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Mother's Little Helper
Oct 15, 2006
Mother's Little Helper
Oct 15, 2006 12:00 PM , Larry Riggs
Toys. Car seats. Clothes in a multitude of sizes. Diaper Genies. UltraSaucers, ExerSaucers and bouncers, oh my.
Moms know these things can take over the house while your kids are using them — and when they've outgrown them.
To
help mothers clear out clutter and connect with others “in a family
way,” Shetal Patel created MomsSpace.com, a site that's a cross between
a garage sale, coffee with the girls and the help wanted section.
Patel
came up with the idea after trying unsuccessfully to find sites where
she could unload toys her 4-1/2-year-old and 19-month-old boys no
longer wanted. Last March, she put to use some of the skills she
learned as an MBA at the University of Texas at Austin and founded the
site, where moms list products other moms can buy, much in the style of
eBay.
Users can find what they're looking for in the site's
product catalog. And by entering their ZIP codes they can see what's
available in their areas. Individual buyers and sellers negotiate their
own prices. MomsSpace doesn't take a cut from these transactions; it
makes money by selling ads.
So far the site's been able to
attract about 300 mothers in the Austin area, “and we're adding three
or four new members a day,” Patel said.
Most products come from the United States but Patel has even gone to Mumbai, India and Zambia, Africa to look for products.
“Some of the mothers in Africa have some really beautiful carvings,” she said.
Patel publicizes MomsSpace by word of mouth and via listings on Google, in the Austin Business Directories and through PR.
In
addition to the commerce area, MomsSpace has a “Jobs for Moms” section
featuring ads from firms that help people to work from home, and a
drop-down menu that allows site users to apply for the positions.
Patel
isn't making any revenue projections just yet. Besides the site's more
commercial aspects, MomsSpace offers a discussion forum for mothers and
a “Baby of the Week” contest.
“When you can go to one site and
make financial transactions as well as personal interactions, you're
likely to revisit that site,” Patel said. “On MomsSpace.com, you can
purchase a gently used Diaper Genie, post your baby's photo, browse
through job listings or share a story about breast-feeding. It's
one-stop shopping for motherhood.”
Printed By DirectMag
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