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Carole Davy - MyThings4Hire.com
Carole Davy decided on her next potential business opportunity when she was looking for cost-effective car parking for flying from Stansted. It is clear that people could make money out of hiring out property and possessions and, as far as her research could identify, the only websites for this seemed to be in the USA or New Zealand. So it is destined to be the next big thing.
Carole, 55, thought the possibilities offered by mythings4hire.com could be really timely on a national level with the 2012 Olympics coming up where people could rent out driveways, or where bedrooms could be hired out.
Carole, from West Hull, already has one successful web-based business to her name, PetStay, the Yorkshire & Lincolnshire Petsitting Service, which she set up six years ago and for which she eventually left her fund-raising manager role at the Hull and East Riding Institute for the Blind (HERIB) to concentrate on. She started out with seven carers and now boasts a list of 70 pet carers across Yorkshire and Lincolnshire who are keen to offer a dog a holiday home whilst their owners are away, we are now known as THE alternative to kennels. Much of this business is repeat bookings and recommendations, and now Carole is hoping to go the same way with her new venture.
Carole says: “With MyThings4Hire.com, people could rent out storage, unused goods, bedrooms which falls into the “Rent a Room” scheme where people are being urged to open up their houses and take advantage of tax-free earnings. The list is endless of what you can upload onto the site. The website has been built so that users can leave reviews. The site is also for any companies who already hire out, they can upload unlimited products to the site”
Users simply need to register, choose a plan that suits them and then upload a photograph and description of the product. It is the latest in the line of business activities for Carole, a former clothes maker and boutique owner, who has also managed a bookmakers and even ran a catering business in Spain.
For this venture, Carole sought the assistance of the European Regional Development Fund-backed Hull Enterprise Partnership, which provides free advice to business start-ups, after learning about HEP in a case study.
“I read about how it helped another business and made contact. I then quickly had two meetings with Liz Turpin, one of the advisors who provided the help and advice I needed. It really helped to talk to someone else and there was plenty I didn’t know.”
The PetStay scheme has provided her with a useful springboard of customers to whom she has sent an e-shot but she is also dabbling in social media to promote it. The website is in its infancy and is looking for people and companies to upload their things for hire, simply and easy to use and FREE for the first 6 months.
In these hard times people are looking to save and make money and with mythings4hire.com you can do both, almost like a form of recycling.
Carole admits she has itchy feet: “I wanted a new project and started thinking of the future. I managed some six years coming up with fund-raising ideas at HERIB so I know there is creativity in me.”
To join for FREE log onto www.mythings4hire.com, register and benefit from 6 months’ FREE space on the website, simply quote this code: FBF23ST6. Or email Carol at support@mythings4hire.com
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