! (And my son tells me that picking locks ain't so hard in that place anyway. The kids regularly do it and hang out in empty apartments whenever they can.)
Oddly enough, I lock the doors all the time in my new suburban abode, a neighborhood that is supposedly "safer." I feel isolated from my neighbors just because of the environmental design (purposeful, I suppose), even though we all have postage stamp lots. Now, I chat with them--least so far--and was treated to some swell and helpful visits welcoming us to the neighborhood. Still, I feel unsafe, for whatever reason. go figure. It's not about my stuff. That could all easily be looted right now for reasons I won't go into. :)
One thing I also learned. We're forgetting the mom and pops, where they truly are independent contractors. Why not hire them and pay 1099 wages?
Kelley