When you get to work with happy traveling families, make extra income and meet new people, it’s no wonder BabyQuip’s community of Independent Quality Providers (QPs) is growing quickly. While most of our QPs are stay-at-home moms, we are seeing more and more grandparents looking for side gigs and jumping aboard the BabyQuip ship!
We are thrilled about this diversity and sought out three of our fabulous giggin’ grandmas (Sally, Janet & Teresa) to find out why they started renting baby gear and why they love their BabyQuip side gig.
Sally Barlow lives with her husband in the gorgeous red rock community of St. George, Utah. She loves living where there is so much high-quality entertainment, hiking, biking, and water sports. She enjoys renting clean and insured baby gear to local and traveling families. Sally offers several toy packages to delight little ones, along with pack ‘n plays, booster seats, and kid carrier backpacks for active families.
We asked Sally:
Why did you get started with BabyQuip? We launched our BabyQuip rental business last fall with our first reservations coming in during the Thanksgiving holiday. We recently moved to St. George from Washington State and were musing about what to do with our time in retirement and how to supplement our Social Security income.
Our daughter had heard from her friend Trish, that BabyQuip was looking for a Quality Provider here and felt it might be a good fit. I called Trish with my questions and was convinced that it would be an easy startup, with little cost or immediate inventory.
It sounded like a good way to meet people here and provide a needed service. We also hoped to make our home a great place to bring grandchildren to visit!
Would you suggest becoming a QP to other grandmas or grandpas looking for a side gig? If so, why? I would certainly suggest this to other grandparents! The reasons that we joined – easy startup and lots of platform support – are the same things I would tout to other seniors.
Inventory can be acquired as needed so starting cost is relatively low. There is some physical strength needed which has not been a problem for us, as we are both in good health. We have felt an advantage with our car space since we don’t have to bring children along on deliveries. Many of our customers are also grandparents, with visiting grandchildren, either in their homes or at a resort.
It has been surprising how often the grandparents make the reservations rather than the parents. We happen to live in an area that is easy to get around, so even our most distant deliveries are seldom more than a half-hour away.
What do you love most about renting baby gear to families? We have most loved the people that we meet. Families on vacation are always happy to see us. They are relieved to have us bring them gear. Even if it’s just a crib or kid carrier, it will make their vacation more pleasant. We get to know quite a bit about them by the time we deliver, so we feel we have made a new friend.
It’s fun for me to learn about baby products and feel a little part of that world again. We are pleased with the company’s support through a lively Facebook group called Mastermind, Zoom meetings and ongoing online class instruction. Through this support, I feel I am getting to know people around the country that I never see in person.
Janet Elkins recently moved to Myrtle Beach and absolutely loves the area and its beaches. She hopes that by providing baby equipment for those visiting South Carolina she can take the stress out of the traveling equation. Janet has packages galore! She can easily accommodate families with twins or two little ones and offers a great selection of health & safety items and high chairs.
We asked Janet:
Why did you choose to get started with BabyQuip? We recently moved to a resort area and remembered that vacationing here years ago was wonderful, with the exception that we had so many things to pack in the car, stroller, pack n play, etc. That wasn’t easy.
My daughter first found the BabyQuip site and we discussed it, ultimately thinking it would be a wonderful idea to help other families enjoy their vacation with less stress.
Would you suggest becoming a QP to other grandmas or grandpas looking for a side gig? If so, why? Yes! I meet so many wonderful people and they are so thrilled that there is a service like this out there to assist them. It makes visits from their grandchildren a lot easier.
Grandparents may not have a big enough space to store all the gear they need for occasional visits from their grandchildren. So I am here to help them out during these special visits.
What do you love most about renting baby gear to families? Seeing their smiles and knowing I helped make their family vacation a little less stressful and a lot more fun! I love seeing the smiles on the children who get to use my gear, especially toy packages, and are so excited to have the comforts of home on vacation as well!
Teresa Lessner is a mom and grandma living in the beautiful Florida Keys. She wants traveling families and local grandparents to enjoy her local paradise instead of stressing about hauling baby equipment. She offers so many useful items to make travel feel more like home; from full-sized cribs and jogging strollers to the Ultimate Keys Beach Package and car seats.
We asked Teresa:
Why did you get started with BabyQuip? I was keeping my eye open for something unique for extra cash, saw this opportunity, and immediately decided it was a great fit for me.
Would you suggest becoming a QP to other grandmas or grandpas looking for a side gig? If so, why? Yes, besides extra cash, it is a great way to keep up to date on baby and toddler equipment, write off the expense of items you can use for your own grandkids, and provide a much-needed service for your community.
What do you love most about renting baby gear to families? I love being able to help them enjoy their vacation more by having items available that the little ones are used to. A happy little one on vacation means a happy family on vacation.
Our top three grandmas certainly are stars in our eyes! We love to hear their happy customer stories and read all of their five-star reviews.
If you know any grandmas (or grandpas) who might like to get giggin’ with BabyQuip, pass along our info! We would love to welcome them aboard.
Jennifer leads the marketing efforts at BabyQuip and is constantly trying to reinvent awesomeness through written copy, visual appeal, creative content & SEO. Jennifer is a mom of two boys and knows first hand the struggles of traveling with babies, toddlers and kids. When Jennifer’s head isn’t swimming with new marketing ideas you’ll find her tending to her backyard chickens and practicing meditation.
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