Courier Mail
6 August 2007

Amazing Things People Do

Last month, another young entrepreneur launched findadogminder.com.au.

Alex Bedwani, 19, has turned a childhood penchant for taking care of other people's dogs into a nationwide service.

"(People) want quality, family-style dog minding as opposed to being locked up with 50 other dogs," Bedwani says.

Findadogminder provides an online database of "registered dog minders", searchable by postcode nationwide.

The company – which presently consists of Bedwani and two website developers – charges members registration fees from $50, while dog minders earn their own fees of $15 and upwards a day for taking in other people's pets.

Since the launch of the site a fortnight ago, 50 dog minders have signed up, including four in Brisbane and the Gold Coast.

Now is the time to launch a quirky business idea, says Grant Thornton business advisory services director Ian Judson.

"There's an insatiable demand from the consumer at the moment for services and products to try and assist with lifestyle, which by and large the general Aussie public can now afford a little bit more easily.

"So because of that, we're tending to find a lot of smaller businesses – that might seem a little bit ridiculous in concept – as a business opportunity, have actually got legs," he says.

"You think, 'how on earth would that be possible?'

"But they're working in an environment now where those sorts of things are actually being demanded by a certain sector of the public."

Enterprising babysitters take note – Judson is tipping a surge in demand for nanny and housekeeping services.

This brings the opportunity to formalise something beyond "the old neighbourhood (babysitting) network", he says.

However, KPMG family business services manager Anthea Moores warns that the rise of niche service businesses is tied to prosperity.

"The economy's booming at the moment and a lot of the service industries are doing very, very well out of that," she says. "If you do a good job, then the financial benefits probably outweigh the costs at the moment – but that could all change."

-Joshua Robertson

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