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Weekly 5: Businesses supporting life without maids
JP/Jerry AdigunaThe luxury of hiring affordable live-in housemaids is probably long gone for many families, as the idea of being a domestic worker is becoming increasingly less attractive to newcomers from rural areas
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JP/Jerry Adiguna
The luxury of hiring affordable live-in housemaids is probably long gone for many families, as the idea of being a domestic worker is becoming increasingly less attractive to newcomers from rural areas. As a result, more and more families in Greater Jakarta are becoming less dependant on live-in help. Nevertheless, domestic chores are a handful even for full-time homemakers. Here are five types of small businesses that can make life without live-in maids a little easier:
Meal delivery services
Besides buying meals at restaurants or cheap food stalls, many families have started to opt for meal delivery services that provide freshly prepared meals, alleviating the burden of time-consuming cooking.
Unlike food in restaurants that tend to be unhealthy, meal delivery services offer home-cooked meals that can be catered to dietary restrictions under the supervision of an in-house medical consultant.
Prices start at Rp 8,000 per meal per person.
Laundry
Although most houses in Jakarta are equipped with washing machines, many families still find folding and ironing a bit tedious.
Luckily, laundry businesses have flourished in the city.
Apique laundry in Kebagusan, South Jakarta, for example, serves at least 200 families on a daily basis.
Apique staffer Ika said customers usually dropped off their laundry every two or four days. 'The weight varies, ranging from 10 kilograms (kg) to 20 kg,' she said.
Most laundry services charge between Rp 6,000 and Rp 10,000 kg.
Besides using the laundry services, city dwellers may choose to hire someone to solely wash and iron clothes. These workers usually do the job at the owner's house or pick up the laundry to be washed at theirs.
Daycare
Most new mothers have to go back to work after three-month maternal leave. Taking care of a baby as well as having full-time job is impossible. Hence, most working mothers hire a nanny. However, those who are reluctant to hire a nanny prefer using a daycare service instead.
Daycare services usually accept children, ranging from 3-month-old to 4-year-old's. Operates on working days, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mothers usually choose daycares located near their offices so they can stop by and see their kids during their lunch hour.
Besides being taken care of, children also learn basic skills like using the toilet and brushing their teeth. Many children enjoy daycare because they can make many friends.
Big companies such as PT Unilever Indonesia provide free child care services for their employees so mothers can easily check on their children.
Online grocery stores
Online grocery store businesses have started mushrooming in Jakarta, catering to working parents with busy schedules who find shopping can be troublesome.
Using smartphones and personal computers, you can easily pick any product, ranging from meat to shampoo, without going to the isles of the supermarket. The products will also be delivered to your house.
E-commerce firms offering grocery shopping services include Sukamart.com, an online grocery shop owned by Japanese Sumitomo Corporation, Alfaonline.com, the brain-child of minimarket chain Alfamart and supermarkets such as Carrefour and Hypermart.
If you want fresh products, there is Pasarminggu.co, which gets their products from wholesale traditional market Pasar Induk Kramat Jati in East Jakarta, serving the East Jakarta and South Jakarta areas. Another online shop with fresh products is rumahsegar.com. which covers a 25-kilometer radius from their office in Senayan, Central Jakarta.
Heavy-duty services
Although they do not have to be taken care of on daily basis, certain parts of the house require occasional maintenance.
An advantage of living in the city is that there are a plethora of businesses offering services for people who prefer handing over household tasks to professionals.
Barzani Jaya Cleaning in Bekasi, West Java, for example, offers cleaning services for carpets, sofas and beds.
'We usually accept at least two orders a day. We clean one item for around two hours,' one of the employees, Deni, said.
Prices vary, from Rp 20,000 (US$1.70) to Rp 40,000 for a chair and around Rp 180,000 for one spring bed.
Pet-care services and pest control are also widely available. ' JP
